Page 92 of Quiet
The soft click of the door opening inspired a mixture of victory and fear, and he waited several long minutes before daring to venture out into the hallway. He was right next to his parents’ room, so he had to be quieter than a ninja.
It was dark outside—at least he’d gotten the timing right. He crept across the floor, keeping low to give himself a chance to go undiscovered if someone got up in the middle of the night.
He reached the stairs after an eternity and made his way down the stairs, skipping the squeaky one in the middle. He didn’t have to be as quiet on the first floor—no one slept down here, but he didn’t relax his vigilance. For all he knew someone could be sleeping down here in case he tried to escape. His second stop was the kitchen—he’d had to check for secret sleepers first. If he didn’t find what he was looking for tonight, he would need food and water. He rarely got fed when getting the closet treatment. And his family was mad enough at him right now that he could be in there for several days.
It was why Baby Isa had created his stash in the first place. He might not have survived without it.
He rifled through the cabinets until he found an old box of breakfast bars. His mom always had them on hand, but no one ever ate them. They’d be stale, but the likelihood of anyone noticing some of them were missing was low. After stuffing his pockets, he guzzled water straight from the tap. His mom would notice if a glass was missing, so he’d have to fill up like a camel every night while everyone was asleep.
Provisions found, he made his way to his final destination—his father’s office. This was where his real work would begin.
Isa had known for some time that his family had been skimming off the top of the church coffers. His father had rationalized, saying that, as leaders of the community, they had an obligation to put on the best face possible as an inspiration to the rest of the congregation. If they looked prosperous, everyone would believe God smiled on them.
Isa knew this was complete horseshit, but it did give him a chance. If he could find evidence, he might be able to use it as leverage to get free.
Hours later, Isa had to give up for the night. His search had been slow since he’d had to leave everything exactly as he’d found it. But his night wasn’t a total bust. He’d found his phone in a locked drawer in his father’s desk. Now he could use it to take pictures of anything he found. He’d have to leave it for the moment, but tomorrow night, maybe he’d get lucky and hit paydirt.
Chapter34
Briar
“Stay with me, Bri. I’m almost done,” Cedar said sternly from where he was hunched over a stack of papers.
Briar had, in fact, never left him. From the moment his brother Cedar arrived at his house, Briar had been glued to his side. He greeted him at the door with the words, “Fix this.” And then shoved the godawful legal document Isa had left him in his brother’s face.
Briar probably looked like he was a thousand miles away since he was stimming more than he had since childhood, and eye contact wasn’t happening with anyone any time soon. His hands wouldn’t be still.Hewouldn’t be able to be still until Isa was back with him, unbroken and happy once more.
But he was one hundred percent aware of what was going on right now. Isa was gone, and Briar was about to fucking murder someone. He just needed to find out where to go to do it.
“Okay, I’ve finished.” Cedar tapped the pages in his hand. “They’ve got legal precedent if he’s declared a danger to himself or others. They’re his parents, Briar. Even though he’s now an adult.” Cedar didn’t even flinch when Briar put another hole in the wall. “According to this, he has a history of psychotic breaks.”
It was all Briar could do to sign the word, “Liars!” One of his hands wasn’t doing so well right now. It had gone through the drywall one too many times.
“I know, I know, I believe you. I talked to Mom, and she told me everything. We’ll get him back. I’m just going to have to get creative.”
It was almost unnoticeable, but the wound-up spring inside Briar relaxed a tiny bit at his brother’s words. Cedar was an excellent lawyer. So much so that his finances made Briar look dirt-poor in comparison. If his brother said they would get Isa back, they would get Isa back.
He just hoped there would be something left of him once they did.
Isa had been gone for thirty-six hours. Anything could have happened to him by now. And considering the state Isa had been in after being with his sister for five minutes, Briar was losing his mind with worry.
He didn’t have time for that.
Once he’d read Isa’s letter, everything had gone eerily quiet. He picked up his phone without thinking about it and called his brother. He didn’t remember what he’d said, but it must have been enough to get him on a plane from LA and come straight to him.
The eerie internal quiet was gone now. Half his room was in shambles, the piece he’d been working on was now ruined beyond recognition, and Briar was fairly certain he was bleeding in more than one place. The only area in Briar’s room that escaped his wrath had been the tiny part Isa had taken over.
“I have an idea, but I need you to do something for me while I look into it. Are you with me?”
Briar nodded. His brother was here. He was going to help.
“I need you to find out where Isa is now. Can you do that? I’ve got some digging to do.”
If Briar knew where Isa was, he wouldn’t be sitting here like a dumbass while the center of his entire universe was in danger. He couldn’t even use his phone to locate Isa’s because it had been one of the first casualties after he’d discovered Isa was gone. Briar had never despised himself before, but when he realized he’d destroyed the only method he had of finding Isa in a fit of anger, he had firsthand knowledge of the experience. If anything happened to Isa, he’d never be able to forgive himself.
There was no way he’d be able to gain access to Isa’s school records, and he had already gone through Isa’s things to try and find out where he used to live, but Briar had found nothing. It was like the boy had cut out everything tying him to his old life. Normally, Briar would be all about that, but right now it was making his life a living hell.
Alex had been scouring the campus for stragglers, questioning anyone who hadn’t left for the summer about Isa’s whereabouts. He should be back soon.
