TWENTY-EIGHT
The next thing Rora remembered was blinking open her eyes, fighting darkness that wanted to take her back, and a sickening moment of panic. For that breath, she feared she was back in Bella’s basement, attached to the wall.
Except the scent of clean wood and warmth erased those fears fast. Orienting herself, she recalled that she was in Leandra’s hiding place. Her wrists were bound by rope above her head. She was attached to one of the bannister spindles, with the empty space under the ascending stairs behind her.
Strike was holding one weapon and had another in his waistband. He and Bella were standing at the back of the couch, discussing what to do with Junker.
“I’ll take him out, they’ll never find the body,” Strike said.
“We have to find out what they did with Leandra
