the tunnel.
Muffled at first.
Then clearer.
“Door’s open,” someone said.
Sheriff Mercer.
Lily knew that voice.
Another voice cursed.
Buck.
“She couldn’t have gotten far,” Buck said. “Girl’s smart, but she’s hungry.”
Lily’s hand tightened around the flashlight.
Mercer answered, “Smart is worse. Hungry girls make mistakes. Smart girls make copies.”
“You said the key was gone.”
“I said her mother’s key was gone. I didn’t say the girl had the guts to use it.”
Lily stepped backward, slow, silent.
The records room had one door.
The passage outside
