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I knew then I should have gone with my gut last week. I banged on the door again. Someone better bloody answer. It hadn’t slipped my notice that all Wilsons had disappeared off the face of the planet.

Eve wasn’t causing hell at school.

Then there was Tyson himself. If he was just blowing off school, I got that, but blowing off a monthly meeting that Brad had to head because Reaper was also a no show to the meeting? Cyrus was extremely pissed off that Reaper would blow off his business with the club. Took me hours to calm him down after that meeting with Brad.

And don’t get me started on fucking Brad. He sure as hell didn’t have his head in the meeting either. I could have just given them fake figures and he sure as fuck would have just signed them off.

Apart from the Wilsons’ disappearance and the Vice President of Satan’s Sons being not interested in club business, you would think everything was fine with the club.

So, realizing that all the Wilsons had gone underground along with Brad, who I knew had strong feelings for Hannah, it made me come to two possible conclusions.

One, Hannah had told her family about the breast cancer.

Two, her family had realized she was sick. The front she had been putting up had slipped.

I banged on the door again and finally it opened.

Tyson’s tight expression disappeared when he saw it was me who had been banging on his family’s door loud enough to wake up a small city.

“Look, Layla, now isn’t a good time.” Tyson jumped to the conclusion I was here to see him.

I scoffed. “Not here for you, Wilson.” I was hurt when he didn’t reach out to me at all after I gave him my number but that was last week’s news. “Hannah. Where is she?” I was waiting to hear what excuse he was going to come up with.

“Um.” He frowned, and then scratched the back of his neck. “She isn’t well. Like I said, it isn’t the best time.”

“Right. Gastro. When did she get it?” I crossed my arms. Come on Tyson, lie better.

“Over the weekend.” He did lie, badly.

I scoffed. For a Sergeant of Arms, he really needed to work on his poker face. I uncrossed my arms, acting like I’d accepted that as response. “Okay, no worries,” I lied perfectly. Well enough that his grip on the door was off and he went to actually say goodbye to me. I took the opportunity and pushed open the door and walked into the haunted mansion.

“For a Sergeant of Arms, you need to work on your ability to lie, Wilson.” I gave him some advice and I was heading for the stairs when I noticed all the Wilsons in the lounge room. What were they in the middle of? A family meeting?

“For a smart girl, you sure as hell don’t take a hint.” Tyson’s words were sharp but only reached my back. I had already headed up the stairs, not dwelling on why the Wilsons looked like they were having a meeting.

The one Wilson I wanted wasn’t there.

“Oi, Layla! You can’t just storm into our house!” Tyson was quick to follow me but I was ahead of him. I was the one who sprinted daily. He may be fit, but I was fitter.

I stopped at Hannah’s door, my hand going to the handle, twisting it. Locked.

“Layla! Get the fuck out! You aren’t welcome!” Tyson had caught up to me, looking as furious as a fighting pit bull. Pity for him I dealt with pit bulls all the time. He would have to physically drag me away from here for me to move.

I knocked on the door. “Hannah?” I tried to hide how pissed off I was with my best friend.

Silence followed. Tyson’s mouth actually shut when I called for Hannah’s attention. Then a few minutes passed and there was no reaction from inside the room.

Tyson sighed. “Look, Layla, can you go? Hannah isn’t well.” He wasn’t yelling at me now. “Just give her some space.” He was actually trying to give me advice—had Hannah told them the truth?

I looked at Tyson a bit harder. I think I needed a bit more information. “How long has she been in there for?” I wasn’t about to drop the cancer word in case Hannah hadn’t told them the truth.

“All week.” Tyson told me the truth; I could tell by his tone. He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sure she will call you when she is feeling better.”

I knew then. Right then that Hannah hadn’t told them to the truth. If they knew she had cancer they wouldn’t be letting her cease treatment or lock herself in her room for over a week.

I didn’t need Tyson to tell me another word. I knew something else had happened. I banged on Hannah’s door again, this time putting all my force into it.

“You have three seconds to open this door, Hannah, before I start screaming about your least favorite topic.” My words were loud enough to be heard through the whole house. Even if she had headphones on she would have heard that. But the threat I was giving was real and that could be heard in my tone.

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