Page 94 of 5 Golden Flings

“Here we go,” Colby said, throwing a couple of towels onto the ground before crouching down. “This should do the trick.”

Brynn continued to stare, transfixed, as the water seeped underneath the island. An idea took shape in her mind.

“Hey, you all right?” Colby asked.

Slowly she dragged her gaze up to his. “Colby?”

He frowned for a moment, then looked down. He leaned closer.

Brynn whispered, “Do you hear it?”

He glanced around at the kitchen, as if mapping it in his mind, then back at the island. “Yeah, I hear it.”

After a moment more of study, he crossed over the wet puddle to the end of the island. “Watch out.”

Firmly grasping each corner, Colby pulled, first one way then the other. Brynn watched with a frown. Could this be what her father meant? Was the hiding place under the house? Most crawl spaces were big enough to hold small boxes and few people would think to look there.

Just as she said, “Maybe you have to go in from the outside?” there was a deepcrack. She looked for an opening, but saw nothing on the island.

“Look,” Colby said, pointing to the corner on the floor.

The wood trim had shifted, leaving a dried, crumbly shadow of old food and dust from who knew how many years. Maybe...

Their eyes met and held. This had to be it.

Without saying a word, Colby moved over beside her and placed both hands firmly on the edge of the island. Brynn placed hers next to his, leaning forward to bend her elbows. Together they drew in deep breaths and pushed.

The first inch was pure resistance, then suddenly the island swung freely away from them. Brynn stumbled, but Colby’s arm reached out to grab her before she could fall. Her breath shuddered from her as she stared down into a dark hole.

“What the hell?” she muttered.

This didn’t look like any crawl space she’d ever seen.

The entire outline of the island seemed to have been held in place with years’ worth of kitchen debris. “Do you think Maria ever opened this?” Brynn asked.

Colby continued to stare. “I don’t think so. Maybe she didn’t even know it was here.”

A shiver worked its way down Brynn’s spine, drawing Colby’s attention. He dropped his hand to squeeze hers. “Let me get the flashlight. Hopefully the batteries will last a little longer.”

He was back in seconds. Flipping on the light, he shone it down into the hole. Well, not really a hole...

A stairwell.

Brynn bent forward just a bit to get a good look at what seemed to be solid stairs leading down into the darkness. “A cellar, maybe?”

Colby drew in a deep breath. “I hope so. But why wouldn’t Maria have known about a cellar? After all, she lived on the farm and probably canned food every year.” He glanced over at the good-sized pantry door on the far side of the kitchen. Then he shook his head. “I’ll go down first.”

On instinct, Brynn grabbed his arm. “What if it isn’t safe?”

His tight expression softened a touch, telling her that her fear must show on her own face. “I’ll be careful. Let me just test the stairs before you try it, okay?”

She nodded, for once happy to let someone else take the lead. In all the months she’d imagined finding her father’s evidence, it had never occurred to her that she’d have to climb down into a deep, dark pit to get to it.

Probably should have, though.

Colby kept one hand firmly on the ledge while he tested each stair in turn. The flashlight illuminated each one. Boy she was glad she’d sprung for the heavy-duty version.

He had to duck his head as he took the last few, until all she could see was his outline against the light in front of him. “Okay, I think the stairs are safe. But if you thought the attic had a lot of dust...”

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