Page 76 of Saltwater Memories
Chapter 27
Will wished that he’d made it a priority to clean out the secret passageway. It wassodirty in there – it was making his eyes incredibly itchy.
He strained to see against the darkness. There was something on the ground. He lowered himself to examine it, then quickly shot back up.
Bones. Rat bones, maybe mice? Will wasn’t sure. But he’d found where the cat liked to hang out.
Will was allergic to cats.
His eyes watered again, as if on cue. He pinched his nose. Do not sneeze. Do not sneeze. Do not sneeze.
He sneezed.
Great.
Will froze. He could hear something – it sounded like someone moving toward him. He thought that Lenny had gone upstairs, but maybe he was back? The doorway in the bookcase wasn’t difficult to find, especially if Will hadn’t closed it all the way…
The door on the kitchen side of the passageway quietly opened.
Game over.
Will stood there with his eyes closed, as though that would help him. If he couldn’t see Lenny, then Lenny couldn’t see him. Perfect logic.
He felt a tug on his arm and let out a sigh. Will opened his eyes.
It wasn’t Lenny! It was Amanda, standing in the dim light. Her hair was wet and she smelled of earth, but it was definitely her. He was about to say something but she hurriedly placed her hand over his mouth.
He kept quiet. She slowly shook her head and pulled out her phone, typing a message.
“Help should be here soon. We just need to stay quiet and hide.”
He smiled and reached toward her. At first, she motioned to hand over her phone, but that wasn’t what he was going for. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. Amanda smiled.
Will had no idea how she’d found him, or why she’d showed up like this, but he wasn’t asking questions. If Amanda said hide, he was going to hide.
They stood there in silence for what felt like hours, but was probably a matter of minutes. Lenny continued his search of the house, checking each closet and corner thoroughly. Fortunately for Will, the house was enormous.
And then, he sneezed again.
“Come on William, I’m not going to hurt you. We just need to talk. You know, man-to-man. Come on out, I know you’re in here somewhere.”
Will couldn’t stop it. Tears pooled in his eyes as the cat dander, which he was apparently bathing in now, stung every inch of his nose.
He buried his face in his arms, but it was no use. He started to rapid fire sneeze, one after the other.
Will could hear Lenny’s footsteps, running toward the library now. It would only be a matter of seconds before he saw the poorly disguised bookshelf in the library.
Will shoved Amanda, back into the safety of the darkness, just as the bookshelf flew open.
“How cute,” Lenny said as he grabbed Will by his shirt and pulled him out. “You found yourself a little hiding spot.”
Will tripped, falling onto the ground. He put his hands up. “Lenny, there’s no need for this.”
“You know what there was no need for? For you to go poking your nose where it didn’t belong. You’ve done this to yourself.”
Lenny pulled the gun from his holster and cocked it, outstretching his arm at his side. “It’s too bad, Will.”
“No!” Amanda screamed from behind them.
