Page 38 of Shrouded in the Dark

“Becca. Thank goodness. Your mother was just about to get into the car. Are you alright?”

“Gary! Give me the phone this second!” Mom spoke over him.

The phone had to have been handed to Mom because the next voice on the line was hers.

“Becca Rosemary Lanore how dare you not call me! Instead I get a text?”

A throb started over my right eye. Oh, parents.

“Mom, I’m fine. You were the first person I responded to, but I had a lot of messages to catch up on.”

She blew out a loud breath. “I guess that’s alright. Look, I want you to pack up and go home. We’ll leave later today and be home in two days with the twins.”

“Now, Ginny…” I could hear Gary trying to calm Mom down.

“Mom, I’m fine. I wanted to ask Gary about the security on the house. Those guys I made friends with? Want me to go to their house and stay with them, but..”

“Oh! The four boys?” She was way too excited. “That sounds lovelllyy! I love you, sweetie. Here’s Gary back.”

I didn’t even get to finish before she fluttered off. I knew if I laughed, she’d know, though, so I kept quiet until Gary came back on the phone.

“Sorry about that, kiddo.” Amusement and love laced his tone. “You know your mom.”

“I do. I love you, guys. But I’d like to stay up here. The guys, that I’m sure Mom told you about, want me to come stay with them…” I continued with information about them, any answers I could give about their house, and location to Gary.

He hummed and hawed through the information. I could hear paper rustling, like he was looking through some things. After I’d answered the last question, he tsked.

“From what you’ve described, their house may not be the best location if there really is some kind of… thing that’s out there killing people. Our house is equipped to handle pretty much anything. I’ll give you a code to input into the system to voice activate the commands. I’ll send you some information via email about some hidden features, too. If you insist on staying there to work on your art, you need to be hyper aware of everything around you. I’m not okay with letting you stay there, but you’re also an adult. I can’t force you to go home. If you can get the guys to stay with you, then it should be fine. Find out if they know how to handle a gun or if they even have one. If they don’t stay with you, I’m agreeing with your mom and we’ll all be home in two days. Sound fair?”

“Yes, definitely. Thanks, Gary.”

“Love you, kiddo. Follow the email instructions to the letter, promise?”

“Promise.”

“Alright, get back to your art after the house is set up. I’ll call you in the evening to make sure you’ve got it all set up.”

“Okay. Talk to you soon, lots of love to everyone.”

Hanging up, I noticed that I’d finally stopped shaking all over. There was a plan now. It would be okay, plus, I’d get to hang out a whole lot more with the guys if we were all staying in the same place.

I called Seth’s phone this time. I had just barely beat the thirty minute mark.

“Pretty close, Becs.”

There went my toes with a tingle up my spine.

“Sorry? But, um, Gary agreed that staying here would be better for me. You guys are welcome to come stay. You’ll have to pair up, but there’s plenty of room. We’ll have to go grocery shopping, though.”

A car door slammed. “We got it handled. We’re already in the SUV with food and our stuff. We’ll be there in ten.”

“So, you were going to come over anyway, weren’t you?”

“Yup.”

My laugh burst out and I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

“See you in a few.” I hung up shaking my head.