Kissed by a Crisis (Kissed Series Book 2 of 6)

Chapter 1: Evidence

Once we leave my house, Talion and I decide to start with John and Joy Newman's home, because they lived next door and they were the first ones murdered. John seemed to know something was wrong, and he blamed Dan for the outage. These two got into a fight.

It caused a rift between Joy and me. So what did they know? I can't believe she's gone. How could they be a part of Dan's coven? Alright, that is another one of the weirdest statements I've ever thought of in my life.

When Talion gets to their sliding glass door, out back, it is not locked and we can just walk into their house.

I'm just not sure that I can believe all of this, especially while standing in Joy's kitchen, where we spent so much time together. What if he is making this all up?

He turns and tells me to wait here while he checks out the house first. I've been so gullible in the past that I worry about putting my faith in Talion.

What do I know about him? Lilith favored him and she was evil, so did Lori. But Dan and Talion did not get along. I know nothing about this man except what he has told me himself.

Standing here in their house, all these memories come flooding back. I've been in here a million times for dinner parties, game nights and just to hang out with Joy, John, and Dan. All of those times, visiting my friends, I've seen nothing out of the ordinary.

How can I believe all of this madness about my friends, from someone I just met?

Returning to me, he says, "Alright, the house is clear, so you check out upstairs and I'll look around down here, then we both can check the basement together. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good," I answer while walking down the hallway.

Up in their bedroom, I search through Joy's dresser. I've rarely been in here, so this is the best place to begin.

If they had something that needed to be kept hidden, this is where I would keep it.

Drawer after drawer, there is nothing of any significance, but I'm not deterred. Moving on to the walk-in closet, it is huge in here and there are several shoe boxes. Pulling them all out, I go through each one, and still nothing.

Josh had a hidden room in the basement, so maybe the Newmans have one too.

As I think the words, Talion walks in and just stands there with a smirk. Looking around, I'm surrounded by shoes and boxes.

"Hey Cece, I found nothing in the kitchen, living room, or dining room, but I didn't expect to. Those areas are high traffic parts of the house, so I was hoping you had found something up here." He says to me as I stand up.

Answering him, I say, "Nope, nothing so far. I was thinking about the hidden room in Josh's place. We all had the same builder, so maybe they have a room in the basement too."

Talion replies, "Alright, I'll go down there and start looking while you finish up here. Same builder, good thinking sweetheart."

When he turns to limp back downstairs, I pull clothes out of the closet. They could have a fake wall up here or something. Ripping John's clothes out of his part of the closet, I knock on the walls and find nothing. Looking around at the mess I've created, I feel terrible.

What if my friends have nothing to do with this? Now, I have just trashed their bedroom? What will their kids think? Wait a minute, their son and daughter...

Grabbing the picture off of Joy's nightstand, I head downstairs to the basement.

Talion might recognize them too, and that would be a clue.