“How do we override the house locks?”

“Do you remember where the manual switch is?”

She looked at me, her brow furrowing deeply.

For a moment, she seemed to get lost in the shadows of the room.

“The house,” she muttered.

“The house has deep roots, Sarah.”

“They don’t want us to leave this place.”

“No, Eleanor, the digital locks,” I urged, my heart racing against my ribs.

“The smart system Nathan put in last year.”

She reached out a thin, frail hand and touched my cheek.

Her fingers were icy cold and dry as parchment.

“He is just like his father,” she whispered.

Her eyes suddenly seemed to clear, the cloudy blue turning sharp and intense.

“He keeps the secrets in the dark, Sarah.”

“You must not let him look at the ledger.”

“What ledger?” I asked, leaning closer to her.

Outside, the brass doorknob began to jiggle.

Nathan was trying the handle, slowly and deliberately.

“Sarah,” he said from the hallway.

“Don’t frighten my mother.”

“You know she has her episodes at night.”

“Let’s not make this harder than it has to be.”