Then a very loud series of locks snapped into place.Snick, snick, snick, snick.
They sounded all around us. I whirled in a circle, trying to see what had happened, but the only common denominator in the room were elves hanging from fragrant Christmas boughs.
Next, steel shutters slammed down in front of all the windows. I moved to the nearest one and pressed my hand against it. It was a solid sheet that draped the glass from top to bottom seamlessly. I couldn’t even wedge a fingernail into the groove between the frame and steel.
What in the world was going on? I shot Roan a look, and he crossed to me, his eyebrows forming a V.
“I’ve heard of blackout shades, but this”—he flicked a finger onto the steel—“takes it to a whole new level.”
“I agree.”
Lemon, Traylor and Luis returned in a heap as if they were in a mad dash to reach the front door.
“I told you that we should have opened the door,” Lemon said to Luis.
“I thought,” he said in a heavy Spanish accent, “that we could reach the box in time. We should have been able to, and could have, if you hadn’t slowed us down with those heels.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it now,” Traylor said, playing mediator. “The locks have been triggered.”
Roan drummed his fingers on his hips. “What exactly does that mean?”
A bad, creeping feeling wormed its way down my neck to my spine. The creep factor of this house was off the charts.
“It means I’m leaving.” Tex grabbed the doorknob and turned, but the door wouldn’t budge. “What’s this? Some sort of secret lock?” He jimmied with the bolts and tugged again, but the door held fast. “What’s going on here? Why ain’t this door opening?”
Lemon placed the back of her hand to her forehead dramatically. “We’re stuck here. Locked in. Every night at midnight the house locks go into effect. We cannot exit, and no one can enter.”
“Aw, now that’s a good joke and all, but I need to get going.” Tex yanked the doorknob. “None of this is funny.”
“No, it’s very serious,” Traylor said.
Tex pulled an expensive-looking, sleek cell phone from his pocket and started dialing. “We’ll see about this. I’ll find somebody to come and cut us out of here. There’s no way that I’m going to be stuck here—until when?”
“Tomorrow at seven a.m.,” Lemon said.
“No can do,” Tex said. “I’ve got an early morning meeting.”
His cell phone beeped. Tex lowered it, and I clearly saw the messageCall Failedblasting at the very top of the screen.
Luis spoke. “There is no point in trying to call anyone. When the locks are activated, the cell phone service is scrambled at the same time.”
“What?” Tex roared. “There’s no cell service? There’s no way to contact anybody?” He pointed to Zelda. “We’ve got a body here, a dead body. She was stabbed. Look at that blood! And I’m just expected to sit around here for seven hours until we can call out and leave this place?”
Traylor extended his hand. “I know these are not the best of circumstances.”
“Best of circumstances?” Tex exploded. “These are the worst of circumstances. There’s nothing best about this, not at all.”
“Let’s try to remain calm,” Traylor said. “My mother-in-law was a very eccentric woman.”
Lemon spoke. “When midnight came, she wanted everyone who was in the house to stay, and she also wanted the outside world cut off.”
“Is there any way to unlock it?” I asked.
Luis shook his head. “No. Once it’s activated, there is no way to deactivate it.”
“The phone line,” Roan asked. “Is there any way to change that? There’s some kind of scrambler here in the house, am I right? If we can disarm it, we may be able to get the police out here, maybe a locksmith. Someone that can get us out of this mess.”
Lemon gave Luis a seething look. “If anyone knows where it is, it’s him. Zelda trusted him with everything.”
