Page 72 of One Step After Another

19.

Luca

“WHY was every roomlocked until I found this one?” Luca asked the presence that had joined him in what he could only describe as a music room.

“Because this was where Dare wanted you,” Penny said simply.

“What, like—”

“He controls the locks on every room door and corridor. If one was unlocked, it was because he left it that way purposefully to direct you to the place where he wanted you to be.”

Huh.

The whole damn place gave him the fucking creeps, but he wouldn’t say so out loud. Cameras watched him from every corner. He couldn’t even remember the many dirt roads they had taken deep into the desert to arrive. All the doors were black. Some didn’t even have handles to open them. He hadn’t seen a single soul, but maybe that was purposeful. Locks were controlled by a man with a strange name hidden somewhere he couldn’t see. What, were they in The Wizard of Oz or some shit?

At least, he liked the room he was currently in. That was one good thing. Instruments lined the walls. Everything and anything one could want to indulge their musical interests waited for the right hands to pick the instrument of their choice. At first, he considered the row of vintage guitars, but the piano at the far side called his name just because of the nostalgia he felt looking at it.

He was far from a pianist.

That was all his sister.

And Penny, too.

Still, he dared to play. Of course, the piano seemed a bit out of tune. To his ear, anyway. The small set of familiar tools that he found under the piano gave him something to do as he tuned the instrument for a while as he waited to be found.

He figured ... how hard would it be? All they had to do was check the cameras.

Right.

Sitting at the piano bench, Luca played a few keys, letting his fingers dance over ivory. Mary Had A Little Lamb rang out into the room, making Penny laugh.

“You missed a key,” she noted. “And it’s better in the higher note, I think.”

Luca shrugged as she came to join him on the bench. He shot her a smile while he played the next few keys of the song. “Never said I was a pro.”

Far from it.

“That was always Roz’s thing,” he added about his sister. “And I was just there to help or annoy her when she needed it.”

“I don’t think she needed the annoyance part.”

“And you clearly never had a younger brother.”

It was par for the course.

Basically siblings’ rights.

His joke went over Penny’s head when he glanced her way. The song came to a stop when he realized she wasn’t smiling or even looking at him. Her stare had focused on the wall behind the piano, emotionless and dead. It was impossible to miss.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Penny murmured, a fake smile tugging at the edges of her lips.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“I’m a fantastic liar.”

“Hard to argue with that.”