Page 65 of Devil's Work: Dark

They’re not in the house. In a panic, I run out to the backyard.

“Rae? Ty?”

The door to the crawlspace opens and a freaked-out Ty emerges, holding Baby Girl’s hand.

“Dark!” he shouts, crying. Tears streak down his cheeks, leaving clean paths on his face, dirty from being under the house.

I rush to them, dropping down to collect them into my arms. Both Ty and Lacy press their faces against my neck.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you now. Where’s your mom?”

“A bad man came,” Ty says, hiccupping. “My mumma hid us and told me to keep Lacy quiet until I heard you. I kept Lacy quiet.”

“You’re a good big brother, bud.”

“Will the bad man hurt Mumma?”

Fuck.Do I lie to the kid? What if I say she’ll be fine and she’s not? Shit—I can’t even think about that. So I go with the best but most honest answer I can. “I don’t know, bud. But you’re safe now and I’m going to try and get your mom safe, too.” As I push up from the ground, both kids still cling to me. “I need you to do something for me, Ty.”

“Okay, Dark.”

It’s just that easy with him. The trust the kid has in me, it means everything.

“I need you to stay inside the house with Lacy until I come back inside to get you. It’ll only be a minute. But don’t look out the front window, open the door, or go outside.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m asking you not to.”

Baby Girl presses a kiss to my neck. Dammit—where the hell is Rae?

I set them down inside the kitchen, close the door, and run over to Mable’s place to see if she saw anything. Has she called the police? Is she still in bed?

When pounding several times on the door doesn’t result in an old woman answering, I try the knob. The door opens like it wasn’t shut all the way to begin with.

“Mable?” I call out, freezing when I see the prone figure lying on the floor between the kitchen and living room. My brain kicks in and I run to her. “Mable, sweetheart, talk to me.”

She has a bit of dried blood on her forehead and a goose egg. She’s out, but she seems to be breathing. I’ve got no way to know if someone did this to her or not—though the timing feels off. Or if the cut on her head came from the fall or an attack?

Phone to my ear, I call 9-1-1 to report it as I head back outside. The kids need to get safe.

Ty is still sitting on the sofa when I walk back inside our home to them. He has a show on for Lacy. God only knows how I have the presence of mind to grab the diaper bag before I pick the kids up.

“Need you to close your eyes now, bud. Don’t open them until I tell you to.”

“Why?” he asks the question of the day again.

“Because it’s important. I’m asking you to do this.”

“Okay. Lacy, close your eyes,” he orders his sister then closes his. She does. They won’t stay closed. She’s not even two yet. But she won’t see Winky out there with her face pressed to my neck and she wouldn’t understand what she’s seeing anyway. Ty will.

We leave the house. I pull the door shut then walk fast over to the truck, setting the kids in their respective car seats. Once they’re buckled in, there’s no way for Ty to see Wink.

“You can open your eyes now, bud.”

But before climbing in with them, I jog to Reap, who is still trying to save Winky, though I think it’s a lost cause. “The kids are unhurt. Ty said a bad man came and Rae hid them.”

“Why wouldn’t she hide, too?”

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