“That’s the mudroom,” he whispered. “No one uses that door.”
We all froze.
From above came the faintest scrape, like a shoe against tile.
Lily buried her face in my sweater.
Martin opened the coal chute panel. Cold air breathed in from the dark.
“You first,” he mouthed.
The passage was narrow, sloping upward through old brick. I pushed the folder and purse ahead, then helped Lily climb in. She was small enough to crawl easily, but she kept looking back.
“Go to the light,” I whispered. “I’m right behind you.”
She crawled.
I followed, scraping my shoulder against brick. Dust filled my nose. My ankle screamed each time my foot found purchase. Behind me, Martin pulled himself into the chute and slid the panel into place.
We moved in darkness for perhaps thirty feet. It felt like a mile.
Above us, somewhere inside Martin’s house, a man called out.
“Mr. Vale?”
The voice was polite.
That somehow made it worse.
Martin’s hand touched my shoe, urging me forward.
At the end of the chute, Lily had pushed open a rusted metal hatch just enough for gray daylight to show. I squeezed beside her and lifted it fully.
We emerged behind Martin’s garage, hidden by overgrown hydrangeas and the leaning fence that separated his property from the alley.
A blue compact car idled ten yards away.
A woman with Martin’s same gray eyes leaned across the passenger seat and pushed open the door.
“Get in,” she hissed.
Annie.
I helped Lily into the back, then slid in beside her. Martin climbed into the front seat with difficulty, breathing hard. Annie drove before his door was fully closed.
We bumped down the alley, past garbage bins and wet leaves, then turned onto a side street. No one followed.
For five minutes, nobody spoke.
Lily’s head rested against my arm, but her eyes stayed open.
Annie glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “Where can I take you?”
The obvious answer was my mother’s house.
Derek would expect that.
“My bank,” I said suddenly.
Martin turned. “Your bank?”
“I have a safe deposit box. My father left me some papers. Derek didn’t know about it.”
That was not entirely true.