Chapter 35
When we get to Mack’s house, despite my nerves that we’re putting these guys out, there’s very little reaction to Alex’s presence. Axe makes a sullen joke about the house being a sausage fest, but other than that, no one cares.
The next day, we go back to my house first thing in the morning.
"Ok," Mack says. "First is the thumb drive. What does it look like? And where was it the last time you saw it?"
"I'll show you," Alex says.
A minute later, we're all standing staring down at the old coffee can in front of the garage. Back when my parents were alive, it held my dad's cigarette butts. He was a one cigarette a day guy. He'd light one on his walk between Shady Lake and home, and toss the butt in the coffee can.
After he died, Grandma emptied the can but none of us could bear to throw the thing away. It's rusted now, with a hole on one side.
"I told them I'd leave it under there. And I did. I put the drive on the rock, then put the can over it."
"And when you came back, what did it look like?"
"Like this." Alex bends and sets the can on its side next to the rock. "But the thumb drive was gone."
Mack frowns. "Was the thumb drive visible from the road? Maybe a neighbor kid took it?"
We both look down the long driveway.
I shake my head. "It makes no sense. There aren't any neighbor kids, for one thing. If someone comes down the road, it's for a reason. My delivery guy won't even drive up the driveway--he leaves our packages at Shady Lake or the mailbox, and we've never even had one of them stolen."
"What did it look like again?"
Alex says, "It looked like an action figure. It's a Veilmaiden. You know, from War of Veilcraft?"
Mack shakes his head.
Alex sighs. "She's got an ivory gown edged in gold, and a blue face and hands--"
I gasp sharply; my heart pounds. "Holy shit." I'm already heading toward the front door. "I think I know where that is."
They both follow me in and watch as I kneel next to Midnight's bed. Her bed was shredded, but it was one of the things in the house that was still useable, so I just flipped it over and called it good enough for now.
In the corner, behind her bed, is an old hole in the wall that I never got around to fixing.
The cover is latticed metal, and only attached with one screw.
Dad used to say it was for a return air vent.
Somehow along the way, my cat realized that he could swing it open by batting at it.
Sometimes he stores stolen treasures inside.
I reach into Midnight’s hidey hole and scoop out his wee horde. A plastic spork, a button, two hair ties, and...
"Here she is." I hold the thumb drive aloft. "With only half her face gnawed off."
"Good," my brother sighs. "Now we can finally get these guys off my back."
Alex reaches as if to take it from me; I yank it out of reach. "No way, Jose."
"We're going to play this a little differently," Mack says, taking the thumb drive. "We're going to make sure this never hurts anyone, ever again."