Chapter Sixty-One

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

"Stella?" Harriet's voice sounds like it is coming from far away.

My ears are ringing and my muscles feel like jelly.

But the dominant thought in my mind is clear: I have to find a way to save Rose.

From the very first day I glimpsed her on a busy street corner, my deepest fear was that she'd desperately need me, and I'd fail her.

You're the only one who can help her.

My senses reignite. I become aware of the hard elevator floor beneath my cheek. I smell chemical traces of cleaning products the housekeeper must have mopped in here. The sharp ammonia scent clears some of the dullness from my mind.

I don't know why Harriet is taking me into the basement, but it isn't to retrieve a bottle of wine.

A grinding noise signals the elevator door is sliding shut. We're beginning our descent into the bowels of the house.

"Are you awake?" Harriet's voice is very close now. She's in the elevator, looming above me. "I saw you turning around and I had to zap you. I know it hurt."

I keep my eyes shut, knowing the element of surprise is the only thing I have going for me.

The elevator lurches as we begin to sink down.

My insides no longer feel like they're convulsing. But I'm not strong enough to fight yet.

Charles won't summon the police for at least thirty or forty minutes. He may be too late.

But Rose has Tina's phone. She could text 9–1–1. Perhaps Rose can use her whiteboard to write a message to the police when they come to the door. My car is still outside, evidence I'm in the house. Maybe Rose was listening from a hiding spot and has already summoned the police.

All I need to do is stay alive until someone gets here—or until I can get Rose out.

I feel a jab on my thigh. Harriet is poking me with the tip of her cane.

"If I have to drag you out of here, I'm going to need to zap you again to make sure you're really unconscious," Harriet warns me.

She jabs me again, harder.

But now I'm ready for it.

My eyes fly open as my hands spring up and I grab the end of the cane.

I don't try to wrestle it away from Harriet. She'd expect that. Instead, I yank the cane toward me, then suddenly reverse my arm's motion and thrust the cane backward and up, as hard as I can. The curved handle smashes into the middle of Harriet's face.

Blood spurts from her nose as she staggers back, leaning against the wall of the elevator. She releases her grip on the cane and puts a hand to her face, but she keeps hold of the Taser.

The pain must be explosive; her eyes are probably watering. With any luck her vision is temporarily compromised.

She begins to lift the Taser and point it at me just as the panel door slides open.

She's probably expecting me to leap to my feet and run. Instead, I crawl.

I scuttle out on my hands and knees, moving as fast as I can, still holding on to Harriet's cane.

By the time I'm a dozen yards away from the elevator, my legs feel steady enough to carry my weight. I run to the spiral staircase tucked past the storage room and grip the thin metal banister as I begin to climb.

I don't hear anything behind me. Harriet is likely taking the elevator back up to the main level, or maybe she's checking to see if I'm hiding in her living room or bedroom. She'll have to move more slowly than usual until she finds a makeshift cane. Rose and I might have time to get to my car before Harriet reaches the front hallway.

My lungs still haven't recovered from the volt of electricity; they feel as if they're being shredded as I force myself to move faster, hauling myself to the top of the stairs. I cut through the strange, sterile room with the purple couch and heavy curtains, then head toward the main hallway.

"Rose!" I yell. My voice is thready, but for once, this old house is my ally. Noise travels through its thin floors; she should be able to hear me. "Hurry! Run to the front door! We need to get out of here!"

I reach into my pocket for my phone as I wait for her to run to me.

But there's no response.

And my phone is missing.

Harriet must have grabbed it when I passed out.

"Rose!" I scream again, my voice echoing in the stillness.

Nothing.

If Rose won't come to me, I'll have to find her. I hurry to the staircase and grab the banister, heaving myself up the steps as fast as I can. I reach the landing and turn toward Rose's bedroom.

Her door is closed. I fling it open.

At first I don't see her; the room is too dark. Then I spot her sitting in her chair in the corner, rocking back and forth, her arms wrapped around her knees. She's wearing a thin white nightgown and her feet are bare.

If I'd seen her like this two days ago, I'd have thought she looked creepy.

Now all I see is a terrified little girl.

I run to her and kneel down on the rug, looking up at her.

"Rose, I know Harriet is doing bad things. I'm so sorry I didn't figure it out before. But I need you to trust me now. We're going to get your parents and go to the police."

Rose is completely still for a breath and I fear I'm too late, that she has retreated so far inside herself she can't come back out.

Her expression is wooden. I misinterpreted that look before. I thought it meant Rose was deliberately pulling down a shield. Now I know it means she's shutting down because she feels too much.

Then her lashes flutter and she seems to see me for the first time.

What comes into her eyes breaks my heart.

It's hope.

Of all the sides of Rose I've seen, I've never once glimpsed her looking hopeful.

I grab her hand. "Come on!"

We run into the hallway and head for the stairs. Just before I reach the top step, I lean over the banister to see if Harriet is coming. All the breath whooshes out of my lungs.

Harriet is hurrying around the corner of the landing, her Taser in hand.

I can't believe what I'm seeing.

She's practically running .

Harriet clearly doesn't need a cane. She has been faking all along. Which means she has been able to move around the house swiftly and quietly whenever she wants.

Harriet climbs the first step, using her supposedly bad leg. Her nose is still bleeding, leaving a trail of tiny red splatters in the hallway.

"This way!" I hiss at Rose, still holding her hand as we run toward the other end of the hallway. I pause halfway there and close the door to Rose's bedroom as quietly as I can, hoping Harriet will search that space first and buy us time. Then I yank open the door leading to the stairs up to Tina's old room.

"Do you have a hiding place up here?" I whisper to Rose as we begin to tiptoe up the steps.

She nods.

"I want you to get in there and wait until you hear your mother or father or me calling for you. Don't come out for anyone else, okay?"

She nods again.

Her hand feels so soft and tiny in mine. I don't know why or how things changed between us, but she trusts me now.

"Show me your hiding place," I whisper when we reach Tina's old quarters.

Rose walks a few feet away from me and presses the wall. A built-in door pops open, revealing a space the size of a tiny closet. I never noticed it before because there are no hinges or knob on the outside. On the floor is a phone in a shimmering pink case with a picture of Tina blowing a kiss as a screensaver. My heart leaps at the sight of it; Rose can summon help.

I hear a slamming sound right below us. Harriet is searching for us. She'll be here soon.

I bend down and look Rose in the eye. "I know Harriet was in the attic when Tina died. You have to tell your parents. They'll believe you. They'll keep Harriet away from you."

As soon as I say it, I realize it may not be true. Harriet has already planted doubt in Ian's and Beth's minds, convincing them their daughter could be disturbed. Harriet will spin whatever Rose says as further evidence Rose is unhinged.

"No matter what you hear, don't come out until your mom or dad or I call for you, okay?"

Rose's eyes are huge as she looks up at me and nods.

There's another slamming sound, closer this time. Harriet is coming.

"Make sure Tina's phone is on silent mode, then use it to text 9–1–1. Tell them everything Harriet did. And write it down for Dr. Markman, too. Make sure you find a way to tell her. Send her a letter if you have to."

I hear the door to the attic creak open. I've only got a few seconds.

"Don't make a noise." I close the door, making Rose disappear.

Nausea fills my throat. A child is sealed in a closet, hidden away— just like I was so many years ago. And when I stepped back out, the whole world was upside down.

"Stella? I know you're up here."

Harriet is almost upon me.

If I fail in my effort to protect Rose—if she steps out of the closet to find me on the floor, immobilized by the Taser, or, worse yet, gone forever—Harriet will rule her life. She'll keep Rose away from anyone who would believe or help her.

The sustained trauma may be too great for Rose to endure.

I've got nothing but a wooden cane, while Harriet is armed with a Taser.

I slip across the room so I'm standing as far away from the secret closet as possible. I don't want Harriet to see the thin seam outlining the door or hear any sound Rose inadvertently makes. I zip up my coat as a final layer of protection.

Harriet appears at the top of the stairs, blood streaking the lower half of her face and her powder-blue top.

"There you are!" she cries.