“Hey, welcome to The Rubicon.”
She leaves Ryder’s side and approaches Delilah.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here to say hi when you arrived, but just so you know, if you need anything, want anything, or anyone to talk to, I’m your girl.”
“I appreciate that.”
Delilah is nervous; I can tell by the way her smile trembles, and Lucy’s expression is sympathetic.
“It’s okay, it’s perfectly normal to be worried, but when you’re inside these walls, there isn’t anything to worry about at all.”
She addresses Ryder over her shoulder. “I’ll arrange coffee, then I’ll do some digging.”
“Thanks, darlin’.”
His gruff response diverts our attention to him, and as Lucy closes the door behind her, he smiles at Delilah.
“Are you settling in okay?”
She nods.
“Got everything you need?”
“Yes, um, thanks.”
He winks, putting her at ease.
“Take a seat. We have some news.”
She perches beside me on the other couch, and Snake smiles at her with reassurance. I tried to tell her there is nothing to worry about, but it sure helps when they back that up by making her feel at home.
Ryder grabs a chair and sets it down in front of the couch, sitting astride it as he usually does and fixes Delilah with a reassuring smile.
“As you know, Gideon Fox is about to marry your childhood friend, Tallulah Monroe.”
Delilah nods, her hands together, her fingers tied, and I press my leg against hers to reassure her.
“We’ve been investigating the woman in the sanatorium who is meant to be you, the one who is supposedly dead.”
She nods, biting her lower lip with anxiety.
“It threw up an interesting fact.”
I wait for the mic drop.
“There never was an occupant of room 1637.”
“I don’t understand.”
Delilah blinks and Snake adds, “On the record, the occupant is Aspen Costello. The staff assigned to her care were paid off. The entire wing of that hospital operates with no patients, and only the doctors and medics employed by Gideon Fox know about that.”
“But what about their families?”
Delilah stares at Snake in disbelief, and Brewer interrupts. “All the names listed are ghosts and connected to The Serpent Society. We believe it’s a holding place and when the heat either intensifies, or circumstances change, the occupants move out in a body bag, but not from the sanatorium.”
Delilah is stunned and completely lost, and I grasp her hand. “What they mean is that the bodies are disposed of long before they are declared officially dead.”
The penny drops, and the horror in her expression tears at my heart.
