Chapter 69 The Binders
I don’t know how long we sit at the island talking while eating the delicious pie she made.
I’ve made a point of pushing the truth to the back of my mind. This is a time when I can enjoy my time with her without the weight of all of it being a part of it. It’s as though I know deep down this might be one of the few last times I have with her before everything changes.
She stops talking to me when her phone rings, making her answer it. I try to listen in on everything being said, but I can’t make out anything real.
“Sorry, I’m gonna have to go pick up something real fast.” She grabs her keys, giving me an apologetic look.
“What do you mean?”
“We’re buying a new rug offline, and the seller wants me to come get it right now, of course, last minute.”
“Oh, okay, can I just hang here until you get back?” I see the opportunity laid out right in front of me. This is the perfect opportunity to look through their stuff.
“Yeah, of course, you can even go see your new room again. It’s the first door on the right up the stairs.” She gestures to the upstairs as I follow her to the front door.
“Yeah, I probably should maybe make me feel less homesick.” I keep my tone light.
“Help yourself to whatever you want, honey. Love ya.” She gives me a quick hug before leaving the house.
I watch her from the front window as she gets into her car and reverses out of the driveway. I wait a minute by the window while she’s out of sight, just to ensure she doesn’t come back. And then I move quickly. I already saw the majority of the first floor, so it was easy to spot the office.
I know this part of their job is going to be more well hidden than just being sat on their desk, but it’s the first place to start. I walk into the smaller room, and an oak desk sits in the middle of it. Some filling cabinets on the wall behind it.
I filter through the papers on the desk, my heart pumping incredibly fast. But of course, nothing can be easy. There isn’t anything useful among them. I move to the drawers, doing the same, but nothing. Not even a hint of something.
I’m getting more and more antsy the longer I go without finding something. The longer I have to rush and hope she doesn’t come home and catch me.
The filing cabinets are the next thing I go to search. Please let it be in there. But I know as soon as I pull open the first drawers that they’re empty. Shit.
It feels like it’s been ten minutes already. I try to think where they would hide it. I think over everything, my whole life with them, where they would meet privately, where they would hide something like this? Then I remember it all. They never liked it when I was in their room alone. They always met in there, even when it wasn’t about work. It’s the one space I’ve never really been in long enough to look at.
I leave the office quickly, making my way up the stairs. I try the first door on the left, being annoyed when it opens to a damn bathroom.
I go to the next door, crossing my fingers, it’s their bedroom. And as though I finally get a damn break, it is. The room is fairly empty and undecorated, showing just how little they have unpacked and decorated. But I can see the black bag sitting under their bed. It probably would’ve been hidden better if they knew I was here. But it’s sat half under the bed and half out of it.
I go to it immediately, sitting on the floor, opening it. I know it’s the thing I’ve been looking for when I see the bingers of papers. I pull the binders out, glancing over them in hopes that they might tell me what is in them.
The first one is about another pack. I pull my phone out of my pocket, taking a picture of the pack name so that way Alec’s pack can maybe warn them.
I go to the next binder, my heart beat rising immediately upon seeing the first picture in it.
It’s Alec. He’s younger in this photo, and another guy is next to him, even younger. But I recognize the guy next to him as Garrett.
This must be from when they first started hunting them. It makes me sick to see this. But I don’t want to stall, she may be back at any time.
I start taking photos of the papers, not even really paying much attention to what I’m seeing. It’s a mix of maps, photographs, hand written notes, plans written out, and some things I don’t even understand.
I almost jump out of my skin when I hear a car horn from outside. It’s enough to scare me into being done. I close the binder. Putting both of them back into the bag, trying to place it the exact way it was.
I run out of the room just in time to hear the front door open. I panic for a second before remembering her statement before leaving. Right my room. She thinks I’ll be in my room looking it over.
I run on my toes, trying to be quiet as I enter my room, shutting the door behind me. I’m not in there for longer than a minute when I hear the door open, and she comes in.
I jump a mix of true fear startling me, and a mix of trying to not make it noticeable, I knew she was home.
“Hey, honey, how’s it going in here?”
“You scared me.”
She laughs at me. In a normal circumstance, this wouldn’t bother me, but right now, after looking at their binders of people they have killed or plan to make me feel ill.
“It’s going good. How was the rug pickup?”
“Great, the rug is perfect.”
We spend several more hours talking and catching up until I finally leave Alec picking me up again.
He has to pull over a black from the house to let me vomit. He’s at least being a better boyfriend as he holds my hair back for me, rubbing my back with his other hand. It’s a miracle I haven’t gotten sick before now.
I don’t know how I’ll be able to continue handling this.