Page 87 of Hard Heart

“Should we warn Jester first?”

“Probably a good idea.”

He was sitting on the porch with a buddy who’d joined us en route. I couldn’t see them, but every so often, a cloud of cigarette smoke drifted across the yard.

Me

I’m screaming for research purposes. Do NOT break the door down.

That had already been done once, by the old residents—the splintered wood was another reminder of the room’s grisly past. By the time Jester messaged a thumbs-up, Raelene had gone downstairs, so I closed Ruby’s bedroom door and started screaming. And screaming. And screaming. I wasn’t prepared for the wave of emotion that would crash over me, for the press of the walls closing in, for the panic followed by horror. How long was I supposed to scream for? My ears were ringing, my heart pounded against my ribcage, and my mouth grew dry. I wasn’t even in danger, but I was suddenly overcome by such dread that I grabbed the door handle and yanked. Why wasn’t it opening? Why? Why? Why?

“Raelene? I’m stuck!”

The handle rattled when I shook it, and what if it fell off? What if I was trapped here? Okay, there was a bathroom so I could puke if the nausea in my stomach got worse, but…but… In desperation, I smacked the wall beside the door to see if that helped, and— A panel popped open. There was something inside the wall. It looked like…a paper bag? My breath came in pants as I squinted into the gloom.

“Sera? I’m done.”

Oh, thank goodness. “The door’s stuck!”

“Really?”

“I’m not making it up.”

“Stand back.” She shouldered it from the outside, and it flew back against the wall with a crack. “Guess the wood swelled over time. You all right?”

I wiped my face with a sleeve and tried not to sniffle. “It’s my first murder scene, okay?”

“I’ve never grown used to this world, and I don’t want to. I never want to lose my humanity.” For the briefest moment, I glimpsed the vulnerability in her eyes. “I’ve just gotten better at hiding it.”

“My poker face still needs work.”

“You’ll get there.”

Her confidence was touching, but I wouldn’t be heading to Vegas any time soon. “Did you get what you needed?”

“I don’t know whether it’s the thickness of the walls or the acoustics, but the noise wasn’t as loud as I expected downstairs. If there was bass music playing as the reports say, and the suspect shoved the gag in her mouth quickly, it’s plausible that nobody else in the house heard a thing.”

Poor, poor Ruby. “I found something else by accident.”

“Found what?”

“I’m not sure yet. Levi told me they built hidey-holes as part of the renovation, and when I bumped into the wall, this one opened.”

There, that sounded better than “I freaked out and tried to destroy the building.”

“It’s a bag?”

“Should we open it?”

“Hell yeah.”

Raelene lifted the bag out of its hiding place by the corner, and I realised there was something written on it. RA, two letters in block capitals. Ra? The sun god? Things got more confusing when Raelene pulled out a dress, a slinky red party dress, a style I’d never dare to wear, but Zara Michaels definitely would.

“Uh, why would she hide a dress in the wall?”

“No idea, but there’s another bag in there.”

“There is?”