Page 77 of Your Every Wish
“There’s something here.” She pounds her fist against the drywall. “Feel it? There’s something hard back there. And who drywalls their garage anyway?”
“A lot of people. It’s often required by code for fire resistance,” Liam says and knocks on the wall. “Yeah, you may be right.” He darts a look around the garage. “No tools.”
“Willy doesn’t strike me as a tool guy. Let me check the kitchen for something sharp we can use.” Kennedy takes off and returns a short time later with a butcher knife and a pair of poultry shears. Apparently, we’re going to spatchcock the wall. “Will this work?”
“Yep, but it’s going to leave a mess. The authorities will know someone was here. Worse, they’re going to think that whoever it was knew that Willy was hiding things and knew exactly where to find them.”
“In other words, if Willy was putting shit in his walls instead of a bank or a safe-deposit box he was probably up to no good. And if we take it, whatever it is, we’re complicit. Or at the very least tampering with evidence.” Kennedy blows out a breath and sits on the floor where she pulls her knees up to her chest and rests her head against them. “What do we do?”
I step closer to the wall and inspect it. There’s a slight bulge in the drywall. It could either be shoddy work or there’s something between the studs and the sheetrock. A thin box maybe, but it doesn’t seem like a golf bag would fit.
Liam pulls me down to the floor with him and for a while we all sit in silence. We drove hours to get here, risked breaking and entering; it would be a shame to leave with nothing. But at the same time, a prison cell in San Quentin doesn’t sound all that appealing.
“Is there a way to cut it open and put it back the same way we found it?” I ask.
“I’d need tape and mud and matching paint.” Liam scans the garage again. “By the time Home Depot opens, it’ll be daylight. And I’m not even sure it wouldn’t look like a patch job.”
“Too risky,” I say, knowing full well that Kennedy is already considering it. The one thing I’m learning about my half sister is when she sets her mind to something there’s nothing stopping her, even if it’s reckless.
She blows out another audible breath, then gets to her feet and starts pacing. Then she’s back to banging on the spot of the wall that’s bulging. “It feels like something hard.”
A golf bag is soft, isn’t it?
I’m about to say let’s cut our losses and get out of here before a neighbor notices activity in the house and calls the cops. While we’ve kept most of the lights off—the garage is lit up like a carnival—we haven’t exactly been stealth-like. But before I can voice my vote for leaving, Kennedy announces that she’s calling Misty.
She dials and puts her phone on speaker. Hopefully, the garage is soundproof and the nearest neighbor, who thankfully is a football field away, doesn’t hear us.
“Hello,” Misty says, her voice sleep filled. “Who is this and do you realize it’s nearly two in the morning?”
Uh-oh, we hadn’t thought about that.
“It’s Kennedy. We’re at Willy’s house and we think we found something. We need your help.”
“Call me tomorrow.”
Before she can hang up, Kennedy says, “We have a deal. Now it’s time to pay up.”
Liam and I exchange glances and his lips quirk. The absurdity of this entire event is not lost on either of us. Not only are we committing burglary but we’re doing it with the aid of a psychic, long distance. You can’t make this shit up.
“All right. Give me ten minutes to splash some water on my face and make a cup of coffee.”
“Five minutes,” Kennedy says, hangs up, then gives her six before redialing. “You ready?”
“Yes. Tell me what you see.”
Kennedy describes the wall and I add in about the bulge.
“Call me back on Skype,” Misty says and abruptly hangs up.
Kennedy dutifully complies and positions the phone so Misty can see the area with the bulge. “Are you seeing anything?”
“A wall,” Misty replies flatly.
“You know what I mean.”
“Give me a few minutes, for goodness’ sake. Do you think I’m some kind of machine?” She yawns. “I’d be better at this with a full night’s sleep.”
“We don’t have time. We’re not supposed to be here and snuck in.”
