At the bottom, I entered a long corridor lined with cracked glass panels. Behind them stood laboratory tables, sealed cabinets, medical equipment, and rows of refrigerated storage units.
This was not an abandoned room.
Someone had been using it recently.
“Melanie?” I called.
A light flickered on.
My sister sat in a chair at the far end of the laboratory.
Walter Pike stood beside her.
But Melanie was not tied up.
She rose slowly.
“You came.”
My hand tightened around the key.
“You staged the kidnapping.”
“Yes.”
Walter lifted both hands.
“Please, Sadie. We did not intend to frighten you.”
“You drugged yourself and pretended my parents imprisoned you.”
“No,” Walter said. “Your parents did imprison me. But I escaped the hospital because the police were asking the wrong questions.”
Beckett’s voice sounded in my ear.
“Keep them talking.”
I took another step.
“What is this place?”
Walter looked around the hidden laboratory.
