I move from room to room, checking here and there, but I see nothing. There is no entrance to a damn basement anywhere.
I inch along the hallway walls, millimeter by millimeter. Nothing. I go back into the office, look behind the cabinets. Still nothing. Then I study the walls in the studio, but again, nothing! Damn. Whatever is here is extremely well hidden, and that realization sends a strange wave of excitement through me.
Finally, in a stupid, impulsive move, I lie down on the floor and press my ear against it. I do not even know what I am expecting. It is more instinct than logic.
I flatten my ear against one spot, then another, but hear nothing. I return to the studio and move closer to the bed. As I examine it, I notice a thin outline on the floor around the legs. It is nothing obvious, more like a faint line in the surface of the wooden boards.
I press my ears to that spot, but there is only silence.
Still, as I lie there and focus with everything I have, right at the very edge of my perception, I think I hear something extremely faint, something more like a rustle. It could just be a mouse moving somewhere inside the walls.
Investigating it further would be risky. I know I should leave now. Tanner is far too unpredictable. But the whole thing will not let go of me.
Anyway, it's time to move. I spot a roll of tape on a shelf and take it with me. I head back up to the second floor and then to the attic. I know I have to leave the house the same way I came in, because the cameras would catch me if I exited through the front door.
Once I am back at the window, I tape the cardboard in place so it will not get blown away.
Then I start climbing down the downspout. It is not easy. Going down is much harder than climbing up. My hands are sweaty, my muscles trembling. It takes me about twenty minutes to reach the ground. Thankfully, Tanner does not return during that time.
I leave his property, skirt around the abandoned house next door, and get into my car.
While sitting there, I call Ennio.
"Yes?"
"It’s me."
He lets out an impatient sigh.
"Eliano, you need to be more careful. Rocco hasn’t shut up since yesterday about your fight. He’s furious, swearing he won’t stop until he gets his hands on you."
I fall silent for a moment, because what am I supposed to say? That I screwed up badly and my common sense went straight to hell?
"That’s why I need to speed things up with the Tanners. I found something strange in Daniel’s house."
I summarize everything for him, starting with the box of omegas’ clothes, then the fact that I could not find any basement even though there is clearly one in that house. I also describe the empty studio.
Ennio is silent for a moment, then says, "Wednesday is lighter for me. We can go there together and check it out."
A wave of relief washes over me. For some reason, I really do not want to go back there alone. Ennio has far more experience with situations like this.
That evening I am so energized that Storm and Damian, who are in the kitchen happily cooking together, notice it right away. The sight of them stirs a bittersweet memory of cooking together with Salt during the couples classes on the island.
"Any progress on the thing that brought you here?" Storm asks casually as he approaches me with a bowl of stew.
"You could say that. Wednesday should make things clearer."
I see hesitation on his face. Then he slowly sits down next to me and offers me the bowl. I take it with some embarrassment. Over the past two and a half weeks, they have been cooking for me, and it has been making me uncomfortable.
"Will you tell me what happened between you and Salt?" he asks, watching me closely. "I know something went wrong. If everything were fine, you would be calling him daily."
My face must darken, because even Damian, leaning against the kitchen counter, makes a strange expression.
"Well, we had a bit of a disagreement," I say. "You could say it was about different approaches to dealing with criminal matters."
"That sounds vague, but what bothers me is that you have been here for almost three weeks now, and Salt is alone on the island. Does that not get to you?"
I look away. I really do not want to talk about it, or about how I feel, because I feel… sick.
