Page 153 of Fight or Flight
My heart is pounding so hard it feels like it’s trying to beat its way right out of my chest as I pull open the stairwell door and hurry to the top floor.
The hall is empty, but that does nothing to calm my heart, or my nerves, as I make my way to Jace’s room.
Taking one last quick look around, I tap the dummy card I lifted out of Jace’s pocket when I bumped into him after the meeting earlier against the sensor.
There’s a soft click, then the little light at the bottom flashes green as it unlocks.
Scanning the hall to make sure I’m still alone, I gingerly grip the doorknob, then let out a soft sigh of relief when it turns in my hand. But my relief is short-lived, and a fresh wave of nerves washes over me as I slip inside the room and carefully close the door behind me.
My hands are shaking as I slip the dummy card into my pocket, and I wipe them on my pants as I lean against the door and wait for my eyes to adjust to the dark.
I’ve been waiting for a chance to sneak into Jace’s room so I can look for proof that he’s the one behind all the shit that’s been going on, and today’s meeting gave me the perfect opportunity to put my plan into action.
Not only did it give me the cover of being in a crowd so he wouldn’t suspect anything when I “bumped” into him to steal the card and replace it with a blank one, but I overheard him and Jax discussing their plans for tonight, and how neither of them was going to be home until late, if at all.
Then Axel mentioned the update issue that could mess with some of our cards, and I knew right then that it was now or never.
The biggest hurdle in my plan wasn’t swapping the cards or finding a time when both of the twins would be away from their room. The part I was most worried about was getting the dummy card back to Jace before he realized something was wrong, but the update they’re pushing tonight solves that issue for me.
Even if he does try to use the blank card before I can swap them back, he’ll just assume it’s one of the ones that was affected by the update and will just make a new card.
My heart is still pounding wildly in my chest, and all of my senses are hyperaware and tuned into my surroundings like I’mexpecting an alarm or something to go off, but the room is quiet outside of the rasp of my breath.
With still-shaking hands, I pull a small flashlight out of my pocket and click it on. The thin beam of light doesn’t offer much illumination, but it’s enough that I’ll be able to look around without having to turn on any of the lights in the room.
Carefully, I creep over to the sitting area we all have and look between both sides of the room.
The left side is spotless and devoid of any sort of personalization. The bed is neatly made, and there isn’t a stitch of clothing or anything else out. Even the desk is clean with only a closed laptop on it.
The right side is also spotless, with the bed made and everything put away, except for the desk.
On it is a keyboard, a set of three monitors, a mouse on a mouse pad, and a mess of pens, pieces of paper, what looks like gum wrappers, and other random things.
That side is Jace’s. And I didn’t even need the sophisticated computer setup to tell me so.
I never understood why the brothers would choose to live together. I get that twins, especially identical twins, share a special bond that non-twins can’t understand, but it seems weird that two guys who are away at college would choose to share a room, especially with Jace’s reputation as a fuckboy.
I look between the two sides of the room again. The beds are directly across from each other, and while there’s a good amount of space between them, like the beds in all the rooms, they’re still within a direct line of sight with each other.
How does that even work? Does Jax just make himself scarce whenever his brother is getting his freak on? Or does Jace just keep his sexcapades to other people’s rooms?
Shaking that thought, and the accompanying mental pictures, out of my head, I carefully make my way over to the right side of the room and pause at the foot of the bed.
“Now, if I were a bunch of evidence tying me to a B&E, where would I be?” I say to myself and look between the dresser and the wardrobe.
Those would be the most obvious places; I might as well start with one of them.
The dresser is closer, so I head over to it and carefully pull open the top drawer. Inside are neat rows of folded underwear and pairs of socks, and nothing else.
The next drawer is full of t-shirts, all neatly folded and stacked together, and I carefully slip my hand under the stacks and feel around to make sure there isn’t anything hidden under them that might be of interest.
When that’s a bust, I pull open the next drawer, which has a stack of jeans on one side and a stack of sweatpants on the other.
This time I check between each pair of pants, being careful not to mess them up, then run my hand over the bottom of the drawer. When I come up empty again, I move to the last drawer.
This one is full of sweaters and hoodies, all neatly folded and stacked like the rest of his clothes.
What college student folds and stores their clothes like this? I’m more of a “ball it up and make it look sort of like a square before shoving it in my drawer” type, but I know other guys who actually fold and sort their clothes, and none of their dressers look like they’re ready for a military inspection.
