They Just Don't Know You

Chapter 25

Jade's POV

Friday, October 4

When I knock on the cellar door, I'm not sure anyone will answer. It's 4pm on Friday, three hours before the House of Horrors is supposed to open. I'm not working tonight, and no one's expecting me. Unless you count my grandmother, who's expecting me to be in my room and is going to be furious if she realises I've left and walked through the woods on my own. Even in the middle of the afternoon. 

Ellie's been missing almost a week now, and nobody in Echo Ridge is supposed to walk anywhere alone. 

I knock louder. The park is noisy and crowded, a blend of music, laughter, and shrieks as a roller coaster rattles nearby. The door cracks just enough for an eye to peer out. It's bright blue and winged with expertly applied liner. I flutter my fingers. "Hi, Zoe."

"Jade?" The Fright Farm makeup artists swings the door open with one arm. "What are you doing here?"

I step inside and look around for any sign of Claud, my boss. He's a stickler for rules. Zoe is a lot more laid-back. I can't believe my luck that she's here and he isn't, although I half expect him to come barreling through the velvet curtain with a clipboard any second. "Are you here alone?" I ask. 

Zoe raises a brow at me. "That's an ominous question." She doesn't look worried, though. Zoe has at least six inches on me, and is all slender muscle and perfectly tones arms. Plus, her spiky heels would make lethal weapons in a pinch. 

"Sorry. But I have a favour to ask, and I didn't want to ask Claud."

Zoe leans against the doorframe. "Well, now you've got my attention. What's up?"

I channel Norma again, twisting my hands with fake nerves. "My grandmother gave me an envelope to deposit at the bank the other day, and I can't find it. I was trying to figure out where it went, and I remembered that I tossed a bunch of stuff into the recycling bin the last time I was here." I bite my lip and look at the ground. "I'm pretty sure the envelope went with it."

"Ooh, sorry." Zoe grimaces. "Can she write another check?"

I'm ready for that objection. "It wasn't a cheque. It was cash." I tug at my dagger necklace, running my thumb over the sharp point at the bottom. "Almost five hundred dollars."

Zoe's eyes widen. "Who the hell carries around that much cash?"

Gah. Maybe she noticed I lifted my entire excuse from It's a Wonderful Life. "My grandmother," I say as innocently as I can. "She doesn't trust cheques. Or credit cards. Or cash machines."

"But she trusts you?"Zoe looks as though she'd like to give Nana a detailed explanation of why that's a terrible idea. 

"She won't when she finds out. Zoe, is there any chance...do you think I could get the keys to the recycling bin? Do you know where they are?" She hesitates, and I put my hands together in a praying gesture. "Please? Just this once, to save me from having to hand every cent I've earned over to my grandmother? I'll owe you big-time."

Zoe chuckles. "Look, you don't have to beg. I'd open the damn thing if I had a key, but I don't. No idea where it is. You'll have to ask Claud." She gives my arm a sympathetic pat. "He'll understand. Five hundred dollars is a lot of money."

He would, probably. He'd also stand over me the entire time. "Okay," I sigh.

Zoe goes to the vanity and plucks a few makeup brushes from a can, dropping them into a half-open leather bag resting on the chair. "I have to get a move on. You caught me on the way out. The evil clowns need touching up at the Fun House." She zips the bag closed and slings it over her shoulder, crossing to the door and pulling it open. "You wanna come with? Claud might be there."