Page 292 of Wicked Brutal

Coming.

I send it and move. “Dad!”

My bedroom door slams against the wall behind me. I take the stairs too fast, one hand catching the railing when I nearly miss the last step.

Dad is already coming out of his office. Mom turns from the kitchen. They both take one look at me.

“She used it?” Dad asks.

“Yeah.”

Mom puts down the glass in her hand. “Both?”

“All three.”

Dad’s expression changes. Mom’s does too.

“Jane?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

I don’t know why. I don’t know what changed between the last time I heard from Ally and right fucking now — don’t know why the woman who’s spent years surviving inside that house suddenly needs out of it tonight. I only know Ally used the code. And she changed the plan.

I pull up the big group text.

Ally needs all three of her green sweaters.

Send. Dad’s phone buzzes in his hand. Mom’s lights up on the counter. Mine starts going fucking insane before I can put it away. I ignore it and look through the windows instead.

Their house is right there. It’s always been right there — same lights, same windows, same strip of grass between our properties I’ve crossed so many times I don’t even think about it. Tonight it looks a fucking mile away.

“Call her,” Dad says.

“Already am.” I hit her name. It rings. Once. Twice. Three times. Nothing. “Come on, Ally.” Four. Voicemail. “Fuck.” I call again.

The front door opens behind me. Dad and I both spin. X comes through breathing hard, shirt dark with sweat down the middle of his chest, running shorts on, one earbud still in.

“What happened?”

I stare at him. “How the fuck are you already here?”

“I was on Lakeview.” He yanks the earbud out. “Where is she?”

“Home.”

His eyes go straight to the windows. “All three?”

“Yeah.”

“Her mom too?”

“Apparently.”

“What changed?”

“I don’t fucking know.”

He looks at my phone. “She answering?”