Page 94 of A Step You Shouldn't Take

“I’m Josie,” she said. “Welcome to High Grove Farm.”

This time, I looked beyond my cage in the other direction. This cellar, bunker, dungeon, whatever it was—it wasn’t new. Each cell reminded me of one of those tiny showrooms from a branch of IKEA, but the walls themselves were made from rough concrete and old timber painted a dirty cream. A relic from a bygone age, much like Josie herself.

“What was this place?” I asked.

Jacqueline thought I was talking to her. “Who knows? A cellar?”

“An old moonshine distillery,” Josie said. “Edgar Schultz ran his bootlegging operation from here during Prohibition. All the barrels got stored in this room, and the still was in the space at the far end where Peter takes the girls for dinner. Used to be thirty men at a time working down here, day and night.”

“Moonshine,” I murmured. “From one illegal activity to another.”

“Moonshine?” Jacqueline said. “What are you talking about?”

“After that, it was empty for years,” Josie said. “Decades. Ever gone a lifetime without talking to a soul? I thought I was gonna lose my mind. Then a guy came along and used the place to breed dogs. A cruel man, always unkind to them. He clutched at his chest and keeled over right where the girl with the red hair sleeps, and the hounds in that cage ate most of him before anyone realised he was dead.”

At least he’d died of natural causes. Having to spend goodness knows how long with a half-mauled ghost would have made this whole ordeal even worse.

“Then it went deathly quiet until Peter came along,” Josie continued. “And the girls. Now we’re all trapped, although the company’s nice.”

“I hear footsteps!” one of the girls said. “He’s coming.”

Clomp, clomp, clompon wooden stairs followed by the quietclickof a lock, then lights blazed, turning dusk into daylight. What time was it? How long had I been gone? Down here, I had no idea, and I realised Peter had taken my watch. Had Reed even noticed I was missing yet?

“Ah, Noelle. You’re awake. Super.” Peter strode towards me from the far end of the room and stopped in front of my door, holding the bars as he peered inside. “Did you have a little accident?” He waved at the pool of vomit and tutted. “I’ll get you a cloth. Drinking the way you do is dangerous, you know.”

Oh, I knew that now. One attempted kidnapping and one actual kidnapping, and with Josie as my witness, I was never drinking again.

“It was a wine tasting,” I said. “You’re supposed to drink.”

“No, Noelle. You’re supposed to spit the wine out.”

“My name’s Kimberly.”

“Yes, and if you hadn’t got away from me the first time, Kimberly would have been perfectly acceptable. But I replaced you with Katia, and we only had M and onwards vacant.”

Vacant? What did he think this place was? A freaking hotel? He took half a dozen paces to my right and peered in at Annie.

“Still sleepy, I see. I had to give her a higher dose than planned because she wouldn’t behave either. Propofol’s so unpredictable. I much prefer GHB.”

He moved on to Katia. “And how are you today, Katie? Feeling any better?”

“Eat shit and die.”

“I’ll take that as a no. I think we’ll stick with crackers and water for a few more days, yes? And Jacqueline? Have you been treating our new guests well?”

“Yes, Peter.”

The freak visited each girl in turn, and the responses to his questions got more polite as he moved along the line. The older girls were more conditioned to being here, that much was obvious, although I detected a hint of snark in Emma’s reply. Only Abigail broke with the norm, asking Peter how he was instead of the other way around.

“A little stressed lately, Abby. Sometimes, it feels as though the whole world’s against me.”

“In what way?”

“That one…” He pointed in my direction. “After the way she rejected me, I’m not sure how happy I am about her joining us, but she was causing too many difficulties in town with all her questions. Her and that detective she hired. Honestly…” He walked back towards me. “Noelle, you need to learn when to let things go.”

“Hello, pot, have you met kettle? How about you letusgo?”

“No. No, that’s not feasible, I’m afraid. Not after I’ve put so much effort into gathering you all here. And I know it’s a big change for you, but I’m sure you’ll grow to love being a part of our little community. Won’t she, girls?”

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