I wrenched the door open, practically sprinting down the stairs. “Poppy? Pepper? Where are you?”
More meowing led me deeper into the basement.
I opened the door to the storage room and the meowing got louder. I swept across the room, where yet another door connected to the utility room.
Oh, hell no.
The second I swung it open, Poppy and Pepper shot like lightning between my feet, both puffed up and meow-screaming. The smell hit me next and I held my breath, sparing a quick second to look into the room and saw no food, no water, not even a litter box.
I ran after them and found them arched up, staring at my potential pack, who had followed me down.
Leo was already on his knees making kissy sounds at them with his hand extended. Poppy was the first to brave an interaction, sniffing tentatively at him.
I collapsed next to them and scooped both cats awkwardly into my arms, tears spilling down my cheeks. “Oh my god, babies, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe he locked you away.”
“Deep, too,” Nathan huffed. “Jackass probably didn’t wanna hear them crying.”
“He didn’t leave themanything!” I sobbed into their fur and Jude sat next to me to run a soothing hand down my back.
“We’ll get them out of here and make sure all of you stay safe.”
Poppy and Pepper purred away in my arms.
“Is there anything you need from down here before we go up?” Nathan asked, patting the duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
I shook my head, accepting Leo and Jude’s assistance to get to my feet since I refused to let go of my kitties. I took an unsteady step toward the stairs, but apparently that wasn’tto Jude’s liking, because he scooped me right off my feet and carried me up himself.
“You have to put them in their carriers so I can get them to Ava’s,” he reminded me softly.
Still crying, I set Poppy into the first and Jude zipped it while I tucked Pepper into the second.
He kissed my forehead and my stomach flipped. “I’m taking them over right now and I’ll text Nathan when we’re all safe, okay?”
I nodded, sucking in some deep breaths to steady myself. Jude took off with a carrier in each hand and Nathan spun me around, already nudging me upstairs.
“Essentials first, breaking down after. Do you have access to your documents?”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice cracking. “I think, anyway.”
I didn’t often have a reason to access anything in Tyler’s office, but we kept everything important together. The filing cabinet was locked when I pulled on the drawer, but a quick look around through his desk drawers led me to the key. It took me a few minutes to find everything but I shoved each piece into Leo’s hands.
“Good girl.” Nathan beamed. “Is that everything?”
My stomach flipped as easily for Nathan using that phrase as it did for Leo. “Pretty sure. For paperwork, at least.”
“Okay, toiletries, jewelry, and clothes next.”
“We have separate bathrooms,” I pointed out. “Anything that’s in mine, you can take.”
Leo nodded, setting off on his mission after I directed him to the correct room. Nathan and I went into the bedroom next, where I emptied my jewelry box into one of the bags, snatched all of my favorites out of the dirty laundry to be washed later, and started grabbing at items in my closet.
“We can’t take all of it on this trip,” Nathan warned, “so pick what you like best.”
I had slowly cultivated my wardrobe one beloved piece at a time, but it couldn’t be helped. People would definitely notice Leo trying to walk down the street with a mountain of clothes bigger than him.
I emptied my bras and panties into one of the bags since they were the most essential and also the most annoying to replace. From there, I picked a balance of what I loved most and what I could probably sell easily to make rent. Reducing my life to a few bags was beyond depressing, but at least I didn’t have to leave every single piece behind.
Each item I removed slowly replaced my sorrow with fury. Tyler could go fuck himself. I had kept his home beautifully for a decade, accommodated him at every turn, did anything he wanted, and it didn’t even matter in the end.
