In Safe Hands (Search and Rescue #4)(131)

“Oh!” Her happy moment faded as the implications of his question sunk in. “Do you mean ‘is the electricity turned on’ or ‘is there any electrical wiring in this house’?”

“There’s electricity,” Dez answered for him as she reached to where Jules had been fumbling before. “See? It’s buttons, though, not switches.” The skinny staircase was illuminated by the harsh yet dim glare of a bare bulb. Jules exhaled with relief. At least there was power in this old wreck of a house. Dennis must be paying the bill. Would he expect her to change the bill over to her name? If so, it’d be the first test of her fake identity. Her throat felt like it was closing. Reaching up, she tugged at the V-neck of her shirt and coughed, trying to clear the imaginary impediment.

“W-what’s wr-wr-wr…” Sam’s huff of an exhale was short and impatient. “W-what’s the matter?”

Too late, she dropped her hand to her side. “Nothing.”

He just gave her a look and waited silently. Ty joined them, and all her siblings grew solemn as they watched her.

“Nothing,” she said with more force. “I’m just thinking of everything we need to do to make this place livable.”

“Beds,” Ty said, nodding. Jules held back a cringe. She hadn’t even thought about that.

“A TV.” That was Dez’s contribution.

“D-dishes.”

“A computer. Oh, and Internet.”

That’d be another test of her identity—and more monthly bills.

“Food.” Ty’s voice held the same longing that Tio’s had when he’d mentioned the computer. “Soon, please. I’m starving.”

“A horse.”

She rolled her eyes at the last offering, trying to fight down her panic. After using all of Mr. Espina’s cash to pay just a portion of Dennis’s fee, Jules had limited funds to set up a household of five—four of whom were still growing out of their clothes. Her initial impression of the house was that it would take an enormous influx of cash just to keep it from falling down on top of them.

As if to underscore her growing anxiety, a heavy rumble of thunder echoed through the house. Jules shot a nervous look at the ceiling. If the roof was weatherproof, she’d be shocked.

“C’mon, Jules,” Dez urged, tugging on her hand. “Let’s look upstairs.”

Deciding that whatever lurked in the attic couldn’t be worse than the worries that were multiplying in her mind, she allowed her sister to pull her up the narrow stairs. Each one creaked worse than the one before, and Jules’s stomach lurched with every step. She expected to fall through the ancient treads at any second, and she clutched Dez’s hand a little harder. The clomping of the boys’ feet behind them made her cringe.

As they passed through a door at the top of the stairs, she exhaled for the first time since they’d started ascending. Her relief at not falling to her death made her slow to take in her surroundings at first. When she finally looked around, Jules blinked in surprise.

She’d been expecting an unfinished, dirty attic, but the room—although definitely needing a good cleaning—reminded her more of an artist’s studio than a storage space. A stained-glass window set in the triangular east wall lit the space with muted colors.

“Wow.”

“I know!” Dez was practically dancing in excitement. “Isn’t it the best? If I hadn’t already picked the elf room, I’d totally want this room.”

“Hey, there’s stuff over here,” Ty called from across the space. He’d opened a short door set in the wall and was pulling things out of the storage space. Dez ran over while Tio joined them more leisurely.

“Elf room?” Jules repeated absently, watching Ty drag out an antique-looking trunk and a globe. She wondered how out-of-date it was, with its no-longer existing country borders and names. It might be a good history lesson, at least.

“Juju?”

Sam’s serious tone made her focus on him. “What is it?”

“I w-want it. P-p-please.”

It took her a second to realize he meant the attic, rather than the old globe. She’d already mentally assigned the room to Ty and Tio, since they’d always refused to be put in separate rooms and she wasn’t sure if there was a room on the second floor that would fit both of them. A single glance at Sam’s tight expression and clenched fists was enough to immediately change her mind. “Okay.”

For a long moment, he watched her warily, studying her face as if to make sure she was serious. Eventually, his shoulders relaxed slightly. “Thanks.”

“It’s going to be freezing in the winter and broiling in the summer, you know,” she warned.

His almost-there smile was back. “I kn-know.”

“I have no idea how we’ll get a mattress up those steps.” The thought reminded her of all the things they would need to get that day. Thunder, louder than before, crashed, sounding as if it was right above them. In the crackling silence following the boom, there was the tinny sound of a doorbell.

They all froze, none of them moving—or even breathing—until lightning lit up her siblings’ faces, the stark light emphasizing the terror in their expressions. The sight reminded Jules that she was the responsible one now, the one who had to pretend not to be scared out of her mind that the cops were at the door, ready to break in and grab the kids, to drop them back into Courtney’s clutches.