Adam Nichols sat behind his desk on Monday afternoon, going through the notes he’d jotted down on the legal pad while waiting for Bill Jones to arrive. He was just turning to a fresh piece of paper when Bill walked into the office. Bill wore what he typically wore when working: faded denims, a blue work shirt and work boots. There was always a pack of cigarettes shoved in his shirt pocket.
Adam and Bill had been friends since high school. As a local handyman, Bill didn’t work only for Adam, yet he took care of most of Adam’s properties.
“So what do we need to do?” Bill asked as he plopped down in a chair facing the desk, his legs man-spread with the heel of his right work boot resting atop his left knee as he leaned back.
Adam tossed the notebook and pen on the desktop and looked at Bill. “It looks like I’m listing the Crawford property on Beach Drive.”
“You talking about the tunnel house?”
Adam nodded. “They’re getting a divorce.”
“I’m not surprised.” Bill reached for his cigarettes and then remembered he couldn’t smoke in Adam’s office, so he dropped his hand back to the chair’s armrest.
“I didn’t realize you knew them.”
“I don’t. But I’ve seen him at the Gray Whale a few times. And he wasn’t with his wife, if you get what I mean. But hey, good for you. Right? Nice commission.”
“I guess.” Adam slumped back in the chair.
“Oh, I get it. You’re worried about the tunnel? They never closed it up completely, did they?”
“No. They didn’t. I’m trying to figure out how to handle it.”
“Is that why you want me to go over with you? I’m assuming that’s the listing we’re going to.”
“Yeah, that’s the one. I also want to see if the place needs any work, since the owners have vacated the premises and want me to handle everything.”
“How did you get the listing? Ahh, never mind. Their neighbor suggested you?” Bill gave a snort.
“Yeah. Chris recommended me to Mia Crawford. I talked to her husband right before I called you, and he told me to send him the contract. But first, I need to go over there and do a CMA. Neither one of them is there. Mia was supposed to be back in a week, but the soon-to-be-ex tells me she told him she’s taken a brief detour to Hawaii, and don’t expect her to come back. She said she will handle everything via email, and to sell the house furnished, for all she cares, just to send her half of the proceeds.”
“Wow. What does he say?”
Adam shrugged. “Pretty much the same.”
Bill stood. “Let’s go check it out. I assume you have the key?”
“Yeah. Mia gave it to me when she stopped in the office.”
* * *
Adam sat in the passenger seat of Bill’s truck as they drove to the Crawford house. Bill motioned behind him and said, “I’ve got one of your signs in the back of the truck. Should we put it up when we get there?”
“No. Not until I have the listing signed by both parties.”
They turned down Beach Drive. Bill glanced briefly to Marlow House as they passed by. “How’re the new parents handling twins?”
“They seem to be much better than I’d be doing.”
“You and Mel still not planning to have any kids?” Bill pulled into the Crawford driveway.
“No. Mel says I’m as much of a kid as she can handle.”
They both laughed.
After Bill parked the truck and turned off the ignition, they both unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the vehicle, each holding a notepad. Adam nodded to the side door of the driveway. “Mia told me to use that one. She said the deadbolt sticks on the front door. That’s one thing I’ll need you to look at.”
They walked toward the side door while Adam dug his right hand into his pants pocket, looking for the key Mia had given him. When they got to the door, Bill absently reached for the doorknob, giving it a turn without waiting for Adam to try the key. He didn’t expect the door to open. When it did, they both paused a moment and looked at each other.
“It wasn’t locked?” Adam asked.
“Obviously not.” Bill pushed the door all the way open, but he didn’t enter. Instead, he called out, “Hello? Hello? Is anyone here?”
A few moments later, they hesitantly entered the house, and with silent agreement, they moved through each room, looking for intruders or squatters. Ten minutes later, after giving the house a thorough walk through, Adam said, “It looks like Mia forgot to lock the door when she left.”
“Fortunately, we were the only ones to find it unlocked.”
“She was obviously in a rush to get to Hawaii,” Adam said with a snort. “Let’s see what needs to be done before we put it on the market.” Adam headed in one direction while Bill went in another, each jotting notes on their pads of paper when finding something that needed to be addressed before listing the house.
Fifteen minutes later, both men ended up in the kitchen. Adam walked to the refrigerator and pulled open its door. It was empty aside from a carton of milk and half a dozen eggs. Adam reached for the carton of milk and found it empty. He looked at Bill. “Want some eggs?”
Bill shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
Adam left the refrigerator door open after he removed the empty carton of milk and tossed it in the kitchen trash can, while Bill removed the carton of eggs and set them on the counter before closing the refrigerator door. Adam opened its freezer and found it empty.
“Well, that was easy,” Adam said when shutting the freezer door. He then walked to the pantry and looked inside. It was practically empty, too. “The way Mia talked, I expected to find a bunch of food I needed to get rid of. I suspect she knew she wouldn’t be back when I talked to her the first time.”
When they finished going through the kitchen and determined what might need repair, they headed to the living room so Bill could check out how the Crawfords had secured the door leading into the tunnel.
“Mia said it’s behind the bookshelf,” Adam said when they entered the living room. Adam walked right to the bookshelf yet paused, momentarily distracted by the books.
“What are you looking at?” Bill asked.
Adam reached out and absently moved his fingertips over the spines of several books while reading their titles. Adam shrugged and turned to Bill. “Mel always says you can tell a lot about a person by the books they have.”
“So what do the Crawfords’ books tell you about them?” Bill asked.
“One of them enjoys reading romance. I suspect it was Mia.”
“Oh, I’m not sure about that. Her husband seemed to enjoy romance when I saw him at the Gray Whale.” Bill then added with a snort, “At least smutty romance.”
“Considering some of these titles, they could be Austin’s books.”
Bill chuckled and said, “Let’s move this bookshelf so we can look behind it.”
“Think we can just slide it down? Or do we need to remove the books?”
“Let’s try sliding it,” Bill suggested.
Together, Bill and Adam leaned into one side of the bookshelf and shoved it down about three feet along the wall, exposing the metal door covering the tunnel entrance.
Bill reached for the metal door and swung it open, revealing a dark cavity. “I thought I read in the paper that the Crawfords or the city blocked both entrances to the tunnel.”
“They did,” Adam said. “But Mia told me Austin took the bolts out when some of his friends were visiting and he wanted to show them the tunnel. He never put them back.”
Bill peeked his head inside the entrance and couldn’t see anything for the darkness. “I wish I had a flashlight.”
“Use the one on your phone,” Adam suggested.
Bill turned on his flashlight app, and the next minute they both peeked in while Bill directed the beam of light from his cellphone into the tunnel’s opening. “I can’t see anything, and if I drop this thing in there, I’m going to kill you.”
“Why are you going to kill me?” Adam asked, stepping back from the opening.
Bill pulled his phone from the tunnel entrance, turned off the flashlight app, and shoved his phone in his back pocket. “It was your idea.”
“Well, you didn’t drop it. But we’re going to have to see about bolting that up again. I can’t have agents showing the property and then have some kid climb in the tunnel and get lost.”
“I’m not sure they could get lost. From what I understand, it only goes to Marlow House, and I imagine they still have their end blocked off,” Bill reminded him.
“Still, that thing is damn creepy.”
“I have to agree with you there.”
Adam shut the metal door and then asked Bill to help him shove the bookcase back in place.
“Why don’t we just leave it? I have to come back and bolt it down, anyway.”
Adam shook his head. “No. Until it’s bolted shut, I’d rather keep it hidden by the bookshelf. The last thing I need is someone to realize the house is empty. Have them break in and discover the tunnel entrance and go exploring.”
“Then let’s hope that if someone breaks in, it’s not someone who already knows about the tunnel, because that bookshelf will not stop them.”
* * *
He walked alone down the beach, the moonlight breaking the darkness. When he arrived at the house, he moved between two bushes onto the driveway and headed for the side door. But when he tried the doorknob a few moments later, he found it locked. It wasn’t unexpected. He assumed this would happen when the Realtor came to list the property. From his back pocket, he removed the credit card he had gotten from the boy and used it to unlock the door. Once inside, he walked through the house and then moved to the kitchen. After opening the refrigerator door, he cursed when he saw the eggs gone. “Damn, I knew I should have moved those, too.”