Deserted - Cara Dee Page 0,99
it was a two-bedroom house. The living room and one other area faced the back. The latter had to be a bedroom, but they couldn’t be sure. The lights were off in there. Meanwhile, the ponytail man was watching TV in the living room.
Where Jackie could be held was anyone’s guess, and Darius had a few. Possibly one of the bedrooms, possibly a basement, possibly not here at all.
Gray dreaded the idea of the last one being true.
After they’d filled their pockets with the essential items they needed, they left their backpacks on a boulder and began their trek across the flatland that rested ahead of them. And in the dark, Gray couldn’t say he was thrilled about walking there.
Rattlesnakes, scorpions, and tarantulas were no fucking myth, and all the dangerous animals were nocturnal.
Gray may have bitched about it a little as they walked.
“You can rule out all scorpions and spiders right away,” Darius told him. “Your boots are too high for them to even get to you—and if you were ever stung or bitten, it’s usually no worse than a damn bee sting.” He paused. “Rattlesnakes would be the only threat. They’re all over this place.”
Gray shot him an incredulous look in the dark. “There you go with your fucking bedside manners again. They’re the worst!”
“Oh, relax. They can sense you right now, and they’re getting the fuck outta dodge.” He elbowed Gray lightly. “Baby, you’re more likely to win the lottery.”
“People get bitten by rattlesnakes all the time,” Gray argued.
“People win the lottery all the time too, but that’s beside the point,” Darius said. “You’re stuck on the risk of dying…? Ain’t gonna happen. They’d have to go for the jugular or something. Worst-case scenario, you get a bite in the leg, and it hurts for a while before you can get antivenom.”
“I feel like you’re downplaying that a whole lot.”
“I’m really not, and you’re gonna have to trust me for now.” Darius pointed ahead of them, and Gray was surprised to see they were nearly at the house. “You ready?”
Gray nodded and took a steadying breath. “For the record, though… You told me there were no sharks when we got stranded, and what a load of horseshit that turned out to be.”
Darius gave him a look before continuing. “I’ll take the eastern side, including the trailer. You go west, and then we meet up at the front of the house.” He pulled out his phone, probably to check if Willow had any updates.
“Anything?” Gray asked.
Darius shook his head and pocketed his phone again. “We’ll proceed anyway. We’re just looking.”
So far.
They split up once they got closer, and Gray finally found his focus. He eyed the backyard and got a bad feeling. There was a sandbox in the corner of the lawn. The light from the living room illuminated the space enough to let Gray see all the various escape routes. The windows, the sliding doors on the porch, the picket fence was a simple jump, and the highway was right there. Hell, even the desert was an option. If Jackie was really here, they couldn’t keep him in one of the rooms. Nothing short of chaining him to a post would keep him in place.
Unless he’d been pushed down mentally to the point of collapse.
Gray knew it was a possibility, and he had once felt the effects of it himself. Especially on the yacht, when the slightest thing could trigger a crushing blow of defeat mentally. He remembered when they’d lost Linus, who’d jumped overboard to die a free man. Gray had been so fucking fragile. Rhyme or reason hadn’t existed, and he’d just shuttled between states of chaos and surrender.
Deeming there were no sensor-driven lights or anything on the porch, Gray jumped over the fence once he reached the short end, and he carefully snuck over to the bedroom window. And it was a bedroom window. He peered inside and found a bed, a nightstand, a desk, and…drawings on the wall. They had to be made by children.
Nothing looked like it belonged in today’s modern world. Time had stopped out here.
Gray continued through the driveway and shook his head at the rusted-up doll stroller.
He stopped to peer into the car, but it was too dark to see much. A couple beer cans on the passenger’s seat. The padding was torn in places. But…hmm. Knowing this would be the last car to have an alarm, he tried the door, and it opened with a clunky release. Score.