Page 28 of Crash and Burn

“I checked this morning. While you were working.”

Maggie nodded. “But did you photograph it? We need evidence, not memory.”

He looked to the ceiling and put his hands up as if to say,No, of course I didn't think of that. But she waved him off.

“That’s not on you!” The last thing she wanted was to make this man feel anything other than as safe and appreciated as he made her feel. “When you were checking everything, you were just trying to keep my house safe and the FBI wasn't on the way to ransack it.”

They spent more time wandering each room with their phones. They stuck together, bouncing ideas off each other in an easy manner that once again made her regret saying yes to Rex. But Sebastian hadn’t asked her out. Could she nudge him that way? Maggie tried to pay attention to something other than his backside as Sebastian showed her how he checked the floorboards in the closets.

They photographed the placement of all the furniture. They opened drawers in the old boarders’ rooms and took pictures of any contents left behind. When Maggie found a drawer full of letters, she opened each of them up and photographed both sides of the pages, as well as the envelope. It was tedious work, but this was her property, and she had the feeling it wasn't going to be her property after the FBI came through. She’d be lucky if she ever got it back.

As she put the last letter back into the drawer as she’d found it, she turned and spotted Sebastian’s fine ass in the air as he checked the floorboards in this closet.

He seemed to know she was watching and spoke loud enough for her to hear. “This is how I tested them earlier and didn't find any secret doors. I’m just photographing now.”

Having finished with the letters, she got pictures of the two mismatched socks and a very old cigar she found in the other drawer, Maggie headed over to the closet to join him.

“Is there any attic access?” She looked up.

“Not from the ground floor,” he told her and for a moment she felt stupid. Then she remembered she hadn't slept in a long time. He didn't look at her like she was being an idiot and she was grateful.

“What about the back wall?” she asked, wondering if it was equally stupid. “Isn't that where you always find a secret panel?”

This time, he shrugged and turned back to the closet, tapping on the wall and checking for seams. He pushed on it and nothing happened. Once again she felt silly.

But, three rooms later, the wall on the back of the closet gave way.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sebastian hadn’t thought anything would come of Maggie’s suggestion to try the backs of the closets. Finding something under the floorboards was strange enough.

But as he looked into the closet, he realized the wallpaper didn’t line up. He hadn’t noticed before, maybe he’d become immune to what people did with their homes over the years.

The design was floral and incredibly busy—easy to miss the odd seam—but when he pushed, it gave. He pushed a little more. It took a few minutes to realize it wasn’t anything like a trap door with a hinge, simply a loose piece set into place at the back of the closet.

He pried and the piece fell into his hands. It was a piece of plywood that had been wallpapered. As Sebastian examined it, he realized it wasn’t even the same wallpaper design, just very close. Also, none of it was the same as the walls; the house was old enough to be made of lathe and plaster.

Interesting.

But when he looked back to what he’d revealed, his stomach dropped. Immediately he looked over his shoulder, double checking when he was already certain. This was the room with the loose floorboard.

“Sebastian?” Maggie asked. He wished she didn't see this.

Nails had been driven into the wall in between the studs. Individual pieces of jewelry hung from each nail. Longer necklaces hung from a single nail. A bracelet hung from another but, below it, another nail held another bracelet, indicating the nails were built in as the pieces were added.

“This is more of the same collection, isn't it?” Maggie asked warily, as if she didn’t even have it in her to be surprised.

Sebastian nodded. The FBI was going to have a field day with this.

“I’m going to take pictures,” she said it in a flat tone, but he could tell she was as disturbed as he was. “I’ll take some with and without flash.”

Maggie had immediately become an archivist.

“Don’t touch anything,” he warned, though he figured she knew that.

The way the jewelry was hung up—each piece on its own peg—said something even more disturbing than the box they'd found. This jewelry was special.

The box had been the discards.

---