“I’m coming with you,” his dad said, and Nick felt a gigantic sense of relief. This was all adult stuff, and he was way out of his depth. It felt hugely reassuring to know his dad would be by his side. “We’ll call Mom, tell her to meet us there. And Aaron? Maybe you should call your parents. Have them come along, too.”

Aaron nodded.

“Let me close up shop. Aaron you can call your parents, then you two get your bikes, put them in the store, and we’ll head down.” He looked over at the sheriff and his deputies. “Meet you at the station in fifteen minutes?”

“See you there,” the sheriff said.

****

At home, after an hour at the sheriff’s office, Nick sat in the highbacked chair he used to like to pretend was a throne and faced his parents, who were seated on the couch. None of them seemed to know what to say.

His mom shook her head. “Victor killed his parents? I can’t believe it.”

“I can’t either,” Nick admitted. He stared down at the carpet, filled with an almost overwhelming sense of loss.

“I can,” his dad said. “Did you hear what they found in his room?”

Nick looked up. “Not exactly. Cult stuff, I think.”

“When you were giving your statement I was talking to Deputy Dillman, and he said Victor’s room was filled with bugs and animals that he’d killed and taken apart in some kind of ritual.”

“My God,” his mom breathed. She turned toward Nick. “Did you suspect any of this? Was there any indication…?”

He was as shocked as she was. “No. Nothing.”

“So the bank,” his dad said, giving voice to what they were all thinking. “It’s turned Gary into some kind of Stepford teller. First it hired Victor, now it’s hiding him. What’s going on there?”

No one replied because no one had an answer.

“I want you to stay away from there,” his dad told him. “You, too,” he said, turning to his mom. “There’s something wrong with that place, with those people, and until things are sorted out, we all need to keep away.”

“But you’re right next door,” Nick pointed out.

“And there’s a wall.”

“Do you think they’re going to find Victor?” he asked

“They will eventually,” his mom said. “They always do.”

“What about the people at the bank? You think they’ll go to jail? You think they’ll close the bank?”

His parents looked at each other.

“I don’t know,” his dad admitted. “I honestly don’t know.”

But Nick knew that he hoped so.

They all did.

Ten

TEN

1

“There’s someone out there, Mommy!”

Darlene, seated in the saggy center of the low couch, looked up from her phone. Tiffany was standing next to the kitchenette in her pajamas, clutching her blue Dory pillow. The short hallway behind her was dark.