Page 44 of Shattered Silence Duet

The twins look at each other, then turn to us, grinning. “We’re in.”

Max’s voice brings me back to the present as he asks, “Atlas and Dom will be here in two minutes. I guess we get to go home and sleep?”

“Yeah. I doubt I’ll sleep much, but we can try, right?” Max nods and looks at his watch for the millionth time in four hours.

“You’re worried about her,” I tell him. It’s not a question.

“She hasn’t texted since this morning, and we’ve seen no sign of her.”

I’m very aware of the lack of contact with Mina. She’s been radio silent all day. Unless she slipped out before we arrived, she’s in there somewhere, not texting us for some reason.What is she doing in there? Is she safe?

A flash of lights in the rearview mirror catches my attention. “That’ll be Dom and Atlas now.”

A car pulls up silently behind us and switches off the engine and lights. Max’s phone rings, and he puts it on speaker. “Dom,” he greets.

“I’ve got the other team on the call, too. Anything to report?”

“We’ve seen Helen step out back to dump an ashtray on the lawn, then she went straight back inside,” Jasper gives us his report.

“We’ve got nothing,” I add.

Dom sighs. “Well—” He goes quiet as headlights approach. We duck down as a black Corolla pulls into the driveway.

A man gets out, heading inside. “He’s way younger than I expected,” Max mutters.

“Maybe thirty. Short brown hair, five-nine or five-ten,” I say, describing his appearance to the others.

“Is it Jeff?” Ben asks through the phone.

“I don’t know. Could be,” I reply.

Jasper whispers, “we need to ID this guy.”

Dom takes control of the situation. “Jasper, Gideon, check the car. No security lock, right?”

“I didn’t hear one,” I confirm.

As we wait for Jasper to reach the car, I read the license plate off to Ben so he can search it.

We watch as Jasper creeps over from the shadows of the backyard and silently opens the driver’s door, and starts searching.

“Fuck, not much here. Just fast food bags. I took some photos,” he reports.

“Nothing in the glove box?” Atlas asks.

“No. I should check the trunk,” Jasper whispers back.

“No, they might hear you, get back to your positions for now,” Dom instructs.

“Those plates are fake, the number doesn’t exist,” Ben tells us over the phone.

Suddenly, we hear a soft thump from inside, loud enough to catch our attention. “I don’t like this,” Max mutters. A few voices agree.

“Something’s wrong,” Atlas says, mirroring my own thoughts.

Dom responds quickly, “Gideon, cut the power. Atlas and I will pose as electricians, gain access, and check it out. Tuck, Max, follow anyone who leaves. Jasper, cover the back.”

“Clear,” we all confirm our part in the plan, and I grip the steering wheel tightly as I watch the others get in place.Please let her be okay.