Page 40 (2/2)

"What is going on?" I de He picked it up and growled, "Yes?"

He looked at est you take it in the Red Room"

"Okay," I said slowly, and went to the small room down the hall, where I picked up the phone "Hello?"

All I could hear was steady breathing on the other end of the line

"Hello? Who is this?" I repeated

"It’sdown on a bench She sounded different So into the phone

"Do about what?" I asked, suddenly frightened

"She disappeared," Eleanor said "She ht while I was sleeping"

"Who disappeared? What lake? Where are you?"

"I’m in the bathrooe in Colorado"

I let out a sigh of relief At first I thought she was in trouble, but it couldn’t be that bad if she ith her fa I tried to steadypause

"They foundby the lake She’s dead"

After Eleanor hung up, I sat there on the bench for a long ti on lean froe in the ht, unbeknownst to Eleanor, and was found by the auze stuffed in herall tracks except for those of the rescuers

Gauze A lake Just like Miss LaBarge

I thought of the photograph I had found in the cottage, of Miss LaBarge and Cindy Bell as young girls I thought of Miss LaBarge’s funeral, and how Cindy Bell was sitting all alone on the boat, lost in her thoughts Had she been searching for the secret of the Nine Sisters, too?

Dropping the phone, I ran upstairs to my room There, I searched my dresser until I found the postcards Eleanor had sent toin Europe with herDante’s ees whenever I felt particularly lonely But this tiraphs on the cards Each one was of a lake

Backing onto ain, a, but hadn’t realized what they suggested Eleanor’sfor the last part of the riddle in Europe, and had brought Eleanor along with her

Cindy Bell had been searching for the last sister, too She e, and was searching in the lakes for so buried in salt water Until so? I wondered how close I had been to finding the secret before I’d been distracted by Noah and my search for Dante, and if the Undead who killed Cindy Bell would find it instead of me Why hadn’t I tried harder? People had died for this secret, people were still dying, and I had chosen to do nothing

I wiped my eyes and shoved my hands into raph that had pro into a knot Last night I’d had a drea a piece of paper with Cindy Bell’s name on it froe died, I’d envisioned that I was chasing her to an island Except this time I knehere the vision had co to be sick Had Dante done this?

Reluctantly, I slipped the postcard of Breaker Chasm out of my pocket My vision was of Vermont, not Colorado, where Cindy Bell was found ThatMaybe Dante hadn’t killed her Maybe he was just…just…what?