Page 102 of A Secret to Die For

“Do you remember EJ or Marianna taking anything out of the attic during the time I was at the house? I know it’s a long shot.”

“What kind of thing? They fetched the Christmas decorations every year.”

“I don’t know. Before Mom died, she said a few words that made me think she’d maybe left something at the house for me, probably when we visited for Grandpa’s eightieth birthday.”

“Why would she have done that? You hardly ever came to Oregon.”

“I have no idea. As I said, it’s a long shot. She just said it was on the third floor.”

“That was it?”

“All I remember is ‘Third-floor window. Pipes. Fires. Dust. Eight sixteen.’ Does that mean anything to you?”

As usual, he took his time thinking about it. Parker never acted in a hurry. If I’d had to describe him in three words, they would have been “cold,” “deliberate,” and “boring.” Actually, that was yesterday. Today, I’d switch out “boring” for “sneaky.” I ate a couple more nachos. They were room temperature now, but my appetite was finally returning.

“Sorry, it means nothing at all. You checked around the attic windows?”

“Every single one.”

“The pipe repairs were on the second floor, not the third, and I don’t recall any fires at that time. Easton burned down the old gazebo, but that was the year after.”

I remembered that. He thought it would be fun to play with matches and because it hadn’t rained for weeks, the whole of the back lawn caught fire. He’d been grounded for a month. But pipe repairs? I didn’t recall any pipe repairs.

“What happened with the pipes?”

“The copper corroded, and we had a new leak every month. In the end, Grandpa said to hell with it and hired a plumber to replace the whole lot. We had to play musical bedrooms while he pulled up the floors.”

I didn’t remember any of that, but…but we’d been staying in the pool house. That was another reason I’d moved out there—because of the good memories. Now the monster had ruined those too.

“When was the work done? Can you remember? Was it around the time of Grandpa’s party?”

“EJ was meant to be overseeing the project, but it overran, and I remember him and Grandpa fighting in the kitchen while Mom iced the birthday cake.”

Could Parker’s memory be the key? I didn’t want to get my hopes up, not again, but at the same time, I had to check out the possibility.

“Uh, I might need to look under the floor.”

“I had a horrible feeling you were going to say that.”

“EJ’s going to have a conniption, isn’t he?”

Another long pause. “Only if he knows.”

“Oh, you think he won’t notice if I sneak in and start dismantling the house?”

“Apply some logic, Saralisa. Your mom said ‘third floor window.’ If we’re talking about the second floor and not the attic, then the ‘third’ is a separate part of the riddle. Split it up: third, floor, window. Consider the layout—two wings, each with a central hallway—and start with the third door on each side. We know the floor part, so we just need to trace the pipes and check each point where they pass under a window. You have friends that can help? Luca and Brooke?”

“Yes.” Hell, I’d even drag Jack Morrow in with a claw hammer if I needed to.

“If I can get EJ and the twins out of the house tomorrow, would that work for you?”

“I know we haven’t been close, and technically we’re not even family now, but I love you.”

The corners of his lips quirked. It wasn’t a whole smile, but maybe a quarter of one.

“I’ll text you with a time.”

35

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