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It was Ellis.
“Nora!” he yelled again, this time his voice was louder and closer.
Nora and Sloan looked at each other with panicked eyes. They’d left the cellar door off the kitchen opened and footsteps pounded down the steps. They both startled when Ellis pounded on the darkroom door.
“Nora, are you in there?”
Nora held her finger to her lips for Sloan to stay silent. But when Sloan placed her trembling hand onto the table to steady herself, she knocked over one of the trays containing the developing solution. It fell off the table and crashed onto the floor.
“Nora,” Ellis yelled. “Open the door!”
The door shook as Ellis pounded from the other side.
CHAPTER 66
Cedar Creek, Nevada Friday, August 2, 2024
ERIC DROVE AT CLOSE TO 100 MPH AS HE RACED NORTH OUT OF Reno and away from the bank where he and Marvin Mann had discovered his father’s message—a sticky note written in his father’s cursive that was now affixed to his dashboard. It read: Guy Menendez = Ellis Margolis.
“Call her again,” Eric said to Marvin Mann as they raced north toward Cedar Creek.
“It’s going straight to voicemail,” Marvin said. “Her phone is either off or she has no service. Even an old man like myself knows this.”
“Just try!” Eric said, knowing that Sloan was at Margolis Manor with Ellis, and in grave danger.
Marvin tried again.
“Voicemail.”
“Text her. Same message.”
Marvin worked his fingers over the keyboard of Eric’s phone, retyping the identical message he’d sent numerous times since they’d left the bank.
Ellis Margolis is Guy Menendez. Find an excuse to leave and call me!
“Done,” Marvin said.
Eric ran a hand through his hair as he thought.
“Look up the number for the police department in Bend, Oregon.”
“Where?”
“Just do it, Marv!”
Marvin used Eric’s phone to search.
“Got it.”
Marvin dialed and handed Eric the phone.
“Bend Police Department,” a woman said on the other end.
“Hi, my name is Eric Stamos. I’m the sheriff down in Harrison County, Nevada. I’ve got an emergency and need to speak with someone up there. Your chief or someone in charge.”
“Do you need to call 9-1-1?”
“No, the emergency is up by you. I need to speak with someone in charge up there.”
