Catch Me

Chapter 14

    Suddenly, Kyle's phone rang and he glanced at it and his eyebrows furrowed. I stared at him, wondering if it was one of his customers.

    "Sorry, I'll be back in a few minutes," Kyle said. "I'll be outside."

    I nodded and Kyle rushed outside to pick up his phone call, which left me alone with his family. Although I was more comfortable around them now, I was still nervous.

    "I'm sorry we've been keeping you trapped in here as I make dinner," Marigold said, shooting me a sympathetic look. "You can explore our home. I'll call you over when dinner's ready."

    "Okay, sure," I said.

    I got up, thankful for a moment away from the people I'd just met. Although they were all so nice and friendly, I felt awkward without Kyle at my side.

     Walking to the living room, I scanned the area and noticed the walls were full of pictures of their family. I walked to one wall and smiled when I saw a picture of what looked like Kyle as a baby. He was so tiny and his big, blue eyes shone with an innocence that left my heart feeling warm.

    Looking to the next picture, my heart then sunk when I spotted Kyle's family with a man who looked like Kyle's dad. His dad was just as handsome as Kyle was, but with dark hair and green eyes and I stared at the photo and thought about what happened to his dad. I didn't bother to ask to be polite, but I dreaded the truth.

    Going from picture of picture, I took in every picture that hung on the wall. There were many pictures of Kyle and his siblings as kids, looking so full of joy as they spent time with each other. And there were also a lot of pictures of his parents young and in love, which left me smiling. I soon landed on a picture of Kyle when he was a teenager and my heart blossomed at the sight of the young and gorgeous Kyle. Even at his young age, he was still so beautiful, but the joy in his eyes had vanished in that photo. He looked drained and I brought my hand up to touch the picture frame, wondering if this was when things began to change for him.

     But the second I pressed my hang against the picture, someone unlocked beside me and I jumped. I whirled to see what happened and my eyes widened when I saw the door I hadn't noticed to the right of me had become unlocked and slowly, it was opening up. Utterly confused, I walked towards it.

     At the doorway, I hesitated on closing it but upon seeing that it led to the basement, I looked behind me and saw that Kyle's family were all still in the kitchen cooking. And because curiosity got the best of me, I stepped onto the stairs and began to make my way down to basement.

     With every step I took, my heart began to sink further and further into my chest. I knew I wasn't supposed to be doing this, I could tell this area was private, meant only for the Rivers family, but I couldn't help it. The spy in me wanted to figure out what was going on, so I made my way all the way downstairs and gasped at what I saw.

     The entire basement was basically one huge garden filled with marijuana plants. It was like they had their own farm of it and I realized with a sinking heart that this was Kyle's supply. He was growing it in his own basement and then selling it, and my throat tightened as I realized I caught him. I had evidence for what he was, but I didn't move. Instead of pulling out my phone and taking pictures of what was before me, I stood frozen as I took in that Kyle really was a drug dealer.

     "So, you've discovered our source of income," Marigold said, leaving me jumping.

     I whirled around and stared at her, horrified. Speechless and horrified that I'd been caught, I was left frozen.

     "Once my husband died, we were basically homeless. We had no money, no future. We were immigrants who had nothing," Marigold said. "That was, until Kyle's friend offered him a job to grow weed and sell it in Linhedge. And after that moment, we were finally able to make an income great enough to keep our house and live happily without my husband. I know it's not an ideal situation and I do worry about Kyle, but it's the life we were given. It's what needs to be done."