Page 106 of Beautifully Shattered
With another round of nods, Riggs leaves us, and we head up my driveway, Ringo taking my trembling hand in his.
When we reach the porch, Ringo beats me to a hidden key, my brows shooting up at the fact that he knew where it was, only it’s not in its usual spot.
At seeing my confusion, he smirks and slides the key in the lock.
“Your little sister made sure to put it there after the first time your parents stopped keeping a key out.”
“Huh.” I smile. “She’s a smart girl. When did she tell you about that?”
“She told Lexi.” The door clicks open, and he releases my hand, pressing his finger to his lips before tugging out his gun.
It throws me off for a moment. The thought that anyone inside might pose a threat hadn’t even crossed my mind, even after everything my parents put me through.
Have I been conditioned so much by them that I’d just walk straight into danger without thinking?
Jols takes my hand, holding me back as Ringo and JD slink inside, and we wait in tense silence, listening for a few minutes before the door swings wide suddenly, and JD flashes a grin past his scruffy beard.
“All clear, ladies.”
I let out a breathless giggle, my heart hammering in my chest like a war drum, and when JD steps aside, I step inside the house I grew up in for the first time in three months.
I’m still trembling, but curiosity pulls me forward as I glance into the living room off to the side. The space dark but lit enough from the daylight filtering through the drapes, showing me it’s spotless, just the way my mum likes it.
When I turn in the other direction, I spot Ringo leaning lazily against the wall by the hallway leading to the bedrooms, and a flash of the night he stole me leaps into my mind.
I’d been terrified of him. Of all of them. Their black ski masks and hulking bodies made them seem like monsters. But there was one moment that they didn’t seem so scary. A moment I haven’t forgotten, and now, staring at my kidnapper from that night, I can see that moment for what it was. A glimpse at the real man behind the mask.
“Whatare you thinking about?” he asks, and a small smile tugs at my lips despite the anxiety in my chest.
“I was terrified of you that night.” I gesture to Jols and JD as well. “All of you.”
The image of him kneeling in front of Tahli and talking quietly is ingrained in my brain.
“But then, when my little sister opened her bedroom door and I was sure you were going to hurt her, you lowered yourself to her level, and spoke to her. You even lifted your mask so she could see your face.”
He nods. “That’s right.”
“What did you say to her?”
Pushing off the wall, Ringo closes the distance between us, my head tipping back as he towers over me, his fingers lifting to brush gentle knuckles over my cheek.
“I told her she was brave for reaching out to Lexi for help, and she asked me if I’d keep you safe, and I told her I would.”
“She wasn’t scared of you,” I point out.
“She knew we were coming. She knew Lexi was sending help.”
“But you must have looked like huge monsters to her.” My eyes drop to his chest, remembering how he’d told her to go back to bed, and that our parents had been put in the naughty corner for a while.
“Probably.” Ringo’s voice draws me back to the present, and I blink away the memories so I can focus on the here and now. “You ready to take a look.” He jerks his head over his shoulder, and I nod, taking his hand as he leads me down the hallway.
Tahli’s room is tidy, but her bed is unmade, which means when they left, they probably grabbed her straight from it and ran.
I bet she was so scared.
My room still has the locks hanging from the outside of the door, and when I open it, everything is the same as before that night apart from some stains on the carpet over by the far side of my bed.
Bloodstains, I realise, remembering how I’d cut myself on the glass deliberately, smearing blood on my face in a twisted attempt to look scary, hoping it would keep my parents away from me when they came back.
