I was about to move when I heard another thud, followed by what sounded like a muffled cry. Pulling away from my sister, I cocked my head and listened, putting a finger to my lips. As Maya was about to speak, I shushed her and got up, asked if she’d heard the noises, too. She insisted I was imagining it, pulled on my sleeve to steer me toward the front door, but I shook her off, walking farther into the garage. Another thump, another cry. I turned around.

“Maya,” I said, slowly. “Is someone in the old room below?”

She shook her head, but her eyes betrayed her, and I looked back at the trapdoor, which had been covered with boxes of Maya’s supplies set atop the orange rug. It was definitely where the noises were coming from.

“Who’s down there?” I asked her before the realization hit me. “Jesus, is it Lily?” She swallowed, hard, but didn’t deny it. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I shouted as I ran to the trapdoor, kicking and shoving the boxes out of the way.

Maya didn’t move. “If you open that,” she said slowly, “everything will be ruined. She’ll tell the police I put her down there. I’ll be arrested...”

“What were you thinking?” I yelled, shaking my head. “We were about to leave for Brookmount. We’d have been gone for two days. There’s nothing down there. No food, no water. What if she’d died? She’d—” I stopped, what had to be a look of complete horror and absolute disgust appearing on my face. “Unless that’s what you wanted. Was she right? Did you set her up? She wasn’t lying after all, was she? You wanted to get rid of her.”

“Help me!” Lily screamed, her shouts clearer now that the boxes were gone, and I turned my attention away from Maya, who stepped closer as I kicked the orange rug away. I bent over, my fingers closing over the ring of the trapdoor when another thought punched me in the gut.

“Did you have anything to do with Keenan’s accident?” When she didn’t ask me what I meant I knew—I knew—she’d killed him. And Kate’s death, that mustn’t have been an accident, either. That’s why I’d left Newdale after she died. Maya had to have been the reason I’d changed my identity. It was all because of her. I couldn’t remember why, not yet, but I’d make damn sure I would because another thing was certain. My stepsister was a sociopath.

I lowered my voice, my words coming out firm, hard and cold. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to take a step back while I let Lily out. Then we’re calling the police—”

“No, I—”

“Yes. We’ll tell them everything.”

“But they’ll send us to prison.”