And someone in this family might have killed her.
Cal led her back to her room with his hand on her elbow. Despite how ruthless he had been only moments before, his concern appeared genuine enough now. But Nadine was starting to suspect that Cal might just be a good actor, rather than a good person. And that was fine.
Better, even.
Because if he wasn’t a good person, she didn’t have to like him back.
Because if he wasn’t really concerned, maybe she wasn’t in deep trouble.
He stopped at her door. “I can give the necklace to Rael, if you’re worried. He’ll see that his father gets it. They can add it to whatever the evidence they’ve already gathered.”
The image of Noelle’s necklace sitting all alone in some dark evidence locker made Nadine want to cry. She tightened her grip on the chain. “No.”
“Are you sure? It could be evidence.” His voice was light but carried a peal of warning she didn’t understand.
(You don’t want my help)
“No,” she said again.
(Not at my price)
“It’s up to you.” He hesitated. “I suppose I’ll see you at dinner.”
She watched him go before locking and boltingbothdoors, including the one beneath the unicorn tapestry—which did lock, thank god. The locks felt flimsy and she wasn’t sure how well the mechanisms had aged after a hundred years, but they made her feel safer.
Although what that meant in this place, she wasn’t sure.
She took a few nervous turns around the room before picking up her phone. Thomas had told her the wi-fi password wasraisetheblood, because of course it was. Anything to honor the creepy bird-killing patriarch and his demented statue fetish. Whether it was his trophies, his mantras, or even his very philosophies, the Cullravens seemed to take their honorifics with this man to dangerously fanatical levels. There were cults out there, she suspected, that were less in awe of their leaders.
She found herself staring at that stupid painting again and looked away, shaking her head. Something about the deer’s eyes . . . bothered her. She couldn’t look at it for too long.
“Hey honey,” Nikki said, when she dialed her home phone number. “You caught me at a good time. I was just about to set up a release party. How are you? How’s the search going?”
“Nikki,” Nadine said, in a barely stable voice. “I found Noelle’s necklace.”
“What?”
“Her necklace. I found it. But not—but not Noelle.”
Her voice broke.
“Oh, honey.” There was a long buzzing silence. “Where did you find it? Did you take it to the police?”
“No. The sheriff’s son is best friends with Ca—with one of the sons, and I found the necklace in their garden.”
She didn’t add what she wanted to, which was that if a familywereto dispose of a new and unwanted bride, a town surrounded by endless trees with an all-too-complacent sheriff would have been the perfect way to make a woman disappear.
“In the garden?” Nikki repeated. “You mean her husband’s garden?”
“Yes,” Nadine said. “It looked like it had been there for a while.”
“Shit.” There was a clatter, like Nikki had dropped a pen. “What are you still doing there then? Come home. Now. Leave this to the police.”
It was validating, hearing her fears being realized. But also frightening because it cemented the danger she was really in. Nadine looked at the unicorn tapestry covering that secret door and wondered if Evangeline had ever felt this same fear while sitting in this room, waiting for her husband’s notice. Wondering if he’d ever turn cruel.
(You’re shaking. Just like a little bird.)
“I’ve been finding things, too,” Nadine stammered, looking away from the tapestry. “Notes she left. There was one in a mine . . . another behind a painting. Like something out of a gothic novel. There’s even a secret room behind a secret door. Oh, god, this house. It’s so full of secrets. And I don’t know why she’d leave these things for me if she wasn’t hoping I’d find her. And N-Nikki—I can’t . . . I can’t let her down.”
