who killed her is still out there somewhere, maybe living a relaxing life in the country, Peter is my evil twin who never grew up, and our father is still a mysterious deadbeat. I can’t even complain about that last one, because it’s just about the only thing in my past that’s remained consistent.”
“Shit,” Ronnie murmured. “Just when I thought your past couldn’t get any more depressing.”
Colt shot him a half-hearted glare. “You’re a real encourager, anyone ever tell you that?”
“All the time,” Ronnie answered without missing a beat.
Colt snorted, focusing on the road. The drive was shorter than he’d expected. He knew Ronnie was right, and he needed to be emotionally prepared for walking into that shed and finding nothing. For all they knew, it wasn’t even the right place, but he couldn’t stop himself from hoping.
He pulled up against the curb a few houses down from their destination. When Ronnie opened his door, Colt grabbed his arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going with you. What, you didn’t think I was actually gonna stay in the car, did you?”
“I’d hoped. Don’t make me lock you in the trunk.”
It wasn’t an idle threat, but Ronnie’s eye roll seemed to suggest he didn’t know that. He moved his jacket aside, and Colt did a double-take at the Glock nestled in a holster on his hip.
“Where the hell did you get that?”
“Uncle Roland,” Ronnie answered casually. “After what happened last year, I asked him to teach me how to shoot so I wouldn’t be completely useless.”
“You’re not useless, you’re just mortal,” Colt said. He wasn’t sure why the idea of Ronnie carrying a gun freaked him out so much. He’d been pestering Jason about getting one for years. Maybe it was just the fact that Colt was still struggling to stop seeing Ronnie as a kid, despite his insistence to the contrary. Or the reminder that he was the reason Ronnie was in the line of fire in the first place.
Ronnie seized on his shock and got out of the car. Colt quickened his steps, looking at the unimposing shed up ahead. He doubted any of the buildings on the street were still occupied. He couldn’t imagine them passing building code, and other than the shelled-out skeleton of a Crown Victoria, his truck was the only vehicle in sight.
“He definitely has the creepy kidnapper aesthetic down,” Ronnie said as they approached the busted fence. Colt reached around the other side for the lock and found it already broken.
He stepped in first, motioning for Ronnie to stay behind him. His gun was already drawn when Colt looked back, and to his surprise, he actually seemed to know how to hold it. Then again, if Roland could turn Colt into a swordsman, he could probably do anything.
A cursory glance around the yard gave him the confidence to approach the shed, which was actually locked. Colt snapped the bolt with his bare hands and pushed the door open, revealing a dark, mostly empty shed. The light shining through the rotted slats in the roof illuminated a few empty paint cans propped against a craft bench that hadn’t been used in years.
Colt grabbed the chain hanging from the ceiling and pulled it. The dim bulb wasn’t much help, but he did notice a small phone he’d missed before on the center of the craft bench.
“Well, that’s conspicuous,” Ronnie remarked, keeping his gun trained on the door.
The phone rang, and he flinched, but to Colt’s relief, he didn’t pull the trigger.
Colt stared in disbelief at the phone. His heart was racing in anticipation as he reached to pick it up. He was expecting Peter’s eerily childish voice, but when he heard Jason’s instead, he nearly dropped the phone.
“Colt?” Jason’s voice sounded strained with fear, but it was clear.
“It’s me,” he said hoarsely. “It’s me, Jason, I’m here. Are you okay? Where are you?”
For a few seconds, all he heard was Jason’s rattled breathing. “I… I can’t tell you that. He’s here.”
Colt clenched his jaw. Of course he was. “I’m coming for you,” he told Jason, struggling to remain calm. “I’m going to bring you home.”
“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” Jason said, his voice trembling.
A dry laugh escaped Colt’s throat. “Yeah. I guess I do.”
“That’s enough,” Peter said in his singsong. His voice became clearer a second later. “You may be seeing him soon, if you keep up the good work. I wasn’t expecting you to find the shed this early. Then again,