Writing On The Wall (The King Brothers Duology #2)

Chapter 44

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

IVY

“You guys saw that, right?” Ember mumbles from behind her hands.

The hairs on my nape and arms lift as I grab hold of her arm. “Should we call the police?”

“We’re not calling the cops,” Ross hisses.

“We need weapons,” Ember says with one single nod. She unplugs a lamp and hands it to me before lifting the small coffee table it was sitting on and turning it upside down. ”How attached are you to this table?”

“Minimally,” I frown, my eyes darting back to the windows at the sound of another shuffling noise. Ember swiftly kicks off two of the table legs, tossing one to Ross. My jaw drops as I watch her wield the makeshift weapon like a baseball bat. “Who the heck are you?”

“Nicolas has prepared me for this,” she deadpans.

Footsteps echo on the porch, prompting a curse from each of us before Ross urgently whispers for us to hide.

“Uh... Ross, any chance you remembered to lock the door after you picked it open?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady .

Before he can answer, we watch the handle twist for a second time. Ember and I hide behind the sofa, ducking when the door creaks open.

My body trembles uncontrollably while my heart pounds in my chest.

Could we have picked a worse place to hide?

I pull out my phone, and Ember gasps as she jabs me with her elbow. “Holy cow, are you checking your email right now?”

“I get productive when I’m nervous,” I whisper with a grimace.

“Shhh! What if someone’s home?” We hear the intruder mutter in a hushed tone.

“No one’s parked outside. It’s fine. If we’re caught, just pretend you’re lost.”

“Ow! For the love, woman, would you mind your bony elbows!”

Ember tilts her head to the side, pursing her lips and I pop my head out from behind my lame hiding spot. “Opal? Gail?”

“Ivy?” Gail responds, narrowing her eyes. Ember shifts onto her knees as she makes herself known. Someone better pinch me and wake me from this dream or quit slipping shrooms into my food, because I can’t take any of this craziness anymore.

Ross fights his way out from behind a curtain, then wanders a short distance away before turning back. “Wait, you all know each other?”

“Yup. Pretty well, actually.”

“What are you two doing here? And why are you dressed like that?” I question, gesturing a palm to the all-black outfits and rocky headbands they’re sporting.

Opal eyes Ross, her mouth twisting to the side. “We got a tip-off that the music box was here. Why’re you two here?”

“I live here. ”

Ross’s head falls back as he breathes a heavy sigh before looking at my geriatric friends. “ You’re after the music box?”

Before they can answer, the door handle begins to jiggle for the third freaking time today. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

We watch, each of us frozen in place, except for Ember who raises her table leg up to her shoulder.

“It’s unlocked,” our newest intruder whispers as the door squeaks open again.

“Carl?” My lip curls up on one side, causing my glasses to slide down the bridge of my nose.

“Hi, dear,” Gran chirps, suddenly appearing from behind Carl.

Aaaand, I’ve officially lost it. Reality has completely slipped away. It must be those fumes someone keeps spiking my car with. I drove recently, right? That has to be it. None of this is real.

“Can someone explain what is going on?” I demand a bit too loudly, then clear my throat.

“Carl gave us an address where he believed we’d find the music box,” Gail says, pointing at Carl, whose cheeks flush as he tugs at his collar. “We knew he was helping Agnes investigate its whereabouts.”

“They tricked me. With cake, ” Carl adds in his defense, crossing his arms. “Told ya that’s how they get you, Miss Ivy,” he continues, shaking his head with a creased chin.

“Why are you here, Gran?”

“Well, Carl here didn’t tell me the address we were headed to, just that he had a lead. I followed along and figured I’d see how this plays out once I realized where we were. Love what you’ve done with the place, by the way,” she adds as her eyes track the changes in the newly opened space.

Thank goodness Ethan knocked out some walls in here, or the seven of us would be pretty cramped. How has this escalated to DEFCON 1 in a mere ten minutes?

I hear my name being shouted just before Toby and Stef burst through the door.

Make that nine people. At least we were spared from watching the door handle turn spookily again.

“Ivy! You okay?” he huffs, breathing heavily with his hands on his hips.

“The boyfriend?” I hear Gran ask Opal with a stage whisper while she gives Stef the stink eye.

Opal bobs her head to the side. “Well…yes and no.”

“Everything’s just peachy. How’d you get roped into this? Wait…Is…is something finally going on here?” I wag my finger, motioning between Toby and Stef.

“I’ll explain later,” Toby waves his hand, still panting. “And Ember texted,”

“In my defense,” Ember grimaces, “I thought he was still your boyfriend.”

“ Was? ” I hear Gran squeak.

“Um…” I exhale, letting my lips flap noisily while I decide on my next move. I push my glasses up, settling on dodging the question.

“Where’d Ross go?” I shift to peer behind each person in the room.

Freaking monkey nuts!

I race down the passage, silently chanting “please let me be wrong” over and over in my head. Six sets of hurried footsteps echo behind me. Then I come to an abrupt stop, nearly causing a pile up when the others don’t react in time.

“I don’t think he got to it, but I need to check. Toby, will you help me?”

“So my granddaughter isn’t good enough for you, hmm, Toby?” Gran decides to start an interrogation while Toby and I heave the wardrobe away.

“Gran, I’ll explain later. I promise. But Toby is innocent in all of this.” I smirk at Stef, who shares a small smile with me. I’m glad the two of them seem to have connected. Carl steps in, insisting he take my place to shift the closet, revealing the hidden door.

Gran gasps. “I thought Oliver had sealed this up…” There’s a wistful tone to her voice, and she inhales sharply when I slide the door open. “It was just an unfinished storage room when we bought the house, so we boarded it up and shoved a wardrobe in front of it. Oliver always said he’d spruce it up some day…”

“He redid the whole thing for you. He wanted to surprise you with it. But he passed away before he could,” I tell her. The dim light in the room glints off the tears pooling in her eyes as a shaky hand raises to her mouth. I grab Pop’s letter from the shelf, handing it to her. She reads it silently while everyone else squishes into the tiny space.

“Oh, for goodness sake, Agnes,” Opal sighs heavily. “We don’t have long to live. Would you read the darn thing before I die?”

“Speak for yourself. I plan to live to a ripe old age.” Gail smiles.

Opal rolls her eyes Gail’s way. “Check the mirror, you’re already overripe”

Gran clears her throat, waiting with heavy-lidded eyes for Opal and Gail to pipe down.

“My dearest Agnes… You always said this room was a waste of space. I finally got rid of all my junk. I’m sorry I sold your music box, but I got it back for you. Got to live out my spy dreams doing it. Good thing we never told anyone what it’s worth. Thank you for putting up with my grumpy old ass. Love, your Oliver. ”

“So he’s the one who stole it from us,” Opal grumbles.

“And that’s how Ross found out about its value when he found Pop’s letter,” I say aloud. “Thank goodness Pop didn’t mention the actual location of the closet.”

Gran sniffs, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue before turning to me. “Is it here?”

“It is.” I beam, turning to where I left the box. “Well…it was here…”