A flash of doubt passes over Ethan’s face, but then he shakes his head. “Okay, I’ll see you soon.”

He starts to walk past me, but then he freezes in his steps. Something has caught his attention. Something by the stairwell.

I swivel my head, following his gaze. That’s when I see what he’s looking at. It’s the bookcase by the stairs. The one that concealed the hidden room.

And it is now hanging ajar.

Chapter 43

I want to do something to try to distract Ethan from the hidden room, but his eyes are focused on it like a laser beam.

“What is that?” he says.

“I… I don’t know. Probably just a closet.”

But he’s not listening to me. He strides over to the bookcase while my heart does jumping jacks in my chest. How could I be so stupid as to leave it open? I was sure I shut it the last time I went in to grab some tapes, but I noticed the latch doesn’t always catch. It must’ve swung open again after I closed it.

And in a flash, Ethan is pulling open the door. I at least turned the light out, which delays him about five seconds as he fumbles around for the cord. When he finally finds it and the room lights up, I hear the sharp inhalation of his breath. “What the…?”

I stand at the entrance to the room, wringing my hands together. I want to pretend I don’t know anything about this, but he’ll see right through me.

Ethan selects one tape from a shelf. He examines the writing on the spine. “She recorded all her patient interviews…”

“Yeah…” I say.

“There must be thousands of these…” His eyes rake over the shelves and shelves packed with tapes. “When did you find this place?”

My cheeks feel like they’re on fire. “Um…”

“Tricia…”

“Yesterday. I found it yesterday.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

Obviously not. “You seemed busy with work. I didn’t think you would care.”

“That’s a load of bullshit and you know it, Tricia.” Bright red creeps into his face from his neck. “Have you been listening to these tapes?”

“No,” I answer quickly.

He raises his eyebrows. “How about if you tell me the truth this time?”

“Maybe a couple…”

“Don’t lie.” His voice is sharp now, not quite yelling but just on the verge. There’s a glint in his eyes that makes me take a step back. “Have you been listening to these tapes?”

“Not that many. Maybe five or six.”

I’m still lying. I listened to far more tapes than that. If Ethan went back into Dr. Hale’s office and looked in her desk drawer, he would see more tapes than that. I’m taking a chance he won’t do that.