Page 139 of The Island of Lost Girls

‘There’s a room behind there?’

‘Yes.’

‘I knew it! I knew this house was an odd shape. I knew there was some space missing! How did I not know?’

‘They sort of keep it a secret,’ she says, ‘for obvious reasons.’

‘But you knew?’

‘Someone has to keep it clean.’ Mercedes pauses, for effect. ‘Oh, shit,’ she says. ‘I was cleaning in there today. Don’t say I left the tap running?’

It’s not hard to sound panicky. She feels panicky.

‘Oh, God, she’ll kill me! Oh, God!’

‘Well, open it,’ says Ursula.

‘I can’t! I don’t know the code!’

Ursula can be slow on the uptake. ‘Really?’

‘Of course not!’

‘Why not?’

Because they don’t want me getting in there. ‘Because if I don’t know the code, I can’t tell, can I?’ she snaps. ‘Sorry. I’m a bit stressed. Oh, God. I’m going to have to tell Paulo. Christ, and he’ll tell her, and they’ll take the damage off my wages, and there’s hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of stuff in there. Oh, God … ’

She stops. Feels the tears well up for real. Just the mention of all that money produces a reflex response. All those times, all those times when she’s thought she might be approaching freedom, only to find that her debt has spiralled through the sorcery of accounting. I will die, she thinks, if I can’t get away. This has to work. If I’m trapped here for one more day, it will kill me.

Ursula pats her shoulder. ‘I’m sure it’ll be okay,’ she says. ‘If it’s that secure, they’ll have everything protected inside, too.’

She goes off to the intercom to call Paulo.

He’s been napping. His hair is mussed at the back and the area around his eyes is a bit red.

‘Looks like you’ve got a flood on your hands,’ he says, quite calmly.

‘Please,’ she says. ‘Let me get in there, Paulo. Please.’

‘I should call Miss Meade,’ he says, ‘strictly speaking. I’m not supposed to access it without her say-so.’

‘She’s at the ball, Paulo!’

He scratches the back of his head and thinks. ‘Yeah,’ he says.

‘And it’s just going to get worse … ’

‘Yeah,’ he says again. ‘Okay. Can you guys go into the living room? I’ll call you when it’s open.’

‘Thank you,’ she says. ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’ve saved my life, I swear.’

‘Not guaranteeing anything,’ he says. ‘If it’s all carked, I’m not going to be able to cover up for us, you know.’

‘No,’ she says. ‘I get that.’

‘Go on,’ he says. ‘Scram.’

She doesn’t answer. Waits while Paulo pops open the door panel and keys in the code. She’s always wondered how one would access the room fast enough in a home invasion, but then, she knows that that’s not really what it’s there for. She hears the door grind back, and the sound of water, gushing out, and Paulo swears as it floods his boots.