their radios. Staticky “all clear” calls came through over and over. Zack had unplugged his microphone so it piped out over a speaker.
I gnawed on one of my fingernails as I listened. The voices didn’t sound unhappy, just clipped and professional. I wondered if Wolfe would show up, if he was even looking for me here. I mean, he couldn’t just hang around my house all day, every day waiting for me to show up, could he?
I thought about those black, soulless eyes and suppressed a shudder. He could. He would. I had to act fast here, get to him before he got to anybody else. My ears focused on the radio, waiting for the first hint of any trouble.
“Found something in the basement,” came the voice over the speaker. I felt myself tense. If it wasn’t Wolfe, I could bet I knew what they found. “It’s…ugh…well, it’s not Wolfe. All clear.”
“All clear,” came another voice in agreement. “That’s the whole house.”
“You haven’t sent anybody here since the day I left?” I asked Zack, who was staring into space, concentrating.
“No.” His head gave a quick shake. “You ready?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “Is our driver going to give us curbside service or do we have to walk from here?” I looked at Kurt and the flash of a scowl was my reward.
“One of these days, little Miss Daisy, you and I are going to go head to head,” he growled as he threw the car in gear and stomped on the accelerator.
“And I shall look forward to that day with greatest anticipation,” I said in a mocking southern accent, “if for no other reason than I’ll get to watch your head cave in from finally meeting one stronger.”
He said nothing else as we turned and flew down an alley, almost taking out a garbage can. His next turn was almost as violent and I didn’t get a chance to ask whether he was scared and pissed or just a bad driver, because he came to a screeching halt and the wheel hit the curb.
“Settle down,” Zack told him, wide-eyed.
“I’ll settle down when we’re out of here.”
“Only if you can find a nice fella who’ll take you,” I quipped.
“Oh, how quaint, a gay joke,” Kurt said without turning back. “I’m married.”
“Actually it was my way of calling you a little girl. What’s his name?”
“Haha. To a woman.”
“Shocking! Because no reasonable man would have you?”
“Can it, please.” Zack turned to me. “We’re here. Let’s hurry and get the hell out.”
“Sure,” I said as I slid over and opened the door, stepping out onto the curb covered in a half foot of snow. He parked this way intentionally. Ass. “Just trying to express my happiness for your pissy partner that he could find someone to put up with his menstrual cycles.” That wicked feeling of glee buoyed itself in my soul again as I stepped onto the sidewalk. I ignored Kurt, who made a rude gesture at me from behind the trunk and made no move to join us.
Zack followed me up the driveway, which had a thin layer of snow over it. I wondered if Mom used to shovel it herself after a snowstorm? No…she was always dressed nice before she went to work. Flurries fell around me and I found myself sticking out my tongue, trying to catch one.
Zack watched me with a small smile of amusement that evaporated after a few seconds. “We’re in a hurry, remember?”
My goofy grin faded. “Right.”
There was an agent at the door of the porch, hands buried inside his coat. I stepped past him with a sarcastic salute and he rolled his eyes and smiled. Now there was a man with a sense of humor. The screens and windows of the porch were all boarded up and covered – so that when Mom left in the morning, I couldn’t see outside.
It was dark as we stepped into the entry. The lights were on, but they didn’t cast much light compared to even the cloudy sky outside. I looked around the living room. Everything was where we left it, upturned furniture and all. There were a few darts sticking out of the walls, and a couple of the agents were chuckling over them.
I smiled as I passed them and brushed into my room. A few articles of clothing were on the bed, not where I left them, since the last thing I did before I left was sleep and then whoop the hell out of Zack and Kurt.
I