“Okay, let’s close up here and let Thomas and Kai find an exit. Once they get to the surface, they can call us and let us know where they came out. I’m sure Emma won’t mind if we do a tour of the house without her while we’re waiting. We’ll call in the authorities once the boys are back with us.” Nana pulls off her gloves and shoves them into her pockets. “Bring the gloves with you until we will find somewhere to stash them. I’d rather the police not know we didn't call them right away.”
We file out of the vault and close the thing behind us. It’s a matter of pushing the big door closed, which a couple of the boys do, and then spinning the wheel to re-engage the lock. The bioscanner blinks red once it’s sealed. The police need to know we discovered the body, but they don’t need to know we explored before we tried to do anything about it.
While they do that, Hope, Jacinta, Nana, and Poppy head back up in the elevator, leaving me down here with just the boys.
“Here.” My eyebrows jump as Declan pulls a gun out of the back of his jeans and hands it to Kai. “You never know what you might find in the tunnels. So far we’ve been able to keep this secret from the media, but once the authorities are involved, that’s not going to stay quiet. Someone out there knows about these tunnels even if they haven't used them recently, and we don't know if this is the only vault. It seems to me that it would have been silly for the count to keep everything in one place. Until we can find that map and physically checkallthe tunnels, we are going to be careful.”
“When we get back, we have to talk to Emma about other possible places the map could be. We don't want anyone else getting their hands on that,” Jaxon agrees.
“Could it be hidden somewhere in the house? Emma did mention the other room. Who’s to say there aren't other secret rooms that she doesn't know about?”
“What other room?” Oliver jumps on the information. He’s got this tangible energy about him, something my kindred spirit recognizes. He’s got that explorer’s high going on, where you’re pumped up and ready to go headfirst into the next adventure as soon as you’ve got a location. It’s not the biggest reason that I love exploring abandoned places, but it’s definitely a benefit. There’s just something almost intoxicating about running after a secret, not sure what you’ll find on the other end. Will it be trash or treasure? You never know, but that’s half the fun.
“I told you I would show you after. Be patient.” He mutters something under his breath that I can’t hear, but Kai slaps him on the back of the head. The elevator returns, and I move over to Thomas and give him a lingering kiss. Although we’ve come a long way, I’m not feeling as secure with him as I am with the others. It might seem a little silly, but that moment between the two of us gives me enough comfort that I can step back with a smile. “Be careful and look after each other.” He nods as I turn to Kai.
“You, too. Watch his back and come back to me.” I kiss him like he’s going off to war, and he looks a little dazed but smug as fuck when he pulls back.
“Wow, I need to volunteer for these kinds of things more often.” I roll my eyes, but warmth fills me up nonetheless.
Thomas studies the door closely. “This has a lock on it.” He takes a step and peers around the tunnel side of the doorframe. “And there’s a keypad here. This door must have been left cracked open since the body was disposed of. If they had closed it, they wouldn’t be able to get back in.”
“What are the odds that it’s the same code as the vault?” Holden asks, and Thomas shrugs.
“Do we really want to risk that it’s not?” Jaxon points out, and we all shake our heads.
“Nope. Let’s leave it as is, and we can work out if we need to reprogram it later. Emma may know of the codes, or they may be written on the map. While you’re having the tour, keep an eye out for where it could be.”
Thomas and Kai wave goodbye and leave down the tunnel. The light from their phones bounces off the walls, and their voices echo for a short way before abruptly cutting off.
“Guys?” My worried question echoes down the dark tunnel, and when the don’t answer, I take a couple of steps to follow before Declan jumps in front of me.
“Stop. They probably just went around a corner.”
“But what if something happened to them?” I try to step around him, but his arms wrap around me, holding me back.
“Babe, it’s okay.” Holden steps up and cups my cheeks in his hands. “Declan is right. They’ll be okay.”
I sigh and stop struggling, sagging in Declan’s arms. “I’m sorry. I was just worried. So much has been going on, and I guess it’s a little irrational, but…” Declan’s arms loosen, and he presses a kiss to the back of my head.
“It’s okay. I get it.”
“Come on. Hurry up,” Oliver calls out, already in the elevator. “Let’s get the rest of the tour back on the road.”
“You all know the suspense of not knowing about the other room is killing him, right?” Holden laughs.
“Of course, why do you think we won’t tell him more about it?” Jaxon takes my hand and places a kiss in the middle of my palm before tugging me to my impatient boyfriend.
The other two join us, and the doors close. With a single press of a button, the elevator begins its silent ascent.
“You guys are no fun.” Oliver’s pouting in the corner, making full use of that lower lip until Holden wraps an arm around his shoulder.
“Come on, you love surprises. Just think of it like that,” he reassures the sulking man. It doesn't seem to help much, but his lip isn’t as pouty when the doors finally open, allowing us to exit.
Two hours later, we’ve toured the whole house… except for the other secret room, and we’ve gotten some good news. Kai and Thomas found an exit from the tunnels. Apparently, it’s in the zoo, inside one of the old animal enclosures.
“Well, that’s certainly one way of ensuring that nobody accidentally finds the entrance,” Holden points out after Declan hangs up and fills us all in.
“You’re not wrong. I’m sure that's why it’s located there. He said the rest of the tunnels branched off toward the boundaries, but they didn't bother searching. They figured this entrance will be safe enough to tell someone about. Once the zoo is up and running, we’ll have some security to protect the entrance, and that will discourage treasure hunters. He also said he spoke to Jake, who got in touch with an FBI agent he trusts. They're on their way now.”
