“Why did they sell?” Hector had always kind of wondered that. He had practically gotten the place for a song.
“That’s a pretty long story, but the gist of it is that Herne and his wife were insane and made their daughter and grandsons life hell. When Amelia died, Herne lost what was left of his mind and went to prison for what he did. He was killed after he escaped and went after Happy and his mother again. Once they were gone, and Happy married Marc, Happy and his mother didn’t want anything to do with the place anymore. They just wanted to get rid of it.”
Damn.
Hector rubbed the back of his neck, his muscles growing tense. “I’m really sorry to hear that, Sheriff. I think this old house has a lot of life left in her. She just needs some tender loving care.”
“Well, I’m just glad to see it go to someone who will appreciate it.” The sheriff smiled as he looked around again. “Maybe when you’re all done, you’ll let me bring Happy and Anna back out here so that they can see the boogeyman doesn’t live here anymore.”
“Yeah, sure.” He didn’t know Anna all that well, but he’d met Happy a few times when he’d come into the bar with his husband. He was a gentle giant with a smile for everyone.
“Make sure you do something with the basement. They made Happy live down in that hell hole since he was an infant.”
Hector blinked. He had a basement?
The sheriff patted him on the shoulder as he passed, stepping out onto the porch. “You have a good rest, Hector. You looked like you could use it.”
Yeah.
“Night, Sheriff.” Hector closed and locked the door behind the man then turned and headed back upstairs. He kicked his jogging pants off and flopped down on the mattress. He wanted just a few more hours before he faced the day. Maybe once he could function again, he’d go in search of that elusive basement.
* * * *
Harvey leaned back against the kitchen counter and carefully scanned the room. Most basements were either off the kitchen or mud rooms. Sometimes they were located in hallways. So far, he hadn’t been able to find a single sign of a basement entrance.
He thought about calling Happy and asking where it was, but he didn’t want to traumatize the man any more than he already was. He could always call the sheriff, but with everything going on with the bar, he didn’t want to throw any more on the man’s plate. Besides, he should be able to figure this out. It was just a basement entrance. How hard could it be to find?
Hector started at one side of the kitchen and started knocking on the wall. He wasn’t sure he was going to actually know if he found something, but everything he’d ever seen on TV said he was looking for a hollow sound.
He worked his way all around the kitchen before he decided the entrance to the basement was not in that room. He next tried the pantry and mud room, but again came up with nothing, although the shelving unit in the pantry needed some work.
Hector just didn’t know where else to look. He knew the entrance couldn’t be in the living room because he’d pretty much torn that room down to the studs when he was patching the walls. That left the dining room, guest bathroom, hallway, and office.
He suspected the room he used as an office used to be a bedroom at one time simply from the flower print wallpaper he’d scraped off the walls. Since it was the only spare room downstairs, he’d decided to turn it into a sort of office/den type of thing. He doubted the entrance to the basement was in there.
That left the dining room, guest bathroom, and hallway. Hector dismissed the bathroom. It was just too damn small. He also dismissed the dining room. It had windows on two sides, a large entryway on a third, and a built-in china hutch on the fourth. There just didn’t seem to be any place where a doorway could be.
That left the hallway.
Hector walked from the beginning of the hallway to the end, looking for anything that might be out of place or give him a clue as to where the hidden entrance to the basement might be located. He paused halfway down the hallway when he noticed something he hadn’t seen before.
He hadn’t done any work on the hallway yet, so he was somewhat surprised to find that the baseboards and crown molding had been stripped and sanded. He slowly ran his hands over the smooth wood, confused and somewhat alarmed.
Had someone been inside his house?
Hector clenched his jaw. This was his house. He’d paid for it with his own sweat and tears. If someone was trying to fuck with him, he’d rip their heads off.
He walked back to the beginning of the hallway. He ran his fingers along the wall, checking every inch, ever nick in the wall, every corner and edge. He had almost given up when he reached the bookcase under the staircase, and he felt it give when he pushed on it.
Hector peered closer, running his fingers along the edge of the built-in bookcase. He traced it from the top of the bookcase down to the floor. It looked like a built-in bookcase. There was nothing that would give anyone any clue that there was anything different about it, but there was. Hector could feel it in his bones.
He pushed on the bookcase again. His jaw dropped when he heard a click and then the bookshelf swung open, revealing a staircase going down. The first thing he noticed was the dank, musty smell. It made him instantly wonder just how long it had been since the door was last opened. He also wondered if it had smelled like this when Happy lived down there.
He hoped not. It was positively revolting.
Hector’s mind instantly went to what he’d need to do now that he’d discovered the basement. First on his list was to see what he was working with. The second thing he’d need to do was make sure the basement had adequate ventilation and then get someone down there to check for mold. Black mold was deadly, and it thrived in dark, dank places like this.
Hector leaned inside the small doorway and searched the interior of the small space for a light of some sort. He didn’t relish going down the narrow staircase without some sort of light. He saw an odd-looking switch on the wall. Instead of an up and down switch, it had two round metal buttons. When he pushed one of them, a light at the bottom of the staircase came on.
