Page 163
I slip out of bed and walk quietly down the hallway.
The house is dark except for small lights near the floor.
I don't know how anyone finds their way around this place.
Then again, these men probably see in the dark.
I reach the kitchen.
The refrigerator is full.
So are the cabinets.
Arthur wasn't kidding.
Safe people apparently eat very well.
I find flour.
Butter.
Eggs.
Cream cheese.
Fresh berries.
Powdered sugar.
My fingers pause over a package of puff pastry.
“Oh.”
This changes everything.
I pull it out.
Then another.
I find parchment paper and baking sheets.
Within ten minutes, the kitchen begins feeling less like a strange safe house and more like somewhere I can breathe.
Butter.
Sugar.
Vanilla.
Things that make sense.
I start with cream cheese Danish.
Then blueberry turnovers.
Then I find chocolate.
That becomes croissants.