Page 106 of Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind
“Already awake,” he grumbles. “Thanks to you.”
“Sorry, Man Bun,” I say, smiling. “But I think I figured it out.”
“Figured what out? And is this really a middle-of-the-night conversation—”
“Yes,” I say. “It is.Pickandlock—I think I figured them out.”
There’s a second of silence, and when Soren speaks again, he sounds much more alert. “You did?”
“I think so,” I say. “I can’t guarantee it. But I don’t think she was talking about picking a lock, Soren—I think she was talking about thepicturein herlocket.”
“Oh,” he says—and then, with understanding, “Oh.”
“Yeah,” I say, nodding. “That could be it, right?”
“Yes,” he says.
“So how do we get in that room again to look at what’s in her locket?”
He sighs, a gusting sound that sends static down the line. “I don’t know, Heidi; I don’t think we should be going in that house anymore. Phil and Elsie are wild cards. The police know now that they bought rat poison a week before Carmina died; they’ll definitely keep looking around.”
“Yes,” I say, “but who knows how long that will take? What if we went in with an excuse?” I bite my lip, thinking. “Like I could say that I lost my earring and that I think it came out when we were over there.”
“I don’t know,” he says again. “I’m worried about your lack of fear, though.”
“It’s not that I’m not scared,” I say, although truly, I feel very little fear right now. “I’m aware of the dangers. And I want to be careful. I just also think some things are worth the risk.” I swallow as my eyes prickle once more. “It’s hard to explain.”
I hear him sigh again, and then he says, “If we did this—if—I would want to bring a weapon or something with us.”
“Deal,” I say quickly, although I have no idea what kind of weapon he’s going to be able to sneak in. “Whatever you think you can get away with.”
“And I reserve the right to pull the plug at any time,” he goes on. “If we get in there and something feels off, we leave immediately.”
I hesitate this time, but then I nod. “All right,” I say grudgingly. “That’s probably smart.”
“Fine,” he says. “We’ll go tomorrow. Now get some sleep, honey.”
“Mmm,” I say, smiling a little. “I think I really like it when you call me that, Man Bun.”
He laughs softly. “I’ll deny it tomorrow, but I think I like it when you call meMan Bun,too.”
“You should leave your hair down,” I say. “I want to run my fingers through it. I’ve always wanted to do that.”
Soren groans. “I can’t have this conversation with you in the middle of the night. Go to sleep. I’ll come by in the morning.”
“Goodnight,” I say.
And when I finally drift off to sleep, there are still tears in my eyes, but there’s a smile on my lips, too.
I’ll check the locket, Carmina. I’ll check it tomorrow.
28
IN WHICH SOREN HAS A VERY BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS
Idon’t wait until my usual time to come in the next morning. By the time Gemma flips the sign on the door fromClosedtoOpen,I’m there, standing outside. She opens the door when she sees me, her eyebrows raised.
“You’re early,” she says, a knowing look in her eyes. “She’s in the storage room.”
