Take Courage, My Heart

Chapter Thirty

Vincent didn't call again. But once we were close enough to the cabin, I did get bored and started going through Duke's phone. He was dead; he didn't mind.

I had scooted over and sat right by Leander's side, both of his hands holding mine in my lap. We had wordlessly made up, though I was sensing the words would be coming later.

Duke didn't have many contacts, just ten, all of which were inputted by initial letters. I didn't bother decoding them. Instead, I went through his other apps, looked at his search history –and was slightly impressed with how tame it was– and at last made it to his photo gallery. I was zoned out when I skipped over about half a dozen screenshots of rest stops and then landed on one rest stop he had saved that seemed vaguely familiar. It was in Maine.

I continued going through his photos, now fully alert and worrying Leander, but I didn't explain myself. Thankfully, Duke wasn't too much into photography, though I didn't feel thankful in the slightest when I reached a photo of the suburban house I had been raised in.

"No," I muttered and flipped to the next photo, only to throw the phone onto Leander's lap and flinch away from him. Behind all the grime and cracks on Duke's phone screen was an image of my older brother holding onto our little sister's hand as they exited the house.

"Are these...?" Leander muttered just as Ezra asked what was going on.

"Duke went to my family home. He must have been one of the people that my parents–" I stopped myself from actually saying it out loud, one of my hands shooting up to cover my mouth in horror. Just hours ago, I had taunted Vincent never once thinking of my family and the danger I was putting them in.

Without a word, Ezra pulled over, Annerose following his lead and coming over to check what had happened. I looked at Ezra as he took off his seatbelt and climbed out of the car.

"What is going on?" I asked Leander, but with a shrug, he also climbed out of the car.

"–bring over the luggage from your car. I am taking it," Ezra was telling Annerose when I also got out of the car. Ezra turned to me with his jaw set and his eyebrows upturned in worry. "I will go to check on your family and make sure Vincent doesn't go for them."

"You can't just– I can't ask you to drive all the way to fucking Maine!" I exclaimed.

"You are not asking me. I am just going. And I'll take a flight," Ezra replied, turning to help Annerose with the luggage.

"I fucked up! I shouldn't have talked to him like that. I knew my family was in danger and goaded Vincent," I shot back, folding my arms before my chest.

"He would have been able to go after your family regardless. Even if you hadn't answered his call, he had already suspected you were alive. He must have– to have sent Duke that way to begin with. Ezra going over is not a bad idea," Leander assured me. "That way you can rest assured that someone is looking over them all while we continue to look for the auction and Kevin."

The shot of adrenaline had drained out of my system by now, so I nodded along to his calming words, letting him take my hands in his. The auction. Right. That took precedence. Kevin's life was currently in actual danger, as opposed to the possible danger Vincent could pose to my family.

The sports car hadn't taken too much luggage to begin with so the switch around didn't take that long. Soon enough, Ezra took off for the nearest city that had an airport and we headed for the cabin. I didn't touch Duke's phone again during the rest of the drive. I had already caused enough trouble with that thing. Instead, I silently thought of my siblings in that picture I had seen.

I hadn't seen Adam in over half a year and even then it had been on video call. His hair had grown out a little bit, though it was still short. He had gotten even more buff, that much I had managed to retain from my quick glance. And Fiona –our little sister– she had gotten so much taller. She had been tiny since she was born, growing up petite and lanky. But in the months that I hadn't seen her, she had grown so damn much.