I covered my hand with my sleeve, reached through, and turned the latch.
The door opened into air that smelled damp, stale, and strangely cold.
“Lizzy?”
My voice echoed through the hallway.
“It’s Auntie. I’m here.”
I turned on my phone flashlight and moved through the living room.
Family photographs covered one wall.
In every frame, Gloria and Walt looked like devoted grandparents.
There were pictures of birthday cakes, church clothes, holiday dinners, and Lizzy sitting between them with her stuffed bear in her lap.
Anyone looking at that wall would have thought she was safe.
I called Adam and kept the phone against my ear as I searched.
“I’m inside,” I told him.
“Are they there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you see Lizzy?”
“Not yet.”
“Natalie, keep me on the line.”
I moved toward the stairs.
At first, all I could hear was thunder and water dripping from my clothes onto the floor.
