CHAPTER 10
Walls Have Secrets
Darius nearly ran into her.
She stood beneath the front steps, drenched from head to toe, rainwater streaming from her hair and off the tip of her nose. Her teeth chattered so hard it looked painful.
"Celeste."
Her head snapped up, relief flooding her face as she stumbled into him. He caught her, pulling her into a tight hug. She was freezing, shaking against him, but alive.
She pulled back first, breath uneven. "The doors were locked. All of them."
Darius glanced at the dark mansion behind her. "The power went out."
"What?"
"The whole place is black."
Thunder rolled overhead, deep and heavy. He grabbed her arm. "The locks might've triggered automatically."
She looked back toward the doors. "I pounded on every entrance."
"We'll talk about it inside. We need to move."
Rain slapped against them as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the entrance. They reached the front doors just as the lights inside flickered once, then again, before the mansion came back to life.
Darius pounded three times. The lock clicked, and Tyreek yanked the door open.
The moment Vicky saw Celeste, she shot to her feet. "Oh my God."
Celeste looked up at the room. Every face stared back at her, tense and shaken.
"What happened?"
No one answered.
Vicky stepped closer, eyes scanning her. "You freezing."
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not. Your lips are blue."
Celeste touched her mouth, noticing the tremor in her fingers. She looked down at her hands. They couldn't stop shaking.
Vicky pulled her. "Come on."
"What?"
"To the bathroom. Now."
"Vicky—"
"You're close to pre-hypothermia."
The nurse in her had taken over. She guided Celeste into the bathroom and shut the door behind them. The space felt smaller, warmer, the air thickening as Vicky turned on the shower and let the water run.
"You need to get out of those clothes."
"I'm okay," her voice trembled behind chattering teeth.
"No, you're not."
Celeste looked down at herself. Her jacket clung to her body, water dripping from every inch of fabric.
Vicky handed her a towel. "Sit."
"I can stand."
"Can I do my job? You're a cop. I'm a nurse and I know what I'm doing."
Something in her tone made Celeste obey. Vicky knelt in front of her and carefully removed her soaked shoes. Helped her remove the bulletproof vest, her gun, the shirt beneath it, and her underwear. Everything sat in a wet pile on the floor.
"You're shivering hard."
"I'm cold."
"No shit Sherlock. You're one hell of a dick."
That pulled a small smile from Celeste. "You're not the first one to call me that, ya know."
Vicky looked up at her, softer now. "You scared me."
The smile faded. Celeste looked away. "I was scared too. I've never seen anything like that. It looked like some shit you'd see on a sci-fi movie."
Silence settled between them, broken only by the steady rush of water and rumbles from the storm.
Vicky stood. "Come on."
A few minutes later, Celeste stood beneath the warm spray, steam rising around her as the heat soaked into her skin. Color slowly returned to her face, and the violent shaking eased.
Vicky sat on the closed toilet lid, a towel in her lap, watching her.
They stayed quiet for a while.
Then Vicky spoke. "Sky's gone."
Celeste turned toward her. "Gone where?"
Tears filled Vicky's eyes. "She went into the bathroom after the lights went out. We heard her scream."
"This bathroom?" Celeste looked around.
Vicky shook her head. "We opened the door…" Her voice broke as a tear slid down her cheek. "She wasn't there.” Water kept falling and so did the tears. "She was just… gone."
Celeste stared at her, mind racing. No broken window. No second door. No explanation. This was impossible.
Vicky continued, "I should've stopped her," she said behind tears. "I should've gone with her. I should've—"
"No." The word came sharp. "You couldn't have known."
Her lip trembled. "I can't lose her."
Celeste's expression softened. "I know."
"No, you don't." Another tear slipped free. The words hung in the steam. "I am not leaving this house without her."
Celeste stepped out of the shower with water dripping from her skin. Vicky wrapped a towel around her without hesitation. Celeste studied her for a moment — the fear, the loyalty, the determination — and before she could think it through, she leaned in and kissed her.
Soft. Quick. Gone.
Vicky blinked. Celeste blinked back.
"Oh my God." A nervous laugh slipped out of Vicky. "You really are freezing." She shook her head, her expression softening. "I don't swing that way."
Despite everything, Celeste smiled. "I know."
"But…" She met her eyes. "I think you're one of the most amazing women I've ever met."
That earned another small smile, then Vicky finished drying her off.
"We're gonna find her," she said.
Celeste nodded. "We better."
Then something caught her eye. She frowned, stepping closer to the mirror. A faint smudge sat near the edge, and just beside it, a tiny piece of dark fabric was wedged between the mirror and the brick siding.
Her expression shifted.
"What?" Vicky asked.
Celeste touched the mirror, studying the mark. It sat too low, like someone had pressed from the other side. She pushed against the opposite edge.
Nothing happened at first, but then — a click and the mirror shifted. Both women froze.
"No way," Vicky whispered.
Celeste pushed harder and the wall moved a few inches, just enough to reveal a dark opening. Cold air drifted out from inside.
Vicky stepped back. "Oh my God."
Celeste grabbed her gun from the floor and stared into the darkness, then turned and opened the bathroom door. "Darius!"
Footsteps thundered toward them as everyone crowded into the doorway.
"What happened?" Tyreek asked.
Celeste pointed.
Silence fell.
Darius looked at the opening, then back at her. "Is that what I think it is?"
She nodded. "I think this is how Sky disappeared."
Darius stepped forward, Tyreek moving beside him. Together, they grabbed the edge of the hidden door and pushed. The opening widened, revealing nothing but darkness waiting on the other side. A secret passage, hidden inside the walls of Blackwater Manor.
Nobody spoke.
Vicky helped Celeste get dressed in jeans, a sweater, and leather gloves in the bedroom. Then they returned to the bathroom.
The opening in the wall wasn't large, but it was enough. Cold air drifted from the darkness beyond it, carrying the faint smell of damp brick and old wood.
Tyreek looked from the passage to Celeste. "You saying somebody snatched Sky through there?"
Celeste didn't take her eyes off the opening. "I don't know what else explains it."
"Oh, hell no."
Vicky stepped forward. "We're going after her, right?"
"We don't even know where that leads," Tyreek said.
Darius grabbed the flashlight and aimed it into the passage. The beam stretched forward and disappeared into the black.
"Guess we're about to find out."
He moved toward the opening, but Celeste caught his arm.
"You don't go first."
He glanced at her. "You got a gun?"
She held it up.
"You got shoes on?"
She looked down at her bare feet.
"Hold up," Vicky said, already moving. "She's not going anywhere like that."
She slipped out of the doorway and came back with Celeste's shoes and her bulletproof vest.
Celeste blinked. "You grabbed my vest?"
"Of course I did."
Vicky dropped the shoes at her feet and shook out the bulletproof vest.
"Arms up."
Celeste hesitated, then lifted her arms. Vicky slid the vest over her head and pulled it down into place, fingers working quickly as she tightened the straps along Celeste's sides.
"Too tight?"
"No," Celeste said. "It's fine."
Vicky tugged once more, making sure it sat snug against her torso.
"Good. You're not getting shot on my watch."
Celeste huffed a quiet breath, then stepped into her shoes and tied them tight.
Darius watched the whole thing, then nodded once.
"Now I go first," Celeste said.
He looked at everyone. "We're not all going."
"What?" Vicky snapped.
"Too many people moving around and nobody watching our backs." His gaze landed on Teresa. "I need you here."
Teresa frowned. "For what?"
"The monitors. Lights are back on, cameras too."
She glanced toward the living room. "You want me to stay here?"
"I need somebody watching those screens." He reached behind his waistband and held out a pistol.
Teresa stared at it. "I've never even held one."
"Point it and pull the trigger. If anybody comes through that door that ain't us, you use it."
She swallowed and took the gun, her fingers tightening around it.
"Safety's off. All you have to do is aim and shoot."
He looked at Tyreek. "Stay here with Teresa. If we're not back—"
Tyreek held up a hand to stop him. "You hand the gun to a woman and ask me to stay too. Bruh, you got me all fucked up. I'm not letting you go in there without me."
"You just got accused of murder,” Darius snapped. “and got fucked over by a crazy bitch. You need to sit this one out."
"Sky got taken." Tyreek stepped closer. "I can't sit back and do nothing. And I'm not about to babysit a grown woman with a gun."
Darius held his gaze. "I'm gonna bring Sky back. Can you stay here and stay alive?"
Tyreek looked down. "If you going, I'm going." Then he met his eyes. "I'm sorry for putting you through a lot of shit this weekend. But this isn't the time to treat me like a stranger. You're my family." He held out his hand, a crooked smile on his face. "I fucked up and I might fuck up again."
The room was quiet.
Darius stepped forward. "That's what lil brothers do." He held out his fist, and Tyreek bumped it before getting pulled into a quick hug. "Let's go get Sky."
Tyreek nodded, the tension breaking across his face. "Hell yeah."
Vicky stepped beside them. "I'm coming too."
"Stay here," Celeste said.
She stared at her like she'd lost her damn mind. "The hell I ain't."
"Vicky—"
"No." Her eyes filled. "And I'm not about to explain shit."
Celeste stepped beside her. "No need to. Let's go."
Darius looked at both women and let out a breath. "Fine." He turned back to Teresa. "If you see anything on those cameras, don't come looking for us."
Teresa glanced at the pistol in her hand, then back at him. "What if something happens?"
Darius looked toward the darkness beyond the mirror. "Pray it doesn't."
Thunder rolled through the mansion, low and heavy.
The flashlight beam cut into the passage. Nobody moved until Darius stepped inside. Tyreek followed, then Celeste.
Vicky paused long enough to look back at Teresa. "We'll be back."
Then she went in. The hidden passage swallowed them one by one, and the wall slid shut behind them.
Teresa stood alone as the sky rumbled outside. She turned toward the surveillance monitors, her grip tightening on the gun.
After her second cup of coffee, one of the hallway cameras flickered, then steadied.
A shape moved across the screen.