Kyler was still frowning as he helped Tatie and Angela tidy up their disheveled apartment. The place was a mess. Pillows slashed open, drawers overturned, clothes scattered like confetti after a violent parade. The windows hadn’t been broken, but the lock on the door had been picked clean. Whoever did it wasn’t after money or valuables. They were making a statement.
Tatie moved wordlessly across the room, clutching a half-shredded blanket to her chest. Angela sorted through their tossed-over school papers, her jaw tight with silent fury. Neither of them spoke, but their presence was enough to make Kyler’s rage simmer dangerously close to boiling.
He muttered curses under his breath as he took out a bag of torn-up trash, the contents of a ripped backpack spilling out of the black plastic.
