“Staying here and out of trouble will help,” Squat said.
Asher rolled her eyes. “We can handle ourselves.”
Sharp pointed at the dog. “Someone has to keep Frog company.”
Frog whined, and they all laughed. “See, Frog will need your company,” Squat said.
Thario scratched Frog behind the ears. “Frog would love to spend a few hours with you all.”
Asher moved to Frog and patted his head. “He’s such a good dog.” Frog licked her cheek, and she laughed.
It was settled. They would head over to the location where they believed Brent was located and watch for movement. Once they figured out where he was, they would go in and get answers.
Hopefully, by this evening, he would have an idea why Brent had tried to kill him. Then they could figure out what to do with the guy. Honestly, turning him over to the police was more than he deserved after drugging Frog, but it would be the right thing to do.
Chapter 10
Calla heard Brent banging around.He sounded angry. She hoped whatever he'd planned had been totally ruined. He didn't deserve good things, not after he'd killed their parents. Heck, before then. She had a sinking suspicion that Brent had killed Daniel. The more she thought about it, the more she worked it out.
Her stomach grumbled, and she closed her eyes, trying to ignore the hunger pains hitting her. Brent hadn’t brought in breakfast, and he hadn’t let her out for lunch. At least she had water from the bathroom.
Her brother had been in a mood lately, and she half wanted to ask him what was wrong, but she knew asking would only bring attention she didn’t want.
She hoped everything in his life was ruined. That would make her feel better. He didn’t deserve happiness or even satisfaction.
When Brent came into her room, relief filled her because she thought she was going to get to eat. But then she realized he didn’t have food for her. What the hell? She needed to eat.
Her head spun as desperation filled her. He didn’t care about her. She knew that. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to her, butshe thought he would at least know she had to eat at some point in the day.
Most days, she ate slowly, stretching the food out so she didn't spend hours hungry. He never really gave her enough, and she snuck food when he had her cook for him, but he had kept her locked up all day, so she never ate regular meals.
“Do you need me to cook for you?”
His eyes narrowed, and his lips turned down in a frown. "No, I don't need you to cook for me. I need you to start packing. What is wrong with you? I told you we had to move. Why haven't you packed any boxes?"
The answer screamed through her head, "Because you kept me locked in here today." But she couldn't say that out loud.
There was something really wrong with Brent. He wasn’t able to process reality. She’d seen him slipping more and more in the last few months.
He definitely had something wrong with him. It went beyond his normal agitation. He was messing up with little things. Like him leaving her trapped in this room all day, then expecting her to have packed boxes. She wasn't allowed to leave the house, so how could she have done anything like buy boxes or packing tape?
It was best to not agitate him further. She tried to formulate an answer that wouldn’t piss him off. Words slid through her mind, but she abandoned them since she didn’t know how they would land.
“I can pack this evening.”
He snorted. “You’re useless. Get into the kitchen and make dinner. I’ll start packing.”
He left the door open, and she moved to the kitchen, her eyes sliding to the front door. The lock was in place, and the key wasn't there. No way she could escape that way.
He kept walking and headed into his room, so she used that time to grab a slice of bread and eat it quickly. As she worked on dinner, she stuffed food into her mouth, always working in small bites so he wouldn’t catch her eating.
As she prepared the meal, she checked the back door, finding it locked, too. She was about to give up when Brent left through the front door carrying multiple boxes.
She thought about racing out, but he came back inside. The sound of him turning the key in the lock shattered her hope. She would never escape.
The car Thariowas in sat about five hundred feet away, but still in view of the place where they thought Brent lived.
He had binoculars up, hating how constantly looking through them was making him feel. His head hadn’t healed enough for his eyes to adjust to the focus.
