Chapter 32

A/N Hey guys I would really appreciate it if you could vote on my chapters (the little star) once you are done reading it- or even before (and if you haven't if you could go back and do so). I do this for free and getting votes (and comments) is how we get any recognition. Thank you! Hope you enjoy! 

The second place was nicer than the first. A suburban neighborhood with matchstick houses lining up the block. All of them were the same style but painted a different color.

"This is it," he said, pulling up across the street, "so what do you expect to find here?"

"I think this is where he lives."

"Hummer guy?"

"Yeah."

"Really. Here?" He asked skeptically, "his doesn't seem like the type of neighborhood a thug like that would live in."

"His mail is delivered here."

"Well, he isn't home," he said, gesturing to the empty driveway.

This whole place was so strange. The house seemed so...quaint. The front yard was so manicured, with chrysanthemum bushes and a mailbox that seemed freshly painted a tasteful off-white color.

"So, what's your plan?" He asked.

I smiled sheepishly, "I don't really have one."

"Ahuh, well, we could go inside?" he suggested.

"Like breaking and entering?"

"Yes."

"What if they have alarms?"

"First, I'm impressed that your concern isn't breaking the law but just getting caught. Second, alarms are not a big deal. You just snip the phone line, and you turn off the power. Windows are dark, so they're not home or they're sleeping; either way, they probably aren't going to notice the power going out."

"How do you know this?"

"I went to a school full of kids sent away by their families for doing shit like this. Some things tend to stick."

"How would we do all of that without going inside first?" I said, crossing my arms in front of me and shivering. The temperature had dropped, and I was not dressed for the change.

"Everything is conveniently outside the house. We just need to jump the fence to the backyard."

"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath.

"Are you sure you want to do this? We can go back," he offered.

I considered what I was about to do for a moment. This was crazy, and I could feel the adrenaline pumping through me. I had to do it. For myself, for Robbie.

"No. I want to. Plus, we're already here," I said, "after you."

Noah nodded and took a moment look around the neighborhood, "Okay, we'll go through the backyard. Try and lay low. This seems like the type of neighborhood that would have nosy neighbors."

The house's block was quiet, and as we ran across the street, I felt as if everyone could hear our shoes hitting the pavement. Hopping the small white picket fence was easy. The backyard had a much taller barrier. We stopped in front of the tall white fence.

"Do you know how to jump a fence? Do you need help?" he asked, his voice low.

"I need a boost," I whispered, and he cupped his hands to help me up.

"When you get on the other side, look for a grey box attached to the wall."

"Okay," I said before he lifted me up, and I scrambled over the wooden fence.

Like a cat, Noah hopped the fence and joined me seconds later. I pointed to the metal box on the wall, "this our guy?"

"Yep," he said and dug into his pocket. I thought our moment of crime was over when I realized it was locked, but Noah apparently also learned how to pick a lock during his time spent learning how to become a model citizen in his military academy.

When the locked was picked he took out a Swiss army knife from his pocket and pulled out the screwdriver and the scissors.

"Alright. The power is out. Phone line is...out too. Internet is...gone," he whispered.

"That's it?"

"Shh. Keep your voice down," Noah said, putting a finger over his lips, "Yeah, pretty much."

"What's even the point of an alarm system?" I asked surprised at how easy it was to disarm it. 

He shrugged, "False sense of security that helps you sleep at night? Sense of control?"

My jaw hung open.

"Fear is a real money maker. You should read about TSA scans if you really want to know how much money gets put into those two things," he said, walking around the side of the house.

"I think I'll pass. I'm starting to understand how ignorance is actual bliss," I said, flabbergasted.

"So, where do we go in?" I asked as I followed him around the back of the house.

"Back door. Front doors usually have stronger locks. Back doors tend to be pretty simple. Usually, a card can open those locks. Worse case, it's an easy pick," he explained. "Wait here, I'm going to double-check that the coast is clear."

I nodded and stood close to the wall as Noah disappeared around the corner of the house. A few minutes later, I heard a soft thud before I saw Noah come around the opposite side he came from.

"I noticed an open window on the second floor; I crawled through to check. House is completely empty. We're good to go," he said and pulled out a set of door picks from his jacket.

I stared at him, "I'm speechless," I whispered.

"I can teach you if you want. It can be useful. For example all the locks in our school. Super easy to pick. Including the cafeteria locks. You can get so much free food."

I looked at him as if he had two heads, "you're rich. Why do you steal food?"

He shrugged, "it tastes better if it's free. Here," he said, holding out a lock pick.

"Oh. You want me to learn to break in now?"

"When else? Unless you plan on making this a habit?"

"What if the neighbors hear us?"

"No one is going to hear anything. You're picking a door lock, not blasting it open."

"You sure there are no cameras?" I asked nervously.

"I am positive that if there were any cameras, they are no longer working," he said, grabbing my hand and handing me the pick.

"Okay." I said, staring at it, "what do I do?"

"So the silver one is called a tension wrench; you're going to put that in first," he said, pointing at it in my hand.

"Now grab the other pick and place it on top, mhm," he said as I followed his instructions.

"Okay, these locks work with pins, so you're going to gently jiggle the wrench as you push up the pins using the pick until you get them in the right place."

"How do I know they're in the right place?"

"The wrench will turn all the way, trust me, you'll know," he said, pushing my hand holding the wrench down gently to show me the amount of pressure I should use.

"Okay," I said. It was harder than it sounded. At one point, Noah placed his hands over mine to try to help me open it.

"I want to get it on my own," I said, shaking him off.

"You're nervous, relax, do it gently," he said, his hands dropping to my hips.

Finally, it clicked.

I looked up at him, "I did it," I whispered, smiling.

"Good job, princess. Move, I'll go in first."

The backdoor led to an outdated kitchen. Noah shined the flashlight on his phone around so we could get a better look. There was nothing particularly strange about it. It had light-colored cabinets and a dirty stovetop. In the center of the room, there was a table with some mail left open, an uneaten bowl of boxed Mac and cheese, and an empty soda can.

"So, what are we looking for here?"

"Any form of ID or checks, anything that could tie him to the Bennetts."

I started going through the papers on the table.

"Don't look through things; just take pictures, and we'll look at them later," Noah said, opening up his kitchen cabinets.

"Okay good idea," I said, taking my phone out of my skirt pocket.

"Huh," I said, "all of these are addressed to John A. Fitzgerald. But the guy who drives the hummer, his name is Gray."

"Did we break into the wrong house?" Noah asked a glint of humor in his eyes. 

"I swear this is the address; I wrote it down. I had the other one right."

"Well, we'll stay another minute and then head out, just in case it is the right place," Noah said, walking down a narrow hallway the led out of the kitchen. 

'Did I write the address down wrong?' I asked myself. I was pretty drunk and could barely remember anything from that night. This house was so not what I would think a murder would live in. It was so...normal. Like an accountant could live here, not someone who tried to slam their hummer into a bunch of high school kids. 

"Lia, you have to see this," Noah whispered, coming back into the kitchen.

"What?" I asked, walking over to where I heard Noah's voice coming from.

He was in the bathroom; he had opened the sink drawer and showed me how it was full of tiny vials.

"Tranquilizers?"

"I figured that's what they were. Hmm, maybe he is your guy,"

"Or he's a vet? Or a dentist. You can't use this randomly on people. This isn't a movie. You have to get exact numbers to knock someone out, like their weight and height." I sighed, "Noah, let's just go. This is a bust."

"Your call," he said, walking out.

I stepped out of the small bathroom and into the hallway when something made me pause

There was a stack of pictures on a table where he placed his loose change and smokes.

I picked them up to look through them. The first had a woman and a small boy in front of a red cabin covered in snow. Their back was to the camera, and they were dressed as if they were in the early 80s or mid-70s. That house seemed so familiar. I took a picture of it and sifted through the pictures.

The rest of them were mostly random things.

Car parts, tools, a picture of a dog on a pier. Lots of different boats. A house that seemed as if it were part of a farm. 

All of them seemed to be taken at around the same time. 

Except for one. It looked like it was taken over a decade later. 

There was a blurry picture of a girl in front of a boat pointing to something. A coffee stain didn't really let me see the name of it. It looked like calligraphy, I or a T, maybe an L. I couldn't tell it was so blurry.

I took my phone out to take a picture when I heard the very distinct sound of a key being slipped into a lock.