Page 61

“Great idea, Vittoria,” Juliette said. “Especially since it seems the path goes straight toward the middle. We could use that to orient our steps.”

“I’ll do it,” Tito said, giving me a grin. “Walk the glass pathway. I may be the heaviest, but I have wicked good balance and I’m pretty athletic.”

His confidence was infectious, and I decided that there wasn’t a better choice, especially since I really,reallydidn’t want to do it.

We all looked at each other, and when no one objected, Tito slid the skimmer into the pool and along the walkway as far as it would go.

Oscar and Stefan stood on either side of him, holding his hands as he gingerly stepped off the edge of the pool. He carefully placed one bare foot near the handle of the skimmer and paused. Convinced it would support his weight, he added the other foot and stilled again, standing on the walkway.

The pool area fell completely silent. I think we were afraid if someone spoke, Tito would fall off.

“Das istthe moment of truth,” Tito said. “Let go of my hands.”

Oscar released his hand first, followed by Stefan. Tito was now alone, balancing on the walkway. He waited a moment until he felt he was comfortably balanced. He took a tiny step forward, almost a shuffle, and then another. After he’d gone a few feet, he bent down and slid the skimmer the rest of the way until it hit something in the vicinity of the square. Confident the path went all the way to the middle, he started to walk more confidently out to the middle. When he reached the glass box, he knelt and felt around the area.

“It’s a box with an open top. As far as I can tell, it goes down pretty far, possibly to the bottom of the pool. It’s definitely centered over the float.” He stood, putting a partial amount of weight on the edges of the box, pushing down to see if it gave. “It doesn’t move, which means it probably goes all the way to the floor.”

“Use the hook on the skimmer to snag the float and see if you can pull it and the weight up,” I instructed.

Tito took the skimmer and slid it into the box toward the float. He jabbed at the float several times before giving up. “We’ve got a problem. The float is too tight against the sides of the box, so the hook can’t catch on anything. I can’t push the skimmer past it.”

“Any ideas how to proceed?” Stefan asked me.

Right now, I had nothing. I needed time to think, but we were running out of time. My brain was busy calculating a million things, and nothing made sense.

“Vittoria, how are we in terms of water in the hot tub?” I called out.

“More than halfway full,” she said. “And the water is still coming out.”

I estimated that at this point our makeshift siphon had drained at least an inch off the top of the pool. The result was that the top of the square box was now clearly visible, the sides protruding slightly above the water.

“I’m going to check the other side of the box,” Tito suddenly said. “Maybe there’s a latch or something that will set the float free.” He set the skimmer down and carefully lay across the square on his stomach, reaching his hands down the other side of the box, searching.

“I’ve got something,” he said excitedly. “I think it’s another walkway. This one connects to the other side of the box. Would someone go check the other side of the pool to see where it starts?”

Stefan and Oscar went to check it out, and within a minute, they confirmed the presence of a second diagonal walkway. At this point my brain had started to come up with a potential plan.

Unfortunately, that plan meant I needed to see the box at the center for myself. I had to force the words out of my mouth.

“I need to get a look at the box and the float for myself,” I said.

“Are you sure?” Tito asked, giving me a smile from the center of the pool. “Walking on a glass walkway requires confidence, balance, and coordination.”

“Very funny. Don’t worry, if I fall in, I’ll just tell Slash you pushed me.”

He laughed, and his teasing made me feel a little better, which maybe was the point, so I faced the walkway with determination. I took Oscar’s and Stefan’s hands to stabilize me on either side as I stepped onto the walkway, the water sloshing over my feet. My legs were shaking, which wasn’t a good sign, but I forced myself to be calm and let go of both of their hands.

This was a bad idea. A terrible, horrible idea.

I stood there for a good minute, letting my body and mind get used to the idea I was on the walkway and summoning my courage to move farther. Eventually, I began taking tiny steps forward toward Tito and the middle square. Before I knew it, I was almost there.

“You’ve got this,” he said encouragingly, stretching out a hand.

I made the mistake of looking at Tito’s hand instead of my feet, and my foot slipped.

“Noooooooo!” I shrieked, reaching toward him.

Chapter Twenty-Eight