Chapter 6
He stood slowly, eyes fixed on me as the voice on the other end continued.
When he ended the call, he didn’t speak right away.
“Detective,” I whispered.
He swallowed.
“Forensics found something else beneath the shed.”
My legs weakened.
“Another body?”
“No.”
His face had gone gray.
“A staircase.”
I stared at him, unable to understand.
“What do you mean, a staircase?”
“A concealed passage. Under the storage space.” His voice dropped. “It leads beneath the house.”
My mother’s house.
The house where I had grown up.
The house where I had slept for eighteen years.
Detective Harris looked past me into Eli’s room.
“And Natalie… there are rooms down there.”
Behind us, Eli’s monitor gave one sudden sharp beep.
Then my son opened his eyes.
He looked directly at me.
And smiled.
Not Eli’s smile.
May you like
Someone else’s.
“They found the mouth,” he whispered.
