that. It’s kind of a maze. We should probably stick together. And we should definitely start in the basement. That’s where Khalid keeps the things he stockpiles for emergencies.”
“Emergencies. You mean like the zombie apocalypse?”
“Yeah, Jimmy,” Sarah rolled her eyes. “Like the zombie apocalypse.”
Sarah jiggled the knob on the door leading into the home. It was locked.
“I don’t have a key. But I know where there is one. Come on.”
“Why don’t we just kick in the door?”
“Because if we’re going to stay here for the night, we need a fully functional door?”
“Oh…right.”
Sarah led Jimmy through the garage and into the backyard. She headed for the pool shed, as she fumbled with her own key ring. Her fingers settled on the right key, and she slipped it into the doorknob.
“You have a key to your sister’s pool shed, but not her house?”
“Pretty slick, right? This way, if anything happens, and someone tries to get into their house through me, I can honestly say I don’t have a key to their house. They can try all my keys and none of them will work. And who gives their sister a key to their pool shed? Why would you even need to?”
What she didn’t say was that the house key was hidden behind another lock and a false wall that was unseeable to the naked eye. You had to know it was there to find it.
“Why would anyone try to get into their house through you?”
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
Jimmy shook his head. “Whatever, Sarah.”
Sarah smirked and let herself in the shed. “Wait here. Keep watch. Let me know if you see anything.”
Once inside, Sarah found the reason for the open garage door. Khalid and Sophia had unplugged the solar panels before they left. They hadn’t wanted to go back to the pool shed to plug them in again once everyone was safe in their vehicles, and closing the door manually would have taken too long.
Sarah made her way to her brother-in-law’s secret gun cabinet, to which she also had a key. She was the only one besides Khalid with a key to the gun cabinets. Sarah’s sister, Sophia, never wanted one. She said she’d rather die than shoot someone.
Sophia had never been with someone like Jimmy.
Sarah flipped open the door, hoping to add a couple of Khalid’s more powerful, more automatic guns to their arsenal. She groaned when she saw all the weapons were gone. But there, tacked up inside, was a piece of paper with her name on it.
“Jackpot,” she said under her breath.
She opened the note. It read:
“Fyzn migynbcha zil sio vybchx nby bin xia. Sio ehiq nby wigvi.
1mn mnij: jcwe oj Gig.
2hx mnij: jcwe oj siol julyhnm.
3lx mnij: pcmcn Ohwfy.
Zchuf mnij: ai meccha qcnb Gur.
Myy su nbyly. Xi nls ni wunwb oj. Mijbcu’m fimcha byl gchx. Mylciomfs. Fipy.”
When Sarah was little, Khalid was so patient with her admiration for her big sister. Sarah would whine to be included, and against Sophia’s wishes, he’d sit down with her and teach her the things he’d learned in training. Sarah’s favorite part was the ciphers.
It only took a glance to figure out that Khalid had written the letter in his favorite cipher. Wanting to impress her soon-to-be ‘big brother’ with how clever she was, Sarah had worked hardest on memorizing that one until it had become second nature. She’d kept in practice over the years by sending letters to her nieces and nephews using the cipher their father had taught her. It was the only one she could still figure out without sitting down and writing it out.
“Left something for you behind the hot dog. You know the combo.
1st stop: pick up Mom.
2nd stop: pick up your parents.
3rd stop: visit Uncle.
Final stop: go skiing with Max.
See ya there. Do try to catch up. Sophia’s losing her mind. Seriously. Love.”
And that explained why both cars were gone. Khalid
“Emergencies. You mean like the zombie apocalypse?”
“Yeah, Jimmy,” Sarah rolled her eyes. “Like the zombie apocalypse.”
Sarah jiggled the knob on the door leading into the home. It was locked.
“I don’t have a key. But I know where there is one. Come on.”
“Why don’t we just kick in the door?”
“Because if we’re going to stay here for the night, we need a fully functional door?”
“Oh…right.”
Sarah led Jimmy through the garage and into the backyard. She headed for the pool shed, as she fumbled with her own key ring. Her fingers settled on the right key, and she slipped it into the doorknob.
“You have a key to your sister’s pool shed, but not her house?”
“Pretty slick, right? This way, if anything happens, and someone tries to get into their house through me, I can honestly say I don’t have a key to their house. They can try all my keys and none of them will work. And who gives their sister a key to their pool shed? Why would you even need to?”
What she didn’t say was that the house key was hidden behind another lock and a false wall that was unseeable to the naked eye. You had to know it was there to find it.
“Why would anyone try to get into their house through you?”
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
Jimmy shook his head. “Whatever, Sarah.”
Sarah smirked and let herself in the shed. “Wait here. Keep watch. Let me know if you see anything.”
Once inside, Sarah found the reason for the open garage door. Khalid and Sophia had unplugged the solar panels before they left. They hadn’t wanted to go back to the pool shed to plug them in again once everyone was safe in their vehicles, and closing the door manually would have taken too long.
Sarah made her way to her brother-in-law’s secret gun cabinet, to which she also had a key. She was the only one besides Khalid with a key to the gun cabinets. Sarah’s sister, Sophia, never wanted one. She said she’d rather die than shoot someone.
Sophia had never been with someone like Jimmy.
Sarah flipped open the door, hoping to add a couple of Khalid’s more powerful, more automatic guns to their arsenal. She groaned when she saw all the weapons were gone. But there, tacked up inside, was a piece of paper with her name on it.
“Jackpot,” she said under her breath.
She opened the note. It read:
“Fyzn migynbcha zil sio vybchx nby bin xia. Sio ehiq nby wigvi.
1mn mnij: jcwe oj Gig.
2hx mnij: jcwe oj siol julyhnm.
3lx mnij: pcmcn Ohwfy.
Zchuf mnij: ai meccha qcnb Gur.
Myy su nbyly. Xi nls ni wunwb oj. Mijbcu’m fimcha byl gchx. Mylciomfs. Fipy.”
When Sarah was little, Khalid was so patient with her admiration for her big sister. Sarah would whine to be included, and against Sophia’s wishes, he’d sit down with her and teach her the things he’d learned in training. Sarah’s favorite part was the ciphers.
It only took a glance to figure out that Khalid had written the letter in his favorite cipher. Wanting to impress her soon-to-be ‘big brother’ with how clever she was, Sarah had worked hardest on memorizing that one until it had become second nature. She’d kept in practice over the years by sending letters to her nieces and nephews using the cipher their father had taught her. It was the only one she could still figure out without sitting down and writing it out.
“Left something for you behind the hot dog. You know the combo.
1st stop: pick up Mom.
2nd stop: pick up your parents.
3rd stop: visit Uncle.
Final stop: go skiing with Max.
See ya there. Do try to catch up. Sophia’s losing her mind. Seriously. Love.”
And that explained why both cars were gone. Khalid
Similar Books
Veniss Underground
Jeff VanderMeer
The Orpheus Descent
Tom Harper
Come Midnight
Veronica Sattler
A Dragon at Worlds' End
Christopher Rowley
Could This Be Love?
Lee Kilraine
Blob
Frieda Wishinsky
The Hunger (Book 2): Consumed
Jason Brant
A Place of My Own
Michael Pollan
Good in Bed
Jennifer Weiner
The Other Linding Girl
Mary Burchell