Page 68 of Saint's Sinner

“Like I said: solid.”

“It’s a crawl space of some sort, goes in about five, six feet,” Night said as he squeezed his shoulders through the opening and wiggled forward. “Looks to be empty, except for a colony of dust bunnies. I’m gonna poke around a bit. Might be a good place to stash weapons and anything else we need to restrict access to.”

“You spot any mouse droppings in there and we will be revisiting that discussion we had about getting a cat,” Sinn insisted.

“Why, so you can wake up in the middle of the night to step on the corpse of a present it’s left you?”

When Sinn let out a grumble of revulsion, Night laughed and wiggled deeper into the space until he could see all of it. Small totes could easily be concealed in here, a small safe and lock boxes too. While he doubted they’d have much use for it as an extra storage space, it would definitely come in handy for hiding shit.

Including gifts for nosy partners.

“No sign, or scent of rodents,” Night said once he’d finished investigating the space.

“I’m not sure whether to be pleased with that, or disappointed,” Sinn admitted.

Turning around proved interesting. His six foot plus frame did not appreciate his efforts, especially once he’d smacked his forehead on the beam that ran through the center of the space. “Owe, fuck!”

“You okay in there?”

“Yeah, but it’s a good thing I’ve got a hard…” Night began to say when something more solid than wood bounced off his head and hit the ground, the jangle of coins spilling along the hardwood superseding it.

“God dammit,” Night roared, because that fucking hurt. As he rubbed the side of his head, he swore he felt the place where it had scraped beginning to swell.

“Careful, you concuss yourself and you’ll be confined to bed and not in the best of ways.”

“You would threaten me with that,” Night complained as he winced at the throbbing left behind by whatever the fuck had struck him. He’d dropped his phone when he’d gotten hit, the flashlight glowing beneath the device, making it easy to spot.

The last thing he expected to see when he picked it up was the glint of light off gold.

“It’s not a threat, it’s a promise, so remember that and keep yourself intact,” Sinn scolded, sending a shiver down Night’s spine, especially when Saint, who was now watching him through the door with an amused expression on his face, decided it was the best time to chime in.

“That goes double from me,” Saint declared as he poked his head through the opening.

Rather than respond, Night shifted his position and shone his light on the small chest and spilled coins scattered around it. “You have got to see this.”

“Is that what I think it is?” Saint asked as he struggled to twist in a way that would allow his broad shoulders to slip through the narrow opening.

The folks who’d lived here must have been average sized people to create a doorway that small.

“Fuck…god fuckin’ damn it! Owe! Shit. Fuck.” Saint snarled when he got his arm stuck over his head and his other shoulder wedged against the doorframe, forcing him to back out again. “Just scoop everything up and bring it out!”

“Yeah, okay,” Night said, leaning the phone against a beam so he had least had some light to work with.

He shoved all the coins he could see back into the metal box and tried to secure the lid, only to see that the latch had snapped in its fall. He shoved it through the doorway then retrieved his phone, having a much easier time getting out than getting in now that he knew how to angle himself.

By then, Saint was seated on the closet floor, Sinn at his side running his fingers over one of the coins.

“I think I got all of whatever those are,” Night declared as he emerged and sneezed several times from the dust.

“Doubloons,” Saint replied as he held one of the oddly shaped coins up to the light. “Maybe. I don’t have a clue if their real or not, but I know who would.”

“Whoa…” Night breathed.

“Not a word of this to anyone until we know one way or another,” Saint said. “Last time we dealt with the fallout of a club brother being involved in underwater artifacts, someone took a shot at my brother and Lucky nearly got himself killed.”

“Our lips are sealed,” Sinn said as he passed the coin back to Saint.

“Speak for yourself,” Night replied, licking his lips. “Mine are feeling kinda empty over here.”

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