Alissa leans into the phone. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Another pause, and then the voice utters three more words. “Bring a spade.”
The call drops.
“Bring a spade?” I ask. “How can we bring May with us? We’re looking for clues about her, just like the riddle indicated.”
Alissa strokes her chin for a moment. “A spade…”
“Are we supposed to go back to the club and grab one of May’s coworkers? Maybe they’ll know where to go.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t think so. I think it’s a play on words. The wordspadecan have other definitions. I think this guy means to bring a spade as in a shovel.”
I drop my jaw. “You mean we’re supposed to dig for buried treasure or some shit?”
She nods. “Or some shit, I’m assuming. The evidence we’re looking for. The crown that’s interred. Rouge has probably buried it somewhere in the forest preserve.” She gestures to the roaring waterfalls. “The first riddle gave us our starting point, and then this new riddle is directions from here.” She grabs her phone and opens the notes app. “What was it he said again?North on the river…”
“You’ll find a nice clearing,” I finish for her. “The darker it gets, the closer you’re nearing.”
“And then something about good God damn.” She wrinkles her nose. “It was odd.”
“Quadruple the instants you’ll say ‘Good God damn!’”
“Right. And then”—she shivers—“This won’t be a picnic, you’re likely to scram.That last part gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
“If we need to get a shovel, we’ll have to buy one,” I say. “But we might have to wait until morning. I doubt that Menards is open this late.”
She shakes her head. “We don’t have to. I have a couple of shovels in my trunk.”
“You do?” I raise an eyebrow.
She chuckles. “Nothing suspicious, I assure you. I think I told you that I was helping my friend Dinah with some gardening a few weeks back. I brought some shovels to help and never took them out of my trunk.”
I rub at my forehead. Damn. That was my last shot at convincing Alissa to wait until morning for this wild goose chase.
But I paste a smile on. “Okay, let’s get back to the car, and we’ll figure out what the hell the rest of that riddle means.” I rub my hands up and down my arms. I don’t feel any fear. Not exactly. Just…apprehension. Like if we take one more step, we’ll never turn back…and our lives will change forever. “What do you think we’re going to be digging up?”
She shakes her head. “No idea. It could be evidence that Rouge is trying to hide, showing that she’s up to something menacing. A payment for some unseemly business. Or it could be”—she grimaces—“something farworse.”
31
ALISSA
DidI really just say those words?
But I have the same feeling I had?—
No.
Can’t go there.
I need to keep my wits about me.
I have no idea what we’re going to find in this preserve. All I know is that every word of the unnaturally low voice from the phone is reverberating in my ears, echoing through every synapse in my brain as I try to make sense of it.
I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and let it out in a heavy sigh. “Let’s go back to the car and get the spades.”
Maddox nods. “Good move. We can figure out what those directions mean as well.”