When she started snapping pictures, Everett turned away from the flash to look for the light he’d stowed near the door. His vision had turned into patches of blue from her phone’s glow, and he had to inch his way slowly back through the boxes. He still couldn’t see it when he reached the corner, though.
Confused, he turned toward Josephine. Then he saw the flashlight. In front of her. Placed carefully on a shelf. His gut clenched tight with fear, shooting alarm through his body.
“Stop!” he shouted, the word far too violent against the metal walls.
Josephine froze, eyes wide, hands rising in defense. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s been in here. I left my flashlight right by the door. It’s on that shelf now. I didn’t put it there.”
She took a step back toward him. “Are you sure, Ev?”
“Yes. We need to get out of here right now.”
She looked wildly around. “There’s not a camera, is there?”
“I don’t . . .” He cleared the painful dryness from his throat and tried to get out more than a croak of sound. “I don’t think he would suspect anything, right? He would’ve put on a new lock if he did.”
“Right,” she agreed, but her eyes still touched on every surface, her nervousness ratcheting up Everett’s fear. He’d thought himself brave and angry just a few minutes before, but attracting the attention of an actual murderer suddenly seemed like a bad idea even for a rebellious kid.
He waved Josephine toward him so they were both near the door. Gesturing toward her phone, he whispered, “Turn that off and we’ll look for any lights.”
A starless midnight fell over them when she turned off the phone. His voice dropped to the barest breath. “Do you see any LEDs or a glow or anything?”
They were so close he could feel her head swiveling as she looked. “No. Do you?”
“I don’t think so.”
She turned the light back on, and they both sighed out a relieved huff of air. “Okay, this is officially dangerous and not okay. Let’s go.”
Everett put his ear to the metal. They held their breath for a long time, and he listened so hard he could hear the static fuzz of silence in his aching ears.
“Ready?” he finally asked.
When she nodded, he yanked the door up as quickly as he could, and they both ducked to clear it before he lowered the metal more slowly so it wouldn’t bang against the concrete. He engaged the lock, and they rushed back the way they’d arrived.
“Have you seen him around?” Josephine whispered as they made it to the far fence line and slowed to a more normal speed. “Has he been here this week?”
“I don’t think so, but I’m at school most of the day. He looks like a regular old white man, so he wouldn’t stand out either.”
“What if he’d caught us?”
“Yeah, we can’t go back in there now.”
“No.” She shuddered. “We can keep looking online, though. And if we find anything, police take anonymous tips, I think.”
Everett nodded, but his heart fell a little. For some reason, this had felt like something he needed. Like he could have been a hero, and then he wouldn’t just be the son of a criminal anymore. His mom wouldn’t have to hide and always try to keep pulling Everett back behind her for safety.
Josephine seemed to sense his mood and gently shoved his shoulder. “Let’s go do that reconnaissance. See if he’s even still around. He might have moved, and that’s why he rented the locker.”
“Yeah, good point. Let’s go.”
They slipped out the front gate and cut across the road to where it dead-ended at the field. Everett was already hitting the trail when Josephine said, “That’s weird.”
“What?” he yelped, imagining an old man with white hair walking toward them. But Josephine was craning her neck to watch over her shoulder as they walked, and the only thing he saw was a dark-colored car parked down the street. “It’s just a car.”
“There are those hidden lights in the front grille, though. That’s a cop.”
Everett’s foot slid out on gravel, and he had to catch himself as he spun back to look again.
“Don’t look, dummy!”
“Why the hell would a cop be here?”
“Can’t be for us. They would’ve grabbed us when we came out. Haven’t you ever watched Hawaii Five-0?”
Everett shook his head.
“Really? Because Daniel Dae Kim is my guy. So cute.”