when he said, “I’m not sure I can do that, Robbie. Not when I’m not really feeling assured.”
With confidence I wasn’t feeling, I did my best to sound like I did have it under control. “Really, Phoenix. I got it handled. Thanks for your help.”
“Robb-”
“I gotta go,” I said, cutting him off. “Tell Frankie I’ll call her tomorrow.” I hung up before he could argue. Right now, I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to deny a direct command from the man. He was a stone-cold killer after all, and I didn’t want to test that.
Defeat and despair threatened to consume me as I sat on the couch and try to think of something I might be missing. Short of pulling up every blade of grass in my small backyard, how impossible would it be to tell if something’s been dug up all this time later? It’s been weeks since that night, surely the lawn has grown over by now, right?
Deciding it was worth the effort, I headed to the backyard and inspected every goddamn inch of grass and dirt. Nothing looked disturbed, and I could feel desperation begin to claw at my throat. I was about to drown myself in sorrow when I remembered I still had a key to Randy’s apartment.
I ran into the house, pulled his key off my keyring, and took the shortcut around our blocks to his house. The night of Frankie’s kidnapping, and right now, were the only two times I’ve ever been grateful that we lived so close to each other.
Coming around the corner, dread settled in the pit of my stomach as I noticed the overgrown yard. My guess was the landlord must not know Randy was gone. I knew he’d come around soon enough when the rent wasn’t paid, but for now, the house looked abandoned.
I glanced around, and the street looked relatively quiet. For most people, Monday was the beginning of their workweek, so they were probably all settled in for the night.
I made my way up the walkway and as soon as I hit the single level step, I saw the front door wasn’t entire shut closed. That sense of dread felt heavier than before and I knew, before I even pushed the door open, that Gary and Merrick had already been here.
Walking into Randy’s house, it looked a tornado hit. The place had been ransacked, nearly everything torn to shreds. A quick sweep of the kitchen, bedrooms, and bathroom proved those rooms in pretty much the same shape as the living room. I chuckled when I realized that Gary and Merrick had inadvertently done The Holy Trinity a favor. Once the landlord came looking around and inevitably called the police, it will look like Randy ran because someone was after him.
I placed Randy’s key on the kitchen counter and left out the back. I wasn’t sure if anyone saw me enter his house, but I didn’t want my name coming up when the landlord did finally come around. I zigzagged through the back-neighboring yards and was back at my house within minutes.
Nervousness caused me to make a hot cup of tea as I tried to figure out what to do next. I racked my brain with everything I knew about Randy-much like I had last night-and I couldn’t come up with any other place to look. Of course, for all I knew, Randy could have had scores of other women and friends I didn’t know about. He had been a loser and, deep down, I had always known it.
My biggest problem right now was, whether or not, Gary and Merrick would believe me if I told them I couldn’t find it. For some reason, they felt I was their best chance at finding that box, and I was anxious about what would happen if I couldn’t find it. Would they kill me? Would they take their frustrations out on me since Randy wasn’t around any longer?
I had my tea ready to go when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my back pocket and wanted to beg God for mercy when I saw the name flashing across the screen.
Frankie.
Great.
Chapter 11
Ciro~
After Luca’s apology-not apology yesterday, I realized I had to make things right with my sister sister and Nix. Mostly my sister, though.
It’s not like they were never going to speak to me again, but I just got Frankie back. I wasn’t too keen on fighting with her already. Plus, if I wasn’t careful, she’d go off and