A new rush of outrage detonated inside her. “This time, I’d rather take care of myself.”

Then she was gone. Devlin and Falco needed her.

She stared one last time at her father before squealing tires as she peeled away from the curb.

She would have the truth. If it was the last thing she did.

41

8:45 a.m.

Birmingport Road

Birmingham

Tori peeked out the crack left by the partially open door. She couldn’t see Alice. Couldn’t hear her either. But she couldn’t have gone far. There was nothing out here but woods and these old warehouses.

And the maintenance shed, according to the sign on the door, where Alice had left Tori.

She glanced around the room. At least there were lights. There were big electrical boxes and all sorts of tools and a commercial-size riding mower.

Tori glanced out once more. She should make a run for it. She should have refused to get out of the car when they’d first arrived.

But she’d been afraid. What if she’d done that and Sarah really was in trouble?

Alice had told Tori to wait here and she would bring Sarah to her. Tori waited.

What she needed to do now was find a weapon to protect herself.

A thump had Tori spinning around.

The hum of whatever mechanical things were running was the only sound.

“Alice?” she dared to whisper.

What if Alice had just brought her here to play a trick on her?

Or to kill her. She’d probably try to make it look like Tori had killed herself. Then they could all blame Brendal’s death on her.

“Alice!” Anger burned inside Tori. She wasn’t getting away with this.

Fear abruptly coiled around Tori’s chest. What if it was Sarah and she was injured? Or someone else?

“Sarah?”

More thumping and what sounded like rustling.

Tori listened, focused on pinpointing where exactly the sounds were coming from.

The rustling and thumping increased. The door of a tall locker-like cabinet moved. Tori held her breath and eased toward the locker. Her heart thudded harder and harder, rising in her throat as if it might pop like an overinflated balloon.

She touched the door. It moved.

Tori jumped back.

The next sound she heard was a moan-like scream. As if someone were trying to scream with their mouth full . . .

“Sarah?” Tori grabbed for the door again. She tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. The sounds on the other side grew more frantic.

She tugged harder at the latch. Then she realized she needed to push down the latch and slide it sideways.

The locking mechanism released.

The door sprang open.

A bundle fell out onto the floor.

Long blonde hair. Pink tee. Jeans.

The smell of urine and feces.

Tori blinked and stared at the sobbing girl.

Not Sarah.

Blonde girl, around Tori’s age. She’d wet and soiled herself. There was a cloth stuffed into her mouth. Her hands were tied behind her back. She lay on her side, whimpering and rocking.

Emotions spinning inside her, Tori stared at her. Why didn’t she stand up?

Then Tori spotted the reason. Her hands were tied to her ankles. Knees bent. She was tied up like one of those calves in rodeos.

“I’ll get you loose.” Tori knelt beside her. The girl was sobbing now. The ropes were made of nylon and tied really tight. “I need scissors or a knife.”

Tori shot to her feet and searched the shed. She didn’t find scissors, but she did find a large metal tool that looked kind of like scissors. She thought she had seen a neighbor trimming bushes with something like this.

Might work.

Tori rushed back to the girl. “Hold still.”

It took some maneuvering to get the rope between the cutting blades without hurting the girl. Finally when the tool was in place, she squeezed the handles together. Nothing happened. She squeezed harder, gritted her teeth.

What if this didn’t work?

Alice could be back any moment.

The rope snapped. Tori set the tool aside and pulled as much of the rope away as possible. She needed to cut one more section. The one around her ankles.

With her hands free, the girl reached for her face and pulled at the cloth in her mouth. Tori snapped the rope holding her ankles together.

The girl scrambled away.

Tori placed the tool back on the floor. She glanced at the door. Hoped Alice didn’t walk in for a few more minutes.

“Who tied you up here?”

The girl’s eyes were wild as if she’d turned feral.

“What’s your name?” Tori asked.

She stared at Tori. It was at that moment Tori recognized her.

Violet Redmond. The missing student from Walker Academy. Her face was all over the news and the internet.

“Oh my God. Are you okay, Violet?”

“Help me,” the girl whispered, her voice rusty.

Realization of the situation flashed in her brain. Tori rushed to Violet, grabbed her hand. “We have to get out of here.”

They moved to the door. Violet stumbled a couple of times. Probably from being cramped up in that cabinet for two days. Tori eased the door open enough to check outside. She didn’t see Alice or anyone else.

“Come on.” Holding Violet’s hand tightly in hers, Tori led the way from the shed toward the road. The driver had turned off Birmingport Road and driven down a fairly long drive that ended at these warehouses. If they could make it to the main road, they might be able to flag down a car.

“What’re you doing?”

Tori froze. Violet started to sob.

Alice.

Tori turned around, ushered Violet behind her. “We’re leaving,” she announced.

Alice smiled. She waved the big knife in her hand. “No you’re not. You two are my only loose ends. I have to take care of you. If you run, I’ll just have my grandfather send his soldiers to kill you.”

Was the threat more of Alice’s tales about being a princess? Tori reached behind her, grabbed Violet by the arm, and pulled her closer. She whispered over her shoulder. “Run to the road. I’ll stall her, and then I’ll run in the other direction. Don’t stop running until you find help.”

Violet whimpered.

“Run,” Tori growled.

Violet tore away.

Alice started after her.

Tori rushed toward Alice. Threw her full body weight against her shoulder.