Before You Go

Chapter Eighteen

"Tomorrow room three, nine sharp." Barry mutters as he drops down to one of the empty seats in front of me with a prominent frown on his face. He places the files on my table with a sigh so loud people outside my office must've heard it.

"Okay, what's wrong?" I ask and arch a brow.

"How can you tell?"

"How can anyone not tell?" I roll my eyes. "What did you do?"

"Well..." he trails off.

"No, please tell me you did not break up with him again!" I glare at Barry who gives me a sheepish grin. "Barry!"

Barry broke up with Holden two weeks ago because Holden missed dinner with Barry's cousin due to work, and they got back together last week. Now, it seems like they broke up, again.

"You should have heard what he said. He-" he's interrupted by phis phone buzzing in his pocket. His face lights up when he sees the screen and a wide grin is on his face. "On second thought, I'm going to head out now. I've already buzzed out anyways. See you tomorrow!" he gets up and skips out of my office. I can only assume it's Holden calling.

I gather my stuff to leave for the day when my phone rings. It's Carter calling.

"Hey Val, I need a favour."

"Hello to you too." I reply and leave my office, not before locking it behind me. "What can I do?"

"Can you buy pizza, fries, and maybe some chicken nuggets on your way home?"

"You sure are extra hungry tonight." I say.

"Extra large on everything." he says through the line. I can hear laughter and some talking in his background but it's not audible enough for me to understand. "Thanks!" and the line goes dead.

I shake my head and call the pizza place in advance to place my order so that it's done and I can just pick it up when I get there. It is by the time I get there, so all I have to do is pay for it then I'm on my way home.

The lights in every single room in the house are on when I park my car in the driveway- we couldn't keep up with our original plan of taking turns parking in the garage so whoever gets home first gets to park inside. I call Carter's phone so he could help me out with the food but no one answers.

The door to the house is locked, but I manage to unlock it even with all the food I'm carrying. When I enter, it's quiet and there's no one inside.

"What is going on?" I mutter and set the food on the kitchen island. I grab my phone and call Carter again. His phone rings and I can hear it from the living room but no one is there. His phone is on the coffee table.

"Carter?" I call his name out. An ear piercing shriek fills my ears and catches me off guard. It's so loud I have to cover them and take a few steps back to see where it's coming from. Unfortunately for me, my leg hits the coffee table and I lose my balance.

My heart rate suddenly spikes up at the thought of whatever monster or animal has broken into the house, and not due to the fact that I'm currently falling down to the ground. A little girl with a head full of blonde hair zooms right past me and through the hallways from the kitchen while I'm falling

I scream. I scream for two reasons. First and the more important one, why is there a kid inside the house? Second, I can feel pain shoot right through my wrist and all over my hand.

Thank God the table isn't made of glass, I think when I land on the floor. At least nothing's broken- maybe except my wrist.

Carter appears from the hallway, followed by a little boy a few doors down. I forget about the pain with all these questions in mind.