Page 85 of Buried Too Deep

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 3:15 P.M.

Sage slipped into his grandfather’s study, unseen by anyone in the household. His stepgrandmother was at her weekly standing appointment at the hair salon. She’d gotten her hair done every Wednesday at three o’clock for as long as he could remember.

She had to look nice for the church services. Camera-ready even. One never knew when the camera would pan over the faces of the people listening to his grandfather with rapt attention. Lexy was always ready for her close-up.

Sage glanced at his phone as he closed Alan’s study door. He’d slipped the guard at the gate a hundred dollars to text him if his grandfather came through. Sage didn’t expect Alan to come home early, but he didn’t want to be surprised.

He walked to the bookshelf, finding the hinged area only because he knew where to look. The workmanship was remarkable. If he hadn’t seen Alan open it, he’d never have known it was there.

Carefully he tugged on the edge, just like he’d seen his grandfather do in the camera feed. The bookshelf swung open and there was the safe.

It was old. Maybe a hundred years old, like the house itself. He pulled out his phone and opened the notes app where he’d listed all the dates that were important to his grandfather.

Alan’s birthday? He twisted the dial and tugged at the handle. Nope.

His first wife Anna’s birthday? Nope.

He tried Lexy’s birthday. Both of Alan’s wedding anniversaries.

He tried all of Alan’s children’s birthdates, including his aunt Jennifer’s, whose birthday he’d found in the public record after a lot of digging.

None of those worked.

He tried his own father’s death date. That wasn’t it, either.

Frustrated, he went back and tried all the dates again, just in case he’d made a mistake. But none of them worked.

Dammit.

He was going to have to go with plan B. From his pocket he took the smallest fiber-optic camera he owned and positioned it along the hinge of the secret bookshelf so that the lens pointed directly at the combination dial. It wasn’t ideal and wouldn’t give him a full view, but he’d be able to figure out the combination. Placement anywhere else would result in the view being blocked by his grandfather’s hand as he spun the dial.

Sage stood in approximately the same place his grandfather had stood when he’d opened the safe. The camera was visible if you knew it was there, but he was hoping his grandfather didn’t look too closely.

Besides, Alan’s eyesight was pretty awful these days. He probably wouldn’t be able to see it, even if he tried.

Sage wondered how Alan had even gotten himself to Medford’s house the night before. Although after seeing the guns he’d taken from the safe, Sage was suspicious of everything his grandfather had claimed.

The man he’d thought he’d known was a stranger.

Were Alan’s eyes really going bad?

That probably was true. His grandfather hated weakness. He considered having to be driven around and having to use special glasses to be embarrassing. So the eyesight thing probably was true.

Reluctantly, Sage closed the bookshelf. He’d have to wait until Alan opened it again to see the safe’s combination. Then he’d be back.

His phone buzzed with an incoming text.

Hellfire and brimstone heading your way.

Shit. Alan had come home early.

Sage quickly put his tools away and made sure he hadn’t left evidence that he’d been there. He slipped out of his grandfather’s study, making his way to the back staircase used by the help.

Maybe he’d get lucky and his grandfather would go straight to the safe.

He really needed to see what it contained.

Until then, though, he’d go back to watching Cora Winslow. The librarian was turning out to be very interesting.

---