It’s well into the night when I hear Saxon’s phone alerting us to our surveillance. It’s Friday, only Saxon and I are home, and we’re not expecting anyone.
“What is it?” Saxon asks as I open his phone.
The app is blinking on the camera that is showing movement and I expect to find a raccoon in our garbage, but instead I’m nearly swallowing on my heart when I see a hooded figure standing outside the gate. They’re not moving, just looking in, and by the body build I can see it’s not Neil. They don’t move, just continue to look through the gate, and wait for something to happen.
My phone lights up with a call and I curse the moment I put it on silent.
“Hello?”
“Ivy?” Mom sounds panicked. “Call Uncle Emmett.”
“Okay.” I whisper, keeping her on the line and using Saxon’s to call him. “Who is that?”
“I don’t know. Hurry up, Emmett.” She growls.
“Hello?” Uncle Emmett’s sleepy voice fills the speaker phone.
“There’s someone weird at our gate.” Saxon says into the phone, “get over here fast.” He hangs up and switches back to the camera feed.
Now the guy is looking right up at it, unmoving, and his face shrouded in darkness.
“Mom.” The fear in my voice is evident.
“Don’t worry, he can’t get in.” She tries to reassure us but fails to hide her panic.
Suddenly, the figure looks to the right and then runs off in the opposite direction. A few seconds later, Uncle Emmett’s car pulls up and he gets out with his gun drawn, running in the same direction.
“Do not open the gate.” Mom growls, “not even for your uncle. We are on our way home.”
“Okay.” I whisper and hang up.
“Who the fuck was that?” Saxon jumps up from the bed to look out my window, it faces the driveway.
“I don’t know.” But I may have an idea. Adam? Dean? Someone hired to keep a watch on us.
Whoever it is, they’re being blatant about it and know we have cameras. I’m suddenly aware that all my actions can have bad consequences for my family and not just myself.
Mom and Dad get home about five hours later and the house is in a bit of an uproar. Not only is my Uncle Emmett here but so are Uncle Travis and Aunt Adri. I can hear them in the kitchen with hushed conversation that’s starting to freak me out. So, I do what any normal person would do and try to eavesdrop.
The kitchen doors are shut, but there’s a small gap between them, and if you stand near that, you can hear just enough. I’ve done it many times and listened to how much my parents moaned about their crazy kids.
First, I hear Uncle Emmett saying he did see the figure running but that he lost him further up the street.
“It was definitely a man?” Dad asks.
“Yes,” Uncle Emmett answers, “average height and weight.”
So not Neil for sure.
“Could it be Head retaliation?” Uncle Travis asks and I hear Mom hum.
“I had a hit last weekend that uncovered one of their secret pockets in Manhattan. It could be.”
Hit? Head? Secret pocket? What the fuck is my family into? They sound like the fucking Sopranos sitting in my kitchen. This must be business lingo, there’s no other explanation.
“What about Charlotte’s older brother?” Aunt Adri asks and my heart almost explodes, “I saw him on camera around the school the other day.”
What?
“Nah,” Dad says, “he has a thing for Ivy and likes to watch out for her. I think he’s harmless.”
“Maybe we should keep an eye on him too, though.” Uncle Emmett replies, “just in case.”
“Okay.” Mom concedes. “Trent is digging up the Head I outed last weekend and he’ll let me know what he finds. I can’t head back to New York until this is all straightened out, I won’t leave my kids in danger.”
“If someone needs to go,” Uncle Travis answers her, “Vin and I will do it.”
I hear chairs scrape along the kitchen tile and rush for the stairs, I get to the top when I hear the doors open.
“All I keep thinking about is someone knew my children were here without us.” Mom moans as I duck back behind the wall.
“Ivy is almost eighteen and they did the right thing. Our children are smart.” I can hear Dad soothing her.
“They are smart.” Uncle Emmett tells her, “and there’s always someone close by.
“I can’t help but think that someone will start picking off my family again.” Mom says quietly.
Again?
“We’ll figure it out.” Dad says, “we won’t have history repeat itself. Our children will not be another Debra and Scott.”
That’s Mom’s aunt and uncle and they used to own this house before they passed away, or were they fucking murdered?
Saturday and Sunday, the house is bustling with activity and the nervous tension is so fucking potent. Mom has the surveillance guys come in to look over everything, Dad has been on the phone with Uncle Emmett, and there have been cops sitting in our driveway both days. Thankfully, it’s never Adam.
Sunday night, Mom and Dad call me and Saxon into the kitchen to tell us we won’t be going to school this week and to not leave the house for any reason.
“Why?” Saxon asks. “Who’s after us?”
“No one is after us.” Dad scoffs. “We’re just a target for break ins because of where we live.”
“To come to that conclusion,” Saxon begins, “you would’ve had to look at the break in statistics around this area. I haven’t heard of any.”
They look at him dumbfounded and I snort. “He has a point.”
“And the cops being on our property like the Men in Black is also fucking strange.” Saxon leans back in his seat.
“Watch your fucking mouth.” Mom says to him and I snort again.
“Ivy, don’t encourage it.” Dad chastises.
“So, how long are we on lockdown?” I ask.
“This week.” Dad answers, “then everything will be back to normal.”
Both Saxon and I nod as we get
