Chapter 6 - LOCKED IN
I threw myself against the shed door.
"Open it!"
No answer.
I hit it again. "Vanessa? Caleb?"
The only sound was wind pushing through the trees.
My phone showed one bar of service. I called Dad.
Straight to voicemail.
Then the smell hit me.
Smoke.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
"Hey!"
I looked through the dirty side window and saw gray smoke curling up from a trash barrel ten feet away. Someone had started a fire beside the shed.
I grabbed a garden shovel and swung at the window. The first strike cracked the glass. The second opened a hole large enough for cold air to rush in.
"Emma!"
Caleb's voice.
I screamed his name.
Seconds later the lock clicked. He yanked the door open.
"Get out."
I stumbled into the yard coughing.
The trash barrel held burning papers.
Caleb kicked it over and sprayed it with the hose. Wet pages scattered across the grass.
One blackened sheet had my mother's name on it.
I looked at him. "Who locked me in?"
He backed away. "I don't know."
"Stop lying."
"I didn't do it."
"Then who did?"
His eyes went toward the house.
Vanessa stood at the kitchen window.
Watching us.
Caleb lowered his voice. "You need to stop digging."
"Why?"
"Because she doesn't get angry like normal people."
"What did she do to May?"
His face broke.
"I tried to stop her."
The words barely came out.
I grabbed his sleeve. "Tell me."
He looked toward the window again.
Vanessa had disappeared.
"She found something May dragged out from under your dad's cabinet," he whispered. "A letter. She thought the cat had ruined it. She took May to the shed. I followed her."
"And?"
Caleb began crying.
"I recorded it because I knew nobody would believe me."
"Show me the whole video."
He shook his head.
"I can't. She took my phone last night and deleted it."
May you like
Then he pulled a tiny memory card from inside his sock.
"But she doesn't know I made a copy."
