“ Do you want to come?”
“Yes. As you’ve been saying all along. And maybe that’s the conclusion I
need to accept. Or maybe there’s another solution. That’s what I need to find
out.” He drained his coffee and put the cup back on the bench with a crisp
clack. “ Do you want to come?”
“What? Of course.” I was a little insulted that he would even consider
leaving me behind.
“Great. Get changed. The Marwick house’s downstairs light turned off
half an hour ago, which means Ruby’s probably awake.”
Lucky’s sudden burst of energy was a good change, but I still grumbled as
I staggered upstairs. I took the world’s quickest shower and threw on the first
clean clothes I could find, but Lucky was already tapping his foot impatiently
by the time I met him at the base of the stairs.
The sky was overcast, making the world look colder than it actually was.
We took the familiar path to the front of my property, around the fence, and
into Marwick’s. I felt eyes on my back and knew Penny still lurked at her
window seat, but that didn’t bother me. Whatever she might be imagining
was nothing compared to what we’d actually experienced.
Ruby looked happy when she answered the door. She wore an old T-shirt
with paint stains over it, but her hair was neat. I guessed she looked a whole
lot fresher than I did. She invited us inside then hesitated in the foyer.
“I’m sorry about last night, Lucky. I hope you weren’t startled too badly.”
“That’s why I’m here, actually.” He clasped his hands behind his back. “I
want to understand what’s happening in this house. Do you mind if I take alook at the security system?”
She shrugged. “Of course. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Coffee would be great, if you have it. Thanks.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. How come he’s never that polite to me?
Lucky went straight to the computer in the dining room. I followed and
watched as he fiddled with the switches and cables for a moment. Then he
stood back and ran his hands through his hair. “They were unplugged.”
“Yes, sorry, that was me.” Ruby appeared behind us, carrying two cups of
coffee. “It wouldn’t stop beeping, so I turned it off. I’m really sorry.”
“Hm.” Lucky’s eyes lingered on Ruby for a moment then skipped over
the room. I wondered if, like me, he was looking for the dark-haired woman.
“Okay if I plug it back in?”
“Sure. Is it okay if I leave you to it? I’ve got some work to do upstairs.”
“Go for it. I might be a while here.” Lucky settled into the desk and
plugged in a cable. Almost immediately, the computer beeped, and the
upstairs video turned on. We watched the empty hallway, both searching for
any form of movement in the shadows, then jumped as the computer beeped
again. Ruby appeared in the bottom of the screen, walking towards the room
at the end of the hallway.
I almost wanted to call her back down—to tell her not to go into the blue
room where Shreya lurked—but she’d seen the same footage I had. She knew
exactly what lingered up there. And it didn’t frighten her.
The screen went dead after thirty seconds of no movement. Then we had
another ping, and the camera at the back door lit up. Again, Lucky and I
hunted for movement—and found no results. Another ping, and we were
back at the upstairs hallway. I settled into a chair at his side. We watched the
screen for four hours. Every one of the house’s four cameras lit up multiple
times, with most of the activity in the upstairs hallway.
By the time midday rolled around, my neck was stiff and my eyes ached.
I knew we weren’t going to see anything on the cameras. Lucky seemed to
think so, as well, because he stretched and stood. “I’m going to run into town
to get us some lunch. What does Ruby like?”
“I’m not sure, actually.”
“I’ll get a couple of different things, then. See you in twenty.”