“Okay,” Hayley finally said. “The energy isn’t here. We need to look somewhere else. We need to go exactly where she was during those two days.”

“The article said she was found in a service hallway, a corridor of some kind that ran under the prison,” Taylor said. “There must be a way into the corridor under the prison from here.”

Hayley fixed her eyes on Taylor. “The basement,” she said.

Chapter 31

WITHOUT ANOTHER WORD, the twins made their way down the stairs to the basement. The lights from their phones barely amounted to the glow of a firefly, but down they went. The air grew much colder. Puffs of vapor came with each breath. The basement was huge, bigger than their entire house back in Port Gamble. The center of the musty space was crammed with boxes and other debris.

A trio of rats—or large mice—scurried along the edges of the space, reminding Taylor of an episode of Animal Hoarders in which an elderly woman in Baton Rouge collected hamsters. So many were loose in the kitchen that the floor actually appeared to move. On the show, she told her daughter that she had no idea the animals would procreate to such a degree.

“I did my best to keep the little boys from the little girls, but as sure as I’m standing here they somehow found a way to hook up,” she had said.

Hayley and Taylor had joked about the stupidity of someone letting their hamsters hook up, a phrase that morphed to a disparaging remark they used for girls and guys on the make. They were looking for a “hamster hook-up.”

Down in the basement, a steady stream of cold air came at the girls.

“There’s a breeze in here,” Taylor said.

“Like an air conditioner at the theater,” Hayley said. “On full blast.”

Taylor moved her phone’s flashlight to get her sister’s attention.

“Over here,” she said. “It’s coming from here.” She bent down and held her phone over an opening in the floor. The opening was about the size of a storm drain, maybe a little larger. Cool air blew against her face.

“That’s the way into the underground passage,” Hayley said, leaning close to the edge. “That’s where we need to be.”

As she turned, shifting her weight, Hayley slipped. A second later, she was inside the opening, holding onto the edge.

“Taylor!” she screamed. “I’m going to fall!”

Taylor could barely see what was happening. It was so dark.

“No, you won’t! I won’t let you. Take my hand.” She threw herself to the floor and slithered over to the edge, stretching her arm toward her sister. Their eyes met in the terror of the moment.

As Taylor started to pull Hayley out, the edge of the opening began to give way and Taylor felt her body slide down.

“Don’t let go!” Hayley screamed.

Taylor’s heart was racing. Sweat collected at her temples, and the cold air on her face made her shudder.

“I won’t,” she said, bearing down as hard as she could. “You hang on.”

Hayley dug her nails into Taylor’s wrists so hard, she was certain she was cutting her. Yet any less of a grip would mean that she’d fall. And there was absolutely no way she was ever going to let that happen.

“I’m hanging on. I won’t let go,” Hayley said, inching closer as her sister pulled with all of her strength.

Taylor struggled to heave her body backward, away from the opening in the floor. She used every bit of muscle that she had to leverage her sister out of that spot.

And then their hands separated. Hayley, screaming, fell into the black space under the prison warden’s house.

Taylor screamed, too. “Haayyyyleeey!” she shouted into the hole.

“Are you all right?”

No answer.

“Hayley! Please! Can you hear me?” Taylor called out again as loudly as she could. She leaned over the hole in the floor and held her phone into the black space.

Nothing.

Her sister was gone.

Taylor got up and looked around for a rope, a garden hose, anything at all that she could use to climb down to Hayley. There was nothing useful. Boxes, rats, a baby blanket. Her phone was down to a flicker, and she knew she had to get help.

“Hayley!” she called down into the hole. “I’m going to get help.”

Still no answer.

She closed her eyes and hoped the twin-sense they shared would send a message that would travel through the darkness down below to her sister.

Don’t die! Taylor thought, but she didn’t say it.

“I’ll come back for you. I promise,” she said.

BIRDY WATERMAN, Kitsap County’s forensic pathologist, hung up the phone. She’d dealt with grieving family members more times than she’d ever care to count. The hurt from a car accident or, even worse, a homicide brought the kind of reaction for which there was no real remedy. She never told the grieving that “time” would make them feel better. There was no “better.” But with all the calls that she’d ever taken in her role in the coroner’s office, there had never been one quite like the one that she’d just experienced. It simply threw her. She dialed Annie Garnett’s direct line at the police department in Port Gamble.

“Chief Garnett here,” she said.

“Annie,” she said. “This is Birdy. I just had the weirdest call. I mean, in all of my years doing this job. Really.“

“I’m all ears,” Annie said.

As Birdy talked, Annie made a few notes. At one point, the police

chief had to stop and tell Birdy to take a breath. The forensic pathologist had a lot to get out.

“Location?” Annie asked.

“Silverdale Beach Hotel.”

“Going there now.”

IN THE DAMP DARKNESS OF THE CORRIDOR, Hayley lay on the cold concrete beneath her mother’s childhood home. Though she was barely conscious, her brain had kicked into overdrive. Each image that came to her was punctuated by a sudden flash. The first vision was unmistakable. Hovering somewhere between dead and alive in her mind’s eye, she saw the Hood Canal bridge. A second later, she saw the back of the little school bus headed toward the Indian Island picnic.

Next appeared a man’s face, the same one she had seen in her previous vision. But this time Hayley knew without doubt that he was Timothy Robinette. Then, like a slide show on its fastest speed, she saw Text Creeper giving Timothy an envelope. Next, Timothy alone, looking nervously at the bridge as a storm rolled in and the bus approached. He pushed a button with a trembling fingertip. It was clear that he hadn’t wanted to, but had been forced. A fury of raindrops fell like spikes. The bridge deck rumbled as it slowly opened. The bus approached and then dropped into the water.

Then Hayley was underwater.

Chapter 32

TWENTY MINUTES AWAY FROM PORT GAMBLE, Drew Marcello went up to the front desk of the Silverdale Beach Hotel.

A young woman with a swirling brunette hairdo that looked like it had been styled by Dr. Seuss smiled from behind the counter as he approached. Her recent customer-service training had emphasized the importance of the smile with each greeting. She was going for the Employee of the Month award, which included a Target gift card and an overnight stay at the hotel. She really wanted that gift card.

“Welcome to the Silverdale Beach Hotel. How can I help you?”

He looked at her nametag. “Hi, Mimi,” he said. “My friend said she left me a package down at the front desk.”

Mimi smiled again. “Name?” she asked.

Drew leaned against the counter and grinned back. “My friend’s or mine?”

“Your name, silly,” she said.

“Theodore Roberts.”

The phone rang and Mimi pointed at him to wait a second. A moment later she hung up and rolled her eyes. “Guests always want something. We are running a hotel, not a drugstore. Hang on a sec while I go look for your package and for some cough syrup.”

She was never going to get that stupid gift card.