Damn. I wished I hadn't asked.
"So." I stood. "Show me this house."
Ian smiled as he stood as well. He reached into the drawer of his desk and pulled out a key. "You're in luck. It's right next door, so we don't have far to walk."
"Convenient." I chuckled as I started for the door. "Maybe we can build a tunnel between all our houses so we can come and go without anyone seeing us."
I paused at the door and glanced back at Ian when he didn't follow me. "Oh man, you didn't?"
Ian tucked his lips in.
My eyes widened. "You did!"
"Maybe."
I rolled my eyes. Sometimes my friends could be too much. "How'd you do that without anyone knowing about it?"
"Hank had some of his buddies come in from out of town to do the actual construction work. Getting the permits was a little harder. We could only get them to retrofit the basements so no one actually knows about the tunnels, and we had to put them far enough underground that if there were any problems with the water mains or anything, they wouldn't be discovered."
"Just how far underground are they?"
"Not that far. Just one level below the basements. And they're really not that big. Just enough room to move through them really. It's not like we can hold a party down there or anything. We just wanted to make sure we all had escape routes in case we needed them."
"So, how does it work? Is there one tunnel, or do you have tunnels going to each of the houses? What?"
"There's a tunnel that goes in front of Danny and Andrew's houses, and it hooks up with the tunnel that goes across the street to my house. If you take the house next door, we'll extend the tunnel on this side so it will lead there, too." Ian frowned for a moment, and then a wide smile crossed his lips. "Think of it as a large sideways H that connects each house."
That actually made sense.
"You're still weird."
"Hey, can you think of a better way for paranoid geeks to connect?"
Not really, but I wasn't sure I was ready to admit that.
"So, let's go see this house."
Chapter Four
I liked the house. It was kind of a modern Tudor style on the outside and very retro-ish on the inside. There were two bedrooms downstairs in addition to the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom. Upstairs had two more bedrooms and a bathroom.
It was the backyard and the room over the garage that truly sold me on the place. The backyard was accessible through a sliding glass door off the dining room. It had a large stone patio in a half-moon shape before moving into a large expanse of green grass and surrounding fence. There were just enough trees in the yard to give the patio some shade without overwhelming it and blocking out the sun.
The room over the garage was reached through a doorway and a set of stairs in the hallway leading to the garage. It was a large space with a great need for some skylights and drywall. But I could imagine the possibilities. It would make a great workspace.
I could see myself in this place.
"So, let's talk specifics," I told Ian as we walked back to his place. "How much do you want for the place?"
Ian grinned. "I have the paperwork back in my office. We'll charge you what we paid for it plus closing costs."
"Sounds reasonable." Depending on how much Ian and Hank paid for the place. "You know, if the whole guardians of the galaxy thing doesn't work out for you, you could always get into real estate."
Ian snorted rudely. "Not on a bet."
I started to laugh until I spotted a dark-colored sedan parked at the end of the street. I had no idea why it stood out to me, but it did. "How long has that car been there?"
"What car?" Ian asked as he glanced around.
