Page 96 of Writing On The Wall

“It’s unlocked,” our newest intruder whispers as the door squeaks open again.

“Carl?” My lip curls up on one side, causing my glasses to slide down the bridge of my nose.

“Hi, dear,” Gran chirps, suddenly appearing from behind Carl.

Aaaand, I’ve officially lost it. Reality has completely slipped away. It must be those fumes someone keeps spiking my car with. I drove recently, right? That has to be it. None of this is real.

“Can someone explain what is going on?” I demand a bit too loudly, then clear my throat.

“Carl gave us an address where he believed we’d find the music box,” Gail says, pointing at Carl, whose cheeks flush as he tugs at his collar. “We knew he was helping Agnes investigate its whereabouts.”

“They tricked me. Withcake,” Carl adds in his defense, crossing his arms. “Told ya that’s how they get you, Miss Ivy,” he continues, shaking his head with a creased chin.

“Why areyouhere, Gran?”

“Well, Carl here didn’t tell me the address we were headed to, just that he had a lead. I followed along and figured I’d see how this plays out once I realized where we were. Love what you’ve done with the place, by the way,” she adds as her eyes track the changes in the newly opened space.

Thank goodness Ethan knocked out some walls in here, orthe seven of us would be pretty cramped. How has this escalated to DEFCON 1 in a mere ten minutes?

I hear my name being shouted just before Toby and Stef burst through the door.

Make that nine people. At least we were spared from watching the door handle turn spookily again.

“Ivy! You okay?” he huffs, breathing heavily with his hands on his hips.

“The boyfriend?” I hear Gran ask Opal with a stage whisper while she gives Stef the stink eye.

Opal bobs her head to the side. “Well…yes and no.”

“Everything’s just peachy. How’d you get roped into this? Wait…Is…is something finally going on here?” I wag my finger, motioning between Toby and Stef.

“I’ll explain later,” Toby waves his hand, still panting. “And Ember texted,”

“In my defense,” Ember grimaces, “I thought he was still your boyfriend.”

“Was?” I hear Gran squeak.

“Um…” I exhale, letting my lips flap noisily while I decide on my next move. I push my glasses up, settling on dodging the question.

“Where’d Ross go?” I shift to peer behind each person in the room.

Freaking monkey nuts!

I race down the passage, silently chanting “please let me be wrong” over and over in my head. Six sets of hurried footsteps echo behind me. Then I come to an abrupt stop, nearly causing a pile up when the others don’t react in time.

“I don’t think he got to it, but I need to check. Toby, will you help me?”

“So my granddaughter isn’t good enough for you, hmm,Toby?” Gran decides to start an interrogation while Toby and I heave the wardrobe away.

“Gran, I’ll explain later. I promise. But Toby is innocent in all of this.” I smirk at Stef, who shares a small smile with me. I’m glad the two of them seem to have connected. Carl steps in, insisting he take my place to shift the closet, revealing the hidden door.

Gran gasps. “I thought Oliver had sealed this up…” There’s a wistful tone to her voice, and she inhales sharply when I slide the door open. “It was just an unfinished storage room when we bought the house, so we boarded it up and shoved a wardrobe in front of it. Oliver always said he’d spruce it up some day…”

“He redid the whole thing for you. He wanted to surprise you with it. But he passed away before he could,” I tell her. The dim light in the room glints off the tears pooling in her eyes as a shaky hand raises to her mouth. I grab Pop’s letter from the shelf, handing it to her. She reads it silently while everyone else squishes into the tiny space.

“Oh, for goodness sake, Agnes,” Opal sighs heavily. “We don’t have long to live. Would you read the darn thing before I die?”

“Speak for yourself. I plan to live to a ripe old age.” Gail smiles.

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