Chapter 14

Kayley turned to Madeleine with huge eyes and saw her friend mouth the word run.

So, Kayley ran. She ran so fast, she barely knew where she was running to. Until she realized she was running right toward the lobby staircase. A crowd had started to gather at the top.

Kayley skidded up to one of the stairway’s outside curves and crouched down. She hoped-hoped-hoped no one would see her through the uprights of the banister. She hoped even harder that Madeleine had found a safe place.

Peeking between the banister’s uprights, Kayley watched light flood the upper floor. Girls in pajamas stood whispering to one another. Madame Puant strode down the stairs with purpose and stopped in front of the glass case. Kayley backed up even farther against the wall, feeling exposed.

Just keep looking at the case, she prayed.

Bert stood by Madame Puant. Both of them looked disappointed.

Madame’s eyes swept the room and, for a moment, Kayley saw Madame leaning over, Madame’s back parallel with the slope of the stairs. But her eyes kept moving. Kayley breathed a sigh of relief.

Madame whispered something to Bert, then tapped her cane against the floor.

“To bed everyone! Nothing to see here.”

With the maintenance man behind her, she began her climb back up the staircase.

Kayley briefly saw Ophelia, Sophie, and Emma looking around at the top of the stairs. She knew they were worried about her and Madeleine. Finally, they also returned to their rooms, and the lights went out again.

Kayley’s heartbeat slowed to a normal pace. She could only hope that Madeleine had joined the rest of the group and gone up to bed.

Since the case was already unlocked, Kayley told herself she still had a shot. Run over. Toss the shoes inside. Get away.

She tiptoed over to the case and opened it with care, cringing at the possibility that her touch would set the alarm off again. Setting the shoes back on display, she felt a gigantic weight lift off her shoulders.

Then she jumped about five feet in the air. Without a sound, Madeleine had appeared at her side. She grabbed Kayley’s sleeve and said, “Let’s go! That was way too close for comfort.”

Not waiting for a reply, Madeline moved toward the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Kayley said.

“To my room. I want to get out of here!”

Kayley sighed. “Well, we’re not quite done. We have to get this key back to the maintenance man’s room.”