Just then the other cop returned and shook his head. “Nothing. I’ve checked all the rooms.”
I shook my head. “No, he has to be here! He came here. He could have gone anywhere else, but he came here on a night when Aunt Susan was away.”
“We shouldn’t even be searching without a warrant,” Detective Marks told me. “You can have a look around since you’re family and especially if you know she won’t file a complaint for breaking and entering in. We’ll see what we can get out of your uncle in the meantime while we work on getting a warrant, so we can tear up the place properly in the event that…”
Although he didn’t say the full statement, I understood well. They may need to look deeper for a body. I couldn’t afford to think of that or I’d go mad. If he had already killed Bryan, why would he have called and made the ransom? And if Bryan was already dead and buried why would be need to come here?
“I’ll call my aunt and find out if there’s anything more to the house that I should take a look at,” I told Detective Marks. “I’ll be at the station in a bit.”
“Alright. All the best.”
Uncle Simon went along without another word. I closed the door on Detective Marks reading him his Miranda rights. With the door closed, a queasy feeling took over me. This was our last clue. If we didn’t find Bryan here, I wouldn’t know where else to look.
I punched in my aunt’s number as I began my search, deciding to start up the stairs. Her phone rang to voicemail and I left her a message to call me as soon as possible. At least she had called me once about Bryan’s disappearance and expressed genuine concern. Mother’s call had been an accusation of being tired of my scandals attaching itself to the Rosenbaum name. I had almost reminded her that she wasn’t a true Rosenbaum but married into the family. She would have never forgiven me for that, although I no longer cared. If that was the only thing she was able to say to me after the man I loved went missing, I was through with her.
Without Aunt Susan’s help, I had to search the house on my own. The house wasn’t huge which was an advantage. I hated entering her bedroom, realizing how it might constitute as violating her privacy but I had to do it. I had to find Bryan. I checked even in impractical places because I wanted to be thorough, and when I came up empty trudged down the stairs. I searched every nook and cranny, my heart in my hand because I didn’t know what I would find. Could one place be so silent if there was a live person in it?
My hope plunged with every area I checked. When I exhausted downstairs, I ended the search in the kitchen and braced my hands on the counter as grief washed over me. I didn’t know where else to look. Had I lost him forever? I had no other choice but to leave and visit the police station. I would make Uncle Simon talk if it was the last thing I did.
I had just stepped onto the porch when a car pulled up into the yard. I waited, my hands into my back pockets as Aunt Susan came out of the vehicle. She looked puzzled to see me there, and I understood the look, because I hadn’t been to visit her in a while.
“Tate, what are you doing here, sweetie?” she asked, climbing the steps of the porch. “Oh my God, it’s not your boyfriend is it? Did you find him?”
I shook my head and would have answered her properly too, but she wrapped her arms around me in an unexpected gesture and I just broke. I shuddered against her, allowing the tears of frustration and desperation to fall.
“We thought we had him,” I answered, pulling back away from her. “I know it sounds strange but that’s why I’m here. We trailed Uncle Simon here.”
“Simon?” she asked in surprise. “Why would he come here? He called me to meet him at a diner and I have been waiting for him to get there. When it was evident he was standing me up, I left.”
Alarm bells rang again. “Does he come here a lot?”
“No, he rarely stops by, though he did drop by a few days ago. He was being really sweet and offered to help me clean up the basement. I’ve been meaning to since I moved here but basements are so spooky that I try to avoid them. Of all the years your uncle and I have been married, I never once went into our basement.”
In everything she said, only one thing registered. “There’s a basement?”
She nodded. “Yes, after cleaning up he told me I’d do better not to go down there. The previous owners apparently left a lot of junk inside. He’s coming back to clean it out for me. I think he’s trying to work on our marriage. At least I thought so before he stood me up tonight.”
“Where’s the basement?” I asked her, excitement causing the blood to rush furiously through my veins.
“Behind the stairs,” she answered. “It operates like a trapdoor. Why?”
“Tell you in a minute,” I called to her and raced back inside the house. Of course, she was right! Because the door was behind the stairs and into the floor we had completely missed it. I raised the door revealing a dark hole. The light revealed the top steps. “Oh God, please let him be here. Please, let him be here.”
All my reserved hope made itself known then. If Bryan was indeed not here I would be devastated, my soul crushed, my heart shattered.
“Aunt Susan, do you have a flashlight?”