The voices surged again, a deafening chorus that made Piper wince.
Inside.Get inside.She’s in danger.White is for self-righteousness.Stop it.Stop her.
The world tilted further, colors bleeding at the edges of Piper’s vision.Her knees weakened, threatening to buckle beneath her.She reached out instinctively, seeking support, her hand finding only empty air.
“I need—” The words died in her throat as a particularly forceful communication pushed through the others, bringing with it a flash of imagery so vivid it momentarily blinded her—a woman lying unconscious, blood trickling from her temple, a coil of white yarn.
The woman in the doorway reached forward, grasping Piper’s arm.Her grip was firm, surprisingly strong.
“You don’t look well,” Elena said, her voice gentle, concerned.“Come inside.Let me help you.”
Every instinct in Piper’s body screamed warning, but the voices overwhelmed her ability to resist.They wanted her inside.They were driving her toward something—or someone—within these walls.
“I shouldn’t—” Piper tried again, but the world spun around her, reality blurring at the edges.
“Please,” Elena insisted, her grip tightening on Piper’s arm.“Let me get you some water.”
Piper felt herself being guided forward, across the threshold and into the house.The door closed behind her with a soft click that somehow sounded final, like the turning of a key in a lock.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Elena tightened her grip on Piper’s arm.She turned the disoriented woman into Brenda’s living room quickly, before she could glimpse the unconscious woman who lay at the far end of the hallway.Her carefully constructed plan was unraveling.
“Here, sit down,” Elena said, her voice steadier than she felt as she directed the intruder to Brenda’s floral armchair.Piper slumped into the seat, her eyes unfocused, lips moving in silent conversation with voices only she could hear.
For a long moment, Elena just stood staring at her.The resemblance to Jenna was startling.But this wasn’t the sheriff.This was her newly returned twin, the woman whose reappearance had captivated Trentville for a week.What was the sheriff’s twin doing here at this hour, at this house?And why was she wearing a scarf that Sophie had made?
Then Elena realized that the sirens she’d heard wailing had come to a stop next door—not here.What were the police doing at her own house?Had they figured out …
She glanced back at Piper, who sat rocking slightly, her movements almost imperceptible.The woman looked ill, disconnected from reality.
Perhaps she could make good use of this unexpected visitor.Pretend Elena could say she’d come to check on Brenda after receiving a disturbed phone call, only to find her injured and Piper here in a confused state.Play the concerned community leader, the helpful neighbor.
How difficult would it be to cast suspicion in that direction?To suggest that perhaps Piper had never been a victim at all, but had returned to Trentville with darker purpose?
“I’ll get your water,” she told Piper.“Just stay right here and rest for a moment.”
*
Jenna pulled up behind one of the patrol cars parked haphazardly in front of Elena Bowers’ home.The steady throb of red and blue lights washed across the neighborhood in rhythmic waves.Lights had flickered on in neighboring homes, curious faces appearing at windows.
She killed the engine and stepped out into the crisp night air, scanning the street as she approached the small front yard.Jake emerged from the shadows at the side of the house, his familiar stride and broad shoulders a reassuring sight.“We’ve tried knocking,” he said without preamble.“Called her phone too.No response.”
“Her car’s here,” Jenna noted, glancing at the blue sedan parked in the driveway.
“Yeah.Engine’s cold.Been here a while.”Jake gestured toward the house.
Jenna struggle with her next course of action.Probable cause was a stretch, based on nothing more than a dream she’d just had and her sister’s disappearance.But she had to make the most of it.
She gestured to two officers standing by one of the patrol cars.“We’re going in,” she announced.“Probable cause—suspect in two homicides.Standard search protocol—we don’t know if she’s here or if there might be someone else inside.”She hesitated, then added, “My twin sister Piper is missing.I don’t know if she’s here, but watch for her.”
She saw that her team was eager to go.“Two of you watch the back,” she instructed the officers.“Jake and I will go through the front with the rest.”
As Jake and another officer made quick work of the front door, Jenna drew her service weapon.If Elena was the killer … if Piper had somehow gotten caught in the middle of this—there were too many ifs, too many possibilities, each darker than the last.
*
Piper could barely focus on the woman standing before her, the room tilting and spinning as if the house itself were caught in a violent storm.The voices had become a hundred whispers overlapping into a roar of desperate warnings—danger, death, yarn, stop her.
