I willed my body not to react.
This job would last an eternity if I couldn’t get that feeling under control.
“Can I try?” She nodded toward the wall.
“You want to demo?” I glanced at the hole I made.
“Yes. Not the whole place, obviously.” She fluttered a hand at the cavernous space. “But I’d like to do a little.”
Lifting a shoulder, I took off my safety glasses and held them out. “Sure. I don’t have an extra mask on me. I could probably find one if you want, though.”
“This is fine.” She sent me a sheepish smile. “I ducked out during a lull in the rush to see the progress. Then I saw you smashing the wall.” She shrugged. “It looked like fun.” Taking the glasses, she slipped them onto her face.
I grinned behind my mask, making the corners of my eyes crinkle. “It is. Best part of construction. Do you want my gloves?” I held up a hand.
“No. They won’t fit and will probably just make it harder for me to hold the hammer.”
“Good point.” Passing her the sledgehammer, I stepped back, then swept a hand toward the wall. “Have at it.”
Mina shuffled forward and raised the twelve-pound sledge. I crossed my arms, curious if she’d actually be able to swing it with enough power to break through the plaster.
But I shouldn’t have doubted her. The woman took a baseball player’s batting stance and swung for the fence. A hole appeared beside the one I’d been working on.
“Nice hit.”
She tossed me a saucy smile. “Thanks. I like baseball.” Winding up, she took another swing, widening her hole. After a couple more whacks, she had a sizeable opening.
Stepping closer, she peered inside.
“You see any water damage in there?” I asked, moving in behind her.
“Um… there’s some plastic.” A furrow wrinkled her brow.
“Plastic?” I dug in my pocket for my phone and flipped on the flashlight. “There shouldn’t be any plastic in the wall.”
One slight shoulder bobbed. “That’s what I see. Shine your light in there.” She pointed at the hole.
I did as she asked, but from my vantage point, I couldn’t see anything.
With a hum, she stepped back a bit and jabbed at the plaster with the hammer, breaking it away to widen the hole.
Now I could see the edge of yellowed plastic.
“Maybe it’s insulation?” Mina said.
“It’s weird insulation, if so. These old buildings, they typically used newspaper or sawdust. It’s more likely there was a leak, and rather than fixing it, they put the plastic in to keep it from ruining the walls and floor. Do you see any water collected?” I angled the light a little higher so she could peer inside.
Mina leaned in. Raising a hand, she grasped the edge of the plastic, shifting it.
Her scream caught me off guard.
So did her lurch backward. Her back hit my chest, and she stepped on my foot as she scrambled away from the wall.
I shot a hand out to steady her as she stumbled off the steel-toe of my boot. “Why are you screaming?” Did she see a dead mouse or something?
With eyes so wide I could see white all the way around her brilliant blue irises, she pointed at the wall with a trembling finger. “Eyes. Empty. A-a-a…” Her voice trailed off.
“Eyes? What? Is there a dead animal in there?” That wouldn’t surprise me. If water could get in, so could vermin.
