“But we checked the paintings, the frames, and the wall behind them. We didn’t find anything.” Sydney looked discouraged as she stared at the row of artwork on the wall.
“Look harder.” I bent forward until my nose nearly touched the glass housing the art. Back and forth my gaze swung, grid by grid, raking past the colors on the canvas, looking for anything that could help us. Numbers on the bottom of the painting filled with triangles snagged my attention: 4/100. I looked up. “They’re prints. Look here.” I pointed to the number. “This one is number four out of a hundred.”
Landon peered down at the corner of the square painting. “This one is six out of a hundred.”
I paced in front of the pictures, gathering the numbers. “Four, two, six, six.”
“We need to look for something with a combination lock on it. These numbers could unlock it.”
Of course! I went to the mantel to look there, when Sydney shouted behind me.
“Got it!” A stainless-steel cylinder in her hand, she dropped to the floor and immediately started twisting the mechanisms to put in the number. The lock opened with aclick. She peered inside, then turned the cylinder over. Dominoes fell onto the floor.
“Some of the dots are colored in with different colors. Should we match them up?”
“You and Tate work on that. Emory and I will see if we missed any more objects with locks on them.” Landon spoke from my side.
We would?
He gripped my elbow and led me to the other side of the room.
I guess we would.
“What exactly are we looking for?” I ran my hand across the back of the leather chair, aware of Landon’s gaze on me. If he kept staring at me instead of helping me look for clues, our time would run out before we could escape the room.
“I feel like I owe you an apology.”
“Apology?”
“I keep going over it in my mind, our conversation last week on the ferry. Whatever I said that upset you, I sincerely apologize.”
Oh. That. I turned and offered him a reassuring smile. “That’s not necessary.”
“So you aren’t upset with me?”
How could I be? He hadn’t done anything wrong. “No.”
He seemed to relax. “Good.” He smiled, and the action pulled my gut. “In that case, I’d like to ask you out. I feel like I already know you with how much Tate talks about you, but I’d like to get to know you even better. Just the two of us.”
“Uh…” That deer-in-the-headlights feeling was not pleasant.
“Please? Just casual. Two friends getting dinner.”
Friends? The wariness was still there, but dulling. I could do friends. And maybe if Tate saw that his plan was working, that I was going out more, with his choice of a man even, then maybe I’d save myself from future setups.
Landon kept talking. “I have to work third shift the next two days, but how about Wednesday? Are you free Wednesday for a casual meal with a friend?”
My finger ran back and forth along the nailheads on top of the chair. “I always go to hear Tate sing on Wednesdays.”
Landon smiled, showing an even row of white teeth. “Perfect! I’ve been meaning to go and hear him myself, and that restaurant has a great reputation for their food. Pick you up at six.”
I looked back to Tate and Sydney, their heads together as they laid domino pieces out on the floor. “How about I meet you there?”
Sydney raised her head. “Hey, did you two find another lock? Because we’ve got some more numbers here.”
Seven
Those numbers had led to another combination lock, which had contained a screwdriver. After some digging around, we found a vent near the bottom of the wall beside one of the tall bookcases. Tate unscrewed the sides, revealing a black-light flashlight and a riddle. We figured out the riddle, which was a clue back to the day planner and the books I’d already decoded. The black light revealed words in each book that had been highlighted. Another secret message. Put together it read,The answer lies with Amelia. That had been when the butler dude opened the door and told us our time was up.
