Heil sank an inch lower and she repositioned him. Her whole body was stiff. Her feet ached. She was standing in knee-high water, wet and cold and shivering. But she was not going to let him go.

She heard someone at the other side of the door. She didn’t know if it was the killer or a rescuer, and she didn’t care. “Hello?” she cried. “I need help! Please! Let us out of here!”

The door swung open.

Susan’s heart sank. The man was back. He still wore the waders, but now he had added a coat, like he was going somewhere. He stood in the doorway for a moment, the aquariums bathing him in blue light.

“I need you to help me,” he said to Susan.

Susan turned away from the door and hugged Heil tighter. “I’m not leaving him.”

The man tromped through the water over to her and put a hand on the back of Heil’s neck. Then he checked under his jaw for a pulse.

“He’s dead,” the man said.

Susan could feel tears slipping down her cheeks.

The man looked at the water. “They’re still alive,” he said. “If they were dead they’d be floating.”

That’s why he was here, Susan realized. The blue-rings were going to die soon. With them gone, she might have gotten out of there. She would have had a chance.

The man pulled Heil out of her arms and pushed him into the water. Susan could barely breathe.

He yanked Susan’s arms behind her back and tied her wrists together with some sort of twine while she watched Heil sink below the water’s surface.

“I’m going to pick you up,” the man said.

One of the hatchetfish flung itself against the lid of its tank.

Susan’s whole body was trembling.

He scooped her up, carrying her as if she were an infant. She sobbed, relieved to be out of the water, terrified to be in his arms. He hauled her out of the aquarium room and through the laundry room to the bottom of the stairs, where Patrick Lifton sat just above the waterline gripping a Star Wars figure between his hands.

“Patrick?” Susan said.

The boy scurried up a few steps to make room, and the man set her down on her feet a few steps below.

Susan wiped the tears and snot from her face. “Everyone’s looking for you, Patrick. Your parents miss you.”

The boy’s eyes darted to the man and then back at Susan.

“Let’s go,” the man said, and he gave Susan a push. The boy sprang up and took the steps two at a time. Susan trudged behind him. When they got to the kitchen the man told the boy to get his coat and the boy left the room.