“Come with me,” Neil said, his jaw set furiously as he led the way up to Callie’s apartment. He took out a key and unlocked the door. “See for yourself.”
Jason stepped inside and halted, dismay spreading through him. The place had been tossed, not professionally, it appeared, but by vandals. Furniture was upside down, upholstery was shredded, plants had been upended on top of everything.
And on one wall, in bright red paint, it said: Stay Out of It!
“Stay out of what?” Jason asked, half to himself. He looked at Neil, whose expression was more grim than ever. “Do you have any idea what this is about?”
“I wish I did. Those two downstairs are as silent as a pair of clams. I’d like to strangle them.”
“Where was Callie’s mother when this happened?”
“We’d all gone out for lunch. She’s not sure if she locked the door or not, but she thinks she did.”
“Did you call the police?”
“Of course. They’ve been through the place. They didn’t see any evidence of forced entry, which is odd given the number of locks. Surely she’d left at least one of them locked, even if it was just the flimsy lock in the doorknob. I’d lay odds she turned a dead bolt or two, as well, which means somebody got their hands on keys.”
Jason shoved his fingers through his hair. “Who would do something like this? And what is that message supposed to mean?”
“It beats me,” Neil said. “But I’ll tell you one thing, Terry and Regina both know more than they’re saying. I always know when Terry’s lying through his teeth. As for Regina, she just gets this pinched expression around her mouth and swears she has no idea how such a thing could have happened. She and Terry are so busy avoiding looking at each other that it’s clear to me there’s something they don’t want the rest of us to know.”
“And if the two of them know, then Callie more than likely does, too,” Jason said grimly.
He glanced around just then and caught sight of Callie in the hallway, frozen in place. Her complexion was so pale he wanted to gather her up and take her away to some sun-kissed beach where all of this would be far from her mind.
“How bad is it?” she asked, her voice uncharacteristically hesitant.
“Bad enough,” Jason replied.
“I would have started cleaning up,” Neil said. “Terry and your mother thought you ought to be here to decide what you want done.”
“That’s a very good idea,” Jason decided, blocking Callie’s entry into the apartment. “But it’s something we can do tomorrow.”
Callie scowled at him. “I might as well get it over with. It won’t be any better tomorrow.”
“But you’ll have had a good night’s sleep then. It’s late now and you’re bound to be tired from your trip. Things always look better in the morning.”
“If you tell me every cloud has a silver lining, I’ll hit you,” she threatened.
He grinned. “Okay, it won’t look that much better in the morning, but you’ll be rested.”
She regarded him stubbornly. “Jason, get out of my way.”
He shrugged and reluctantly stepped aside. She inched her way into the apartment, stopping just inside the door with a gasp. “Dear God,” she murmured. “I had no idea... Terry didn’t explain...”
“Because he’s a coward,” Neil said succinctly.
Callie’s startled gaze flew to his, as if she weren’t quite certain what or how much Neil actually knew. The reaction was very telling, as far as Jason was concerned. It confirmed Neil’s guess that everyone but he and Jason knew a whole lot more about what was going on.
“Maybe you’d better tell me what this is all about,” Jason said. “Starting at the beginning.”
“I...I don’t know what you mean.”
He and Neil exchanged looks.
“I think you do,” Jason said.
“So do I,” Neil added.
She regarded them both with huffy indignation. “What are you two, the Hardy Boys?”
“Or Castle and Beckett. We’re whatever gets us answers,” Jason said.
“What makes you think I know anything about this?”
“Because you’re a crummy liar,” Jason suggested. “You haven’t looked either one of us in the eye since we started asking for answers.”
Neil nodded agreement. “Worse than Terry or your mother. And don’t try that see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil crap, because I’m not buying it. Something weird is going on here, and it’s about time you let the rest of us in on it.”
“Amen,” Jason chimed in.
“Oh, give it a rest,” Callie retorted. “Isn’t it bad enough that my apartment has been trashed without my having to go through an inquisition on top of it?”
“If this were some random act, I’d say yes,” Jason replied. He gestured toward the wall. “That message changes things.”
“‘Stay out of it,’” Callie quoted in a monotone. “What does that mean? It could mean anything.”
“But it doesn’t mean just anything,” Jason said, forcing her chin up until she met his gaze. “Does it?”
A shudder washed through her, and she shook her head, her expression bleak.
“What’s it all about?” Jason persisted.
“Let’s go downstairs,” she said. “I’ll explain there.”
“Why not explain right here?” Neil asked.
Callie gave him a rueful look. “What is this? Some sort of divide and conquer strategy?”
“Whatever works,” Neil said.
“Downstairs,” she insisted, and headed for the door.
“What about the mess?” Neil asked, clearly appalled by the clutter.
“I’ll hire someone to clean it up,” she said. “I know how compulsive you are about neatness, but just leave it for now.”
Back downstairs, they found Terry and Regina huddled together on the sofa like a couple of misbehaving kids awaiting punishment. Terry’s gaze instantly shot toward Callie, and he rose to meet her.
“Did you tell them?” he asked.
She shook her head.
He looked relieved. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. It’s up to you to tell them.”
Terry looked as if he’d rather be floating down the Amazon on a leaky raft. Jason would cheerfully have beat the truth out of him, but it appeared Neil was inclined to do it
