Chapter Nineteen
Blaize circled back to the front yard where he’d left Carys. She wasn’t there.
Figuring she must have circled on the carport side, he cut across the small front lawn that was sprinkled with ankle-high weeds.
The property had been neglected. Same on the inside of the home, based on what he could see through one of the bedroom windows.
Clothes covered old brown carpet. Empty beer and soda cans littered most surfaces.
A dresser drawer sat half opened. The others were in various stages of being closed.
A shirt looked to have been haphazardly flung toward the piece of bedroom furniture, landing across two drawers.
With an opened, albeit empty, pizza box wedged onto the nightstand, Blaize could only imagine how the room smelled.
Or the rest of the house, for that matter.
Stale beer and urine came to mind. The occupants didn’t have a dog, thankfully, but he’d seen a cat curled up on top of a messy bed. Poor thing.
As he circled around the home toward the carport, the next-door neighbor popped out of the front door. An average-height woman in her late twenties stepped outside wearing a jean jumper and her hair in a bandana.
“Hey,” Carys whispered as she headed toward him.
The neighbor held the front door open. “Can you come here for a minute?” She glanced around nervously. “I have something to tell you about that house.”
All of his protective instincts flared.
“Would you go wait in the Jeep if I asked you to?” he said to Carys.
“Doesn’t seem to be any safer in it than out here,” she said.
“Good point.” They had just been rammed in the side by an SUV, which had disappeared as fast as it came at them. “Then stick by my side. Okay?” He reached for her hand and linked their fingers.
“Like glue,” she said. “I didn’t see any security cameras over here. I haven’t checked the neighbor’s house.”
“I was on the opposite side,” he said out of the corner of his mouth as they took the first steps toward the stranger.
There was no doubt that he was stronger than the tiny young woman standing on the porch, waving them on. Add Carys to the equation, and the odds that were already nil went into negative numbers.
There were unknowns. Was Bandana alone? Or was someone hiding inside the house, just out of sight? Only half of her body was visible. Was she hiding some type of weapon where they couldn’t see it until it was too late? Would a vehicle come roaring up? One like the SUV?
“Hurry,” Bandana said, shifting her weight back and forth while looking all around them with wide eyes. That word caused more alarm bells. If they hurried, they wouldn’t have time to accurately assess the risks. “It’s not safe out here.”
All hope she would say what was on her mind while standing outside just died. He squeezed Carys’s hand for reassurance the moment she tensed. She clearly had been thinking along the same lines.
“Please,” Bandana urged as they approached the porch.
He tucked Carys behind him as they entered the living room.
Bandana shut the door behind them and locked it. Not exactly ideal, but they stood close enough for him to attack while Carys undid the lock.
“She told me to look out for you,” Bandana said, staring at him. “Said if you came poking around, something bad happened to her.” She brought her hand to cover her mouth as she stared.
The house was clean and cozy. More importantly, he could see straight through to the sliding glass door from his position next to the door.
“Who told you?” Carys asked before he could.
Bandana’s face scrunched. “Sharon, of course.”
“Had to make sure we were on the same page,” she said. “I’m Carys, by the way.” She was better with people than he was by a long shot.
“Rumi,” she said in response.
“I’m—”
“I know who you are,” Rumi said.
“Right. How?”
“Sharon gave me a message for you.” She held up her index finger. “Hold on. I put it in here.”
The hand-carved wooden box on the coffee table had an intricate morning-sun-over-the-mountains design.
Carys let go of his hand. “That’s a beautiful box.”
Rumi smiled up at Carys as she opened it. “My dad made this for me. He loved whittling. Said no one did it anymore.”
Blaize resisted the urge to reach out and pull Carys back for her own safety. She was good at reading people. She knew what she was doing. She wouldn’t take unnecessary risks.
So he unclenched his hands and tried not to crack a molar from biting down so hard as he let her work her magic.
“He died two years ago,” Rumi said, frowning as she rooted through folded-up papers as well as the kind used to roll up a joint.
“I’m really sorry to hear that,” Carys said, crouching down to eye level across the coffee table from Rumi. “Sounds like you miss him very much.”
“I do,” Rumi continued. “More than anyone could ever know. He was the best.”
Blaize had the thought that at least someone had a decent dad. There was hope for humanity yet.
Carys was doing more than lowering Rumi’s guard. She actually cared about people. It shined through in the way she interacted with them, in the questions she asked, and the way she responded. Beyond that, it came through in her mannerisms, the way she looked at you with a calm reassurance.
He experienced it every time he opened a vein and talked to her about something deeply private. Her compassion came through, making her easy to talk to. Was that the reason he’d opened up to her on such a personal level?
Rumi’s eyes lit up. “Here it is. This is the note I was supposed to give you.” She held it in the air. “Sharon told me that I wasn’t supposed to do anything with this note except hide it unless you showed up. Is she okay?”
Blaize wasn’t touching that question with a ten-foot pole. These two had obviously been close at one time.
“We’re trying to figure that out right now,” Carys said, not lying and not giving anything away, either.
Sharon’s identity had yet to be confirmed.
Technically, Carys wasn’t being deceptive.
Plus, they needed to get out of there. The Jeep was parked down the street.
If anyone next door had anything to do with the SUV, that might be a problem.
“Can I ask how well you know your neighbor?” Carys motioned next door as Rumi handed the note over.
“Not well,” Rumi said. Her frown lines deepened. “It wasn’t a good place for Sharon, but she didn’t go into details.”
“Was there physical or mental abuse or something else like she was being trafficked?” Carys asked.
Rumi shook her head. “A bad relationship.” She sat back on her heels. “You know how it goes. You meet someone you think is great, move in, and then find out how truly awful they are.”
“Angel?”
“Yes, I think that’s his name. I didn’t see him all that much, to be honest. He works, like, two jobs and left her alone a lot.
Sharon wasn’t allowed to go out. He had a tracker on her phone and would call to check on her at random times so she couldn’t go to the bathroom without having it on her.
” Her gaze bounced from Carys to Blaize and back.
“How did you two become friends?”
Rumi laughed. “We used to set the cell on the window sill and sit in the carport to talk. I’d make margaritas or we’d do tequila shots. She wore a lot of makeup to cover up the marks he left on her face.”
She shook her head in disgust. The note she’d handed Blaize had been tucked inside an envelope and sealed.
An abusive ex. Was he Rue’s father? No way in hell would Blaize allow a person like Angel to have custody based on what he knew about the guy so far.
“I miss her so much that I could have sworn I saw her the other day.” Rumi sucked in a breath. “I’m sure it was just wishful thinking. It’s been too quiet around here since she took off.”
“It’s hard to lose a close friend,” Carys said.
Rumi looked toward the window with soft eyes and a small smile like a memory surfaced. “Can I tell you a secret?” she asked, refocusing on Carys.
“Of course,” Carys said in the calmest, most reassuring tone.
“Sharon was seeing somebody else,” Rumi said.
“How do you know? Is that what she told you?”
“No.” Again, Rumi shook her head. Blaize got the impression she didn’t get out much based on how available she’d been for Sharon and how much she seemed to need to get things off her chest even after all this time had passed since she last saw her friend.
“I saw him sneaking around the back when Angel was working late.”
Sharon had been having an affair? Had Angel found out?
“Did you know him?” Carys asked.
“Yeah, everyone around here does,” she said like they would, too. “Silus Vexler.”
“The Silus Vexler?” Blaize knew about the man by reputation after living in and around Austin.
“That’s right.”
“And you’re certain about that?” he asked.
“One hundred percent,” she confirmed.
That was bad.
CARYS SAT IN the passenger seat as Blaize rounded the front of the Jeep. He hadn’t opened the note from Stephanie/Sharon yet. His demeanor changed the second he heard the name Silus Vexler.
“Read this to me while I drive?” he asked, holding the note in between them. “We need to get away from this area as fast as possible.”
She took the offering.
“Okay, sure. But I’m very curious as to what kind of person could cause a reaction like this in you.”
“That’s fair,” he said. “Let’s just say the SUV is the tip of the iceberg of what Silus is capable of inflicting on us.”
He attempted to start the engine. Nothing.
Blaize released a string of curses. He hopped out of the vehicle and popped the hood. Poked around a few seconds before swearing again. “It’s not going to start. You might as well come out.”
“What happened?” She exited the passenger side.
“Someone cut the battery cables. It’s not even going to start with a jump.” He surveyed the area.
“Which also means someone is nearby, possibly watching us right now.”
“Grab your things—we have to go.” He followed her to the passenger side so she could grab her handbag from off the floorboard. She tucked the note deep inside her bag for safekeeping.
He took her hand in his and ran toward the nearest houses, aiming for in between them. The realization he was searching for cover hit hard. Losing the Jeep hit hard. And the realization a dangerous person was after them hit hardest.
Would she do all of this again for Rue? Yes. No question.
Dying wouldn’t help the little girl. At least Carys understood Stephanie’s dilemma now.
They made it in between two houses, away from Rumi.
“Do you think they know about Rumi?” Carys asked, trying to catch her breath as they ducked behind trash cans.
“I’m guessing they do,” he said, confirming her fear this Silus person might take out revenge on Rumi or force her to give out information about them.
Fortunately, they hadn’t exchanged phone numbers.
They barely knew each other’s identities and were on a first-name-only basis. That should protect her.
Or they might not believe her and think she was withholding information.
“We have to circle back and warn her,” Carys said.
“We don’t have time, and someone might already be there.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” she said.
Blaize looked up at her and away from his screen.
“I’m searching for a rental vehicle that’s parked nearby to give us a chance to get out of here in one piece.
Circling back, as much as we might want to, could put Rumi in more danger.
Leaving her alone might be the best way to keep her safe.
” Rental cars were parked in the street and available for rent based on an app.
He was making good points. She realized that. He was being logical while she was riding on stress and emotion.
“Got one that’s two blocks away,” he said before locking gazes. “Say the word and we’ll head back to Rumi’s place. I want her to be safe as much as you do.”
“But you don’t like the idea of checking on her?”
“Not if it gives her information that would make someone want to torture her or draws more attention to her house,” he said.
A pair of male voices that were heading toward them in a hurry made the decision for them.
“There they are,” one of them said.
“We have to go,” Blaize urged.
Could they make it to the car now?