Page 57 of The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“I’ll tell you, but only after you do something for me.”

“What’s that?”

“Call my stepfather.”

“I called your stepfather when you first came back to let him know you’d been found. If I feel the need to call him again, I will.”

“But calling him would prove I’m telling the truth. It’s just one simple thing and you won’t do it. When you called him, did you ask him if Rosemary had a twin?”

He shook his head. “It didn’t come up. When I told him you’d been found safe and sound, he was relieved. That was it.”

“He didn’t say his other stepdaughter had run away?”

“No.”

“So call him again. Right now, while I’m sitting here. Ask him if Rosemary had a twin.”

“I’m afraid that would do more harm than good, Miss Winters. I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

“I think you’re afraid of what he’ll say.”

“I can assure you I am not.”

“Then call him. But only if you want to know how the reporters got in.”

He clenched his jaw, his nostrils flaring. After a long moment, he pushed the button on the intercom again. When his secretary answered, he said, “Get Alan Tern on the line for me, will you, Evie?

“Yes, Doctor,” Evie said.

“Call me back when you have him.” After releasing the intercom, he folded his hands on the desk. “There. I’ve done what you asked. Now tell me, how did the news crew get in?”

“Not until you talk to him,” she said.

“That wasn’t the deal. Evie is going to get him on the line, so I’m holding up my end of the bargain. And unless you share what you know before she reaches him, I’ll have her tell him she called him by mistake.”

She chewed her lip. If Eddie’s uncle got fired, he and Eddie would never be able to help her. Then again, she only had to tell Dr. Baldwinpartof what she knew, not everything.

“But before you answer,” Dr. Baldwin said, “do you remember where I sent you when you assaulted that attendant a few years ago?”

“No,” she said. “Because that wasn’t me. It was my sister.”

He scowled, losing patience again. “I sent you to our state security hospital, where you remained for a year. Clearly it didn’t teach you anything, but if you lie about how the reporters got in, I’ll have them send someone to pick you up in the morning.”

She swallowed. If the state security hospital was consideredpunishment, how much worse must it be than Willowbrook? “It was Dr. Wilkins,” she said. “He’s friends with that reporter. They met at a diner and Dr. Wilkins gave him a key to House Six.”

Dr. Baldwin pressed his lips into a hard, thin line. Before he could respond, the phone on the desk rang, making Sage jump. Dr. Baldwin stared at it, fuming, then picked up the receiver.

“Yes?” He listened for a moment, then frowned. “I see,” he said. “Yes, all right. We can try again later. Thank you, Evie.” He hung up and looked at Sage. “Your stepfather isn’t answering.”

“Maybe he’s still at work.”

“On a Saturday evening?”

Heat crawled up her cheeks. She had no idea what time of day it was, let alone what day of the week. She was about to tell him Alan was probably at a bar when someone knocked on the office door.

“Yes?” Dr. Baldwin said.

The door opened and Evie rushed in, her lime-colored dress and platinum hair glowing in the drab office. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but you need to see this,” she said. She hurried over to the television and turned it on.

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