There was a pervasive feeling of dread. The house was quiet. The smoke had cleared. And they were all here.
But there was no Jalen.
Everything was eerily silent.
“What happened?” Plum breathed the question. As if knowing what had happened would somehow change what they would inevitably find when they walked inside.
Jude shook his head. His pompadour was limp from smoke and sweat. It flapped rather than bounced, in a flattened wing. “We got Sean,” he said. “It wasn’t easy, but we managed to . . . um . . . extricate him from the globe.” He shuddered. “We wrapped him in a blanket and carried him into the kitchen. We got to the fridge and opened the door. And that’s when a smoke bomb or whatever it was went off.”
Dude nodded. He coughed, stopping long enough to say “dropped Sean,” and then started coughing again.
“Yeah, we dropped him, I climbed over the butcher block, and Dude was there, and we couldn’t see anything,” Jude said.
“I opened window.” Dude coughed.
“I bumped into you,” Jude said, apologetically. “Sorry.”
“Wasn’t me.” Dude shook his head.
Cici’s perfectly lined eyes went wide. “There was another person there!”
“Unless it was Jalen?” Plum suggested.
“No, he shoved past us trying to get into the fridge,” Jude explained. “When the smoke bomb went off. He closed the door and wouldn’t open it again.”
“I guess, that’s . . . pretty smart?” Cici said. “If you think the killer is coming after you and you don’t know what to do?”
Peach nodded emphatically. “Cold but smart.”
Plum shrugged. “He does a murder podcast.”
Peach made a face, a flash of an expression of disgust that she quickly smoothed over. “Anyway,” Peach said. “I’m sure he’s fine now.”
“That’s right!” Shelley exclaimed. “He should be safe, but he’s stuck in there. Serves him right, maybe, for locking you guys out. But we can go get him . . .” She trailed off, glancing between Warix’s grim expression and Plum’s shaking head. “What?” Shelley breathed at last.
“The fridge can be opened from the inside,” Warix answered. “Jalen should be standing here with us right now. If . . .” He didn’t finish the statement.
He didn’t have to.
“Maybe someone messed with the door!” Shelley offered.
“Yeah!” Peach agreed. “The same person you bumped into, Jude. They set off the bomb and locked the door from the outside.”
“No.” Plum shook her head. She was growing to hate the feeling of delivering dire news, the feeling when everyone turned their eyes to her. “When we were just in there,” Plum explained, “the fridge door was open. Just hanging wide open.”
As one, they turned to stare at the kitchen of the grand villa.
“Guess we better go find out what happened to Jalen,” Dude rasped.