“I’m fine.” I straightened, forcing a smile. “I just had a question for Roza.”
Yana glared without answering. The door swung open.
“Oh, hello.” Roza looked back and forth between us. “All okay, ladies?” She closed the door behind her.
“She was waiting for you.” Yana crossed her arms.
“Yes, dear?” Roza gazed at me, gracious but impatient.
“I—I just wanted to know what the police said. When they were coming. Just so I know.” I willed my voice to sound light, trusting.
“Right.” Her eyes softened. “They’re going to get here as soon as they can. Likely this afternoon.” To my surprise, she slipped an arm around my shoulders. “You’re a very kind girl, Alex. I can see how much you care.”
Coming from Roza, I didn’t know if this was a compliment or an insult.
“I’ll see you at dinner. Get to writing, okay?” She released me and walked away. Yana watched me a second longer before following her.
I pretended to be heading upstairs, pausing in the front hall and then doubling back.
I grabbed the office’s doorknob. Roza hadn’t used the radio to contact the police just now, which meant that I needed to. Even if this was some ruse Roza was pulling, I couldn’t let it continue. Not with the possibility of death hanging over us. I could put up with a lot, especially from someone I admired, but not this.
But when I tried to turn the knob, it wouldn’t move.
The door was locked.
Chapter 25
Upstairs, I found the others waiting in Wren’s room, all clustered on her bed. I closed the door firmly and settled next to Keira, who was lying back with her eyes closed.
I now had proof that something was definitely off. It was time to tell everyone, not just Wren. It wasn’t fair to let them believe Zoe was dead, not if there was a chance she wasn’t.
“What’s going on?” Taylor played with her rabbit necklace.
“Roza didn’t radio anyone.” I clasped my hands together in my lap. “I waited outside the door and listened.”
“Jesus,” Keira muttered, covering her face.
“Are you sure?” Wren asked.
“One hundred percent sure.” I heaved a sigh. “I also discovered something in the basement and now I have a theory. It’s… kind of a lot. And I don’t know if it’s true. But I feel like you guys need to hear it.”
Keira sat up and Taylor waved a hand. “Theorize away, please.”
As I told them about the secret keypad, the security camera, and my new suspicions about Zoe, I expected to see looks of disbelief. Instead, they listened intently.
After I finished, Taylor chewed at a thumbnail, staring into space. Wren’s eyes stayed trained on me, horrified. Keira went to the window, leaning her forehead against the glass.
“That crazy bitch,” she said in a conversational tone.
“So what do we do?” Taylor asked.
“You guys believe me?” I’d have expected relief, but instead I felt even more disturbed. The theory was hardening into actual possibility.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Keira said.
“Poppy.” Wren cleared her throat. “Zoe, I mean. If we find her, then all of this is over. Right?”
“If she’s here, she’s in that room.” Keira plopped into the desk chair. “We searched the rest of the house, top to bottom.”
“Guys.” Taylor’s voice was low. “I know how much we want Zoe to be alive. Is this our way of tricking ourselves into believing it?”
“No.” Keira leaned forward. “This is our way of finding out the truth. If Zoe’s out there in the woods, that’s one thing. But if there’s a chance she’s alive, then we need to find out. After we radio the police, of course.”
“The room’s locked,” I reminded her.
“I might be able to pick it.” Keira jumped up. “Alex, come with? And bring your phone.”
“I want to check that keycode.” Taylor gestured at Wren. “Join me?”
“But the camera…” Wren squinted. “Won’t whoever put it there see us?”
“We don’t know who’s looking… if it’s Roza, someone else we’ve never seen, or no one at all. We don’t even know if it’s turned on.” Taylor glanced at Keira, our new de facto leader. “If someone is watching, they probably already saw Alex. Right, K?”
She nodded. “I think it’s worth it to try the keycode.”
I’d left it wide open but hidden behind some boxes.
It wasn’t until Keira and I were heading down the stairs that Taylor’s words hit, making my whole body tingle with fear.
Someone else we’ve never seen.
We already knew there was at least one secret, hidden room at Blackbriar. Who was to say there weren’t more? And who was to say they didn’t contain multiple people we weren’t aware of, spying on us like doctors watching their lab rats?
* * *
I forced myself to focus on the task at hand. Keira stopped in her room for bobby pins, and I tried to think up an excuse in case we ran into Yana. Thankfully, the halls were empty. At the door, Keira crouched down as I shone my phone light on the circular lock.
“Okay, let’s see if I can still do this.” Keira pulled out the bobby pins from her pocket.
“How did you learn?” I asked.
“Well…” She twisted one of the bobby pins, bending one end into a little hook. “I have a very curious niece who decided to lock herself in the bathroom at her second birthday party.” She slipped the wavy side into the lock. “YouTube really saved the day.”
“Wow.”
A minute later, she turned the doorknob and it magically opened.
“There!” she cried.
“Amazing.” I turned on the light.
The radio sat in the back corner on its own stand. It was the size of two stacked bricks, with tiny buttons and switches across the front.
“Okay.” Keira flipped some switches. Nothing happened.
“It looks like it’s dead. Shouldn’t it be lit up in some way?” I bent and found the cord, which was plugged into an outlet.
“Something should be happening.” She glanced up. “Hey, you should check the phone too. Maybe it’s actually working.”
I went to the white vintage rotary phone on the desk. I lifted the receiver and held it to my ear. There was nothing—less than nothing: a thick, silent deadness.
“Nope.” I turned back to Keira.
She’d stiffened, the grooves of her shoulder blades showing through her tight black sweater.
“What?” I trotted to her side.
She’d turned the radio over. The bottom had been pried open, the insides removed. Torn wires lined the gaping plastic shell.
The reality of the situation took a second to hit.
There was no radio. No phone. No connection to the outside world.
Keira looked at me, and the same thought hovered between us: we were completely on our own.
* * *
We ran into Taylor and Wren in the kitchen.
“We saw the keypad,” Taylor said. “Couldn’t get in without the code, of course. Wren had the idea that we should try to figure out what’s directly above it and see if there’s a way in from upstairs.”