Chapter 22
In spite of Riley’s calls, no answer came from Marie. There were no sounds in the house other than those she made herself. The place felt empty. She made her way up the stairs and turned carefully into an open doorway.
As she turned the corner, Riley’s breath stopped in her throat. She felt as if the world were collapsing beneath her.
There was Marie: suspended in mid-air, hanging by her neck from a cord tied to a light fixture on the high ceiling. An overturned stepladder lay on the floor.
Time seemed to stop as Riley’s mind rejected reality.
Then her knees buckled and she caught herself against the door frame. She let out a long harsh sound.
“NOOOO!”
She dashed across the room, turned the ladder upright and scrambled up on it. She wrapped an arm around Marie’s body to r
