Chapter 4 - The Trap
The next morning, the air in the house was thick, like the moments right before a thunderstorm breaks.
My mother had come home from her night shift at 6:00 AM and had immediately gone to sleep. Graham was sitting at the kitchen table, quietly coloring a picture of a blue dragon. I was standing near the stove, making him some toast, when Austin walked into the kitchen.
Usually, he would ignore us or make a snide comment, but today, he was smiling. It was a wide, artificial grin that didn't reach his cold, dead eyes.
"Morning, Nellie," he said, his voice dripping with false friendliness. He walked over to the coffee pot, poured himself a cup, and sat down at the table, right opposite Graham.
Graham immediately froze, his crayon stopping mid-stroke. He pulled his shoulders up, trying to make himself look smaller.
"Hey there, buddy," Austin said to Graham, reaching out a hand to pat my brother’s head.
Graham flinched, pulling away violently.
"Austin, don't," I said, stepping between them and placing the plate of toast in front of Graham. "Leave him alone."
"Just trying to be friendly, Nellie," Austin said, taking a slow sip of his coffee. "After all, we're family now. We should all try to get along. It’d be a shame if... things got complicated."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing," he said, his smile widening. "Just thinking about how much your mother loves having me here. She was telling me last night how much she appreciates having a real man around. Someone she can rely on. It’d be a real tragedy if someone tried to ruin her happiness. Someone... like an ungrateful teenager."
My heart did a slow, heavy thud. He knows, I thought. He heard Elena last night.
I kept my face completely blank. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just making breakfast."
"Right. Breakfast," Austin said, standing up. He leaned in close to me, so close I could smell the stale coffee and cigarettes on his breath. "Just remember, Nellie. This is my house. Your mother signed the lease with me last week. If anyone's leaving, it's not going to be me."
He patted my shoulder, a hard, heavy slap that felt like a threat, and walked out of the kitchen, whistling a cheerful tune.
My hands began to shake. He signed the lease. My mother had legally tied herself to him. She hadn't even told me.
As soon as Austin went into the living room and turned on the TV, I grabbed my phone and texted Elena: We need to hurry. He knows something. He's acting weird, and Mom signed a lease with him.
An hour later, Elena replied: I have an appointment with the attorney, Sarah Jenkins, at 2:00 PM today. Can you get away?
I looked at the clock. It was 10:00 AM. My mother would sleep until at least 3:00 PM. Austin was on the couch, likely engrossed in his video games or TV shows for the next several hours.
"Graham," I whispered, kneeling next to him. "We're going to go visit Grandma Elena today. We're going to go for a nice drive, okay?"
Graham's face lit up. "Grandma Elena? The one with the big garden?"
"Yes, buddy. The one with the garden. But we have to be very quiet. We're going to play the 'secret agent' game. We slip out the back door without making a sound."
Graham nodded solemnly, placing his crayon down. "Secret agent. I'm ready."
We packed a small backpack with Graham's noise-canceling headphones, a few of his favorite toys, and my notebook of documentation. I carefully unlocked the back door, leading Graham out into the crisp autumn air. We slipped down the alleyway behind our house, steering clear of the living room windows where Austin was sitting.
My old Honda Civic was parked half a block away. We got in, and I started the engine, my heart hammering against my ribs. As I pulled away from the curb, I looked in the rearview mirror, half expecting to see Austin running down the street after us.
But the street was empty.
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I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking we had escaped.
But I didn't know that Austin had been watching us from the second-story bathroom window. He wasn't running after us because he didn't need to. He was already dialing my mother's phone.
