Danger Zone Read online

  “I get the feeling he was a loner. This property used to be surrounded by thick woods.”

  “It’s still fairly secluded.”

  “Not like it used to be. I remember the forest before the neighborhoods were built.”

  “Old man,” Alex teased.

  “Right. I’m not that much older than you.”

  “Keep telling yourself that.”

  They joked around until silence settled between them.

  “How are things with you?” Nick asked. “You mentioned something about Ariana acting up.”

  Alex frowned. “I’m not sure acting up is the right term, but she has something against me all of a sudden. She won’t even tell me what I did—if anything. Things were great until they weren’t.”

  “I know how that goes.”

  “But at least you knew why Ava was acting the way she was—her mom moved her across the country.”

  “True, but it didn’t make the rejection any easier.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Gave her space. Wasn’t much else I could do.”

  Alex’s heart ached at the thought. “You really think that’ll help?”

  “You can’t try to force them to open up at this age. It’ll just push them away further.”

  “Great.”

  “And you don’t have any idea what set this off?”

  “Not a clue. Any chance Ava would be willing to talk to her? Maybe Ari would open up to her.”

  Nick took Alex’s bottle and rose. “I could ask. Genevieve would be happy to help, too.”

  Alex followed him inside and took in the boxes and piles of stuff along with the furniture that had to be at least three decades old, maybe more. “Ari won’t tell Zoey what’s going on, so I’m not sure Genevieve would get anywhere. Ava’s her friend, so she might have an easier time getting her to open up.”

  “Bring her over to help us go through stuff, and they can talk all they want.” Nick dropped the bottles in a recycling bin.

  “I’m sure she’ll love me more for bringing her over to do work.”

  “Tell her she can keep any treasures she finds.”

  “Does that go for me, as well?” Alex lifted a brow.

  “Sure.” Nick panned his hands around. “As you can see, we have a ton more to get through.”

  “Found anything interesting?”

  “A few things.” Nick told him about some furniture Genevieve wanted to restore and a few other items. “We’re going to donate most of it, although we do have a nice collection of things to auction off. Did you know there are places that only auction things from people who passed away? Apparently people leave behind so much stuff, it’s actually a thing.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Me neither. Speaking of interesting things, let me show you something.” Nick led him through the house, and they stepped around and over various boxes and piles. “If you see anything you want, take it.”

  Alex’s gaze landed on a stool covered in a hideous floral fabric. “Thanks.”

  Nick brought him into the master bedroom, which had been cleared out more than any of the other rooms Alex had seen so far. All that remained was a bed stripped of its linens and a dresser and nightstands with empty drawers pulled out.

  “Nice. This is almost as big as my apartment.”

  “Check this out.” He pointed above his head to the ceiling.

  Alex didn’t see anything at first, but then he noticed an attic door. A chill ran down his spine, which struck him as odd. “What’s up there?”

  “That’s what I want to know. It’s locked, we can’t find the key anywhere, and it’s even painted over.”

  Alex studied it. Now he could see where the keyhole had been painted over. He glanced back at his friend. “What are you going to do?”

  “A locksmith is coming over tonight.”

  “I wonder what’s up there. Someone obviously went to great measures to keep people out.”

  Nick nodded. “Exactly. His son didn’t know anything about it.”

  “What did you say the guy did?”

  “Not sure I did. He was a televangelist before he started going senile.”

  Alex gave him a double-take. “A televangelist? Really?”

  “That’s what they tell me.”

  “What was his name?”

  “Hank Hawkins.”

  Alex shook his head. “Never heard of him.”

  “I don’t think many people have.” Nick rubbed his chin and looked up at the door. “And it’s driving me crazy trying to figure out what he was hiding.”

  “You have to tell me when you find out. I’m really curious now.” Alex’s phone beeped, alerting him that he had a text. “That must be Zoey needing me to come home.” He pulled out his phone and checked the screen.

  The text wasn’t from his wife. It was from Stalker420—the guy who had been threatening Alex to take down his blog dedicated to finding missing children. The mystery texter stood out from the normal trolls since he hadn’t given up.

  You still haven’t heeded my advice. Things are about to get real, Mercer. Take down your blog, or you WILL regret it.

  Discovery

  “Just about got it.” The locksmith turned her shoulder, blocking Nick’s view of the attic door.

  It felt like she’d been there forever, when in reality, she’d probably been there for twenty minutes. Long enough to bore Hanna and Tinsley, who had retreated to their bedroom to go through the closet.

  Parker inched closer to Nick. “What do you think the old dude was hiding?”

  “Hopefully boxes of cash.”

  His son grinned. “I like the way you think. And the son isn’t going to want it, if that’s what it is?”

  “It’s in the paperwork—whatever we find is ours to keep.” And that fact drove Nick’s curiosity even more crazy. Why had Colin been so eager to get rid of the property, not even wanting any of it when it was his? Not wanting anything to do with his dad, even potential but unlikely riches? Would whatever lay hidden above their heads lead to answers?

  Something clicked, and the locksmith climbed down the ladder and cracked her knuckles. “It’s unlocked, but it’s up to you to get the door opened. It’s still painted shut.”

  Genevieve thanked her, then she and Nick led her to the front door.

  “Have fun exploring.” The locksmith shook both their hands then left.

  Nick turned to his fiancée. “Are you ready?”

  “I was born ready.” She grinned. “I’ve always loved a good mystery.”

  “Same here. I’m sure that’s partly what led us to our career choices.” He pulled out his multitool. “This ought to get us through the dried paint.”

  They headed back to the master bedroom, and on the way, Nick poked his head into the younger girls’ room. “Do you want to be in there when we open the attic door?”

  Hanna held up a china doll. “Look what we found! Can we play with them?”

  He exchanged a look with Genevieve. She turned to the girls. “You can play until we all get back to going through things.”

  They both squealed with excitement and then began playing with the fragile toys.

  In the master bedroom, Parker was on the ladder and Ava was holding it steady.

  “You two couldn’t wait?” Nick chuckled.

  Parker looked down. “It’s not budging.”

  “Let me try.” Nick held up the multitool. Once Parker got down, he climbed up, pulled out one of the knives, and pushed it into the paint at the edge of the trap door. It cracked fairly easily. He moved the knife along the edge, trying to ignore the excited conversation between Ava and Parker, until he finally got all the way around.

  “Are you done?” Ava asked.

  “Open it!” Parker exclaimed.

  Genevieve laughed. “Give him some space, kids.”

  Nick returned the multitool to his pocket. He pressed on the door. Flecks of dusty paint fell down around him.

  �
�Hurry!” Ava exclaimed.

  “This needs to be done carefully. And make sure you don’t breathe in those paint chips.”

  Parker sighed. “We won’t. Hurry up.”

  “I’m doing my best. I’m eager to see what’s hiding, too.” He pushed again.

  “Are you sure you aren’t supposed to pull?” Ava asked.

  Nick stopped and turned to them. “You two can go work on your rooms if you won’t let me do this in peace.”

  Parker glared at Ava.

  “You started it.”

  “Kids,” Nick warned. He turned back to the door and pushed. Once, twice, and a third time.

  It gave. He pushed it up and to the side. Dust floated down, covering his face and shirt.

  “Oh, Nick!” Genevieve said. “Are you okay?”

  He coughed and blinked it out of his eyes. “Yeah, fine. We should probably put on dust masks before going up.”

  “I’ll grab them.” Genevieve hurried out of the room.

  “We can go up?” Ava reached for the ladder.

  Nick held out his hand. “Slow down. I’m going to check it out first. If it’s safe, we’ll all look around.”

  Parker stepped closer. “And if it’s not?”

  “Then I alone will go up there.”

  “Sexist,” Ava muttered.

  “Excuse me?” Nick asked.

  Ava held his gaze for a moment. “Nothing.”

  “I’m not being sexist. If I was, I’d invite Parker up but nobody else. That’s not the case. I—”

  “Here’s a mask.” Genevieve hurried over and handed it to Nick.

  “Thank you.” He slid it on and carefully climbed inside the attic. The amount of dust on everything was unreal. He shone his phone’s light around, capturing dust particles floating around the air.

  “What do you see?” Ava called. “Anything good?”

  “Hard to tell just yet.”

  “Can we come up?” Parker asked.

  “Give him a minute to assess the situation.” Genevieve laughed.

  “Situation?” Ava said. “You make it sound like a crime scene.”

  Nick shone the light on the floor. It was the sturdiest floor he’d ever seen in an attic. The attic in his other house only had beams and no floor. He took a step and then another. It didn’t even creak.

  He walked the perimeter and didn’t find any weak spots in the floor.

  “Anything good up there?” Ava called again.

  “Hard to tell.” He made his way back to the door. “Everything is in boxes or covered with sheets.”

  “Can we come up?” Parker begged.

  “Please?” Ava added.

  Nick glanced around at the piles of boxes and items hidden by sheets. “Put on a dust mask.”

  They exclaimed excitedly, then Parker climbed up while Genevieve held the ladder. Nick helped him up, despite his protests to climb in himself. Then helped Ava.

  “It’s so creepy,” Parker said.

  “I know, right?” Ava turned to Nick. “Can we start going through stuff? I have to know what he locked away!”

  “Let’s wait for everyone else.” He looked down at Genevieve. “Do you want to see if the girls want to join us?”

  “Sure.” She disappeared.

  “Do we have to wait?” Parker pouted.

  “It’ll only be a minute.” Nick went over to the newspaper-covered window and fought to open it, letting in some fresh air—not that it was likely to do much good with all the dust.

  A minute later, Nick helped the girls and then Genevieve up.

  “Where should we start?” Ava asked.

  “And how are we going to get everything down?” Hanna grabbed Nick’s hand.

  He glanced down to the room. The bed wasn’t too far out of the way. “I suppose we can toss things onto the bed.”

  “We can go through things?” Parker asked.

  “Have at it.”

  Ava pulled a sheet off something oval-shaped. It was an old birdcage. She frowned. “Boring. Unless it’s worth something. Do you think it is?”

  “No idea,” Genevieve said.

  Parker ripped the top off a box and waved his hands to get the dust out of his face before holding up a pair of overalls. “Clothes? That’s even more boring than a birdcage.”

  Nick lifted a sheet from something knee-high and rectangular. It was an old trunk. He pulled open the lid and found it full of tools—saws, axes, hatchets, hammers, and more. Some of them had brown crusted along the sharp edges.

  He took a deep breath. Please be rust and not blood.

  “Daddy!” Hanna exclaimed. “Look at this funny doll. It’s as big as Ava!”

  Nick and Genevieve exchanged a concerned glance, then she hurried over. She screamed. “Kids, you need to get out of here! Downstairs, now!”

  “What is it?” Ava cried.

  Nick scrambled to his feet and turned his light toward her. “Genevieve?”

  Her face paled. “Mummified remains.” Then she covered her mouth. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that in front of the kids.”

  Blood drained from Nick’s body. He couldn’t respond, could hardly believe what had just happened. His baby girl had found a dead body in their new house.

  Aftermath

  Nick ushered the kids to the door, climbed down the ladder, and helped Hanna down first.

  “A real-life mummy?” Parker exclaimed. “Let me see!”

  Genevieve moved closer. “We’re all going downstairs now.”

  Parker groaned. “But it’s a mummy!”

  Nick’s patience was wearing thin. “And it’s not wrapped up like an Egyptian one. We need to call the police.”

  “You two are the police!”

  “Come on.” Nick reached for Parker.

  “Hanna got to see it!”

  “And if I could go back in time, I’d make sure that never happened. Hurry up.”

  Parker finally relented, and Nick helped everyone else down before calling into the precinct to report the dead body.

  “What are we going to do now?” Ava paced the living room.

  “Wait until they get here.”

  “And we can’t see it?”

  “No!” Nick snapped. “I’m not going to let any of my children see a dead body.”

  “Can I?” Tinsley asked.

  Nick shook his head. “You’re one of my children, too.”

  She threw her arms around him. His heart warmed and melted away some of his annoyance. He returned the embrace and checked the time. Probably another five minutes until the officers arrived. It wasn’t like this was an emergency. The body had obviously been there a while. He was no expert on human decay, but it had to take a while for a body to mummify. And besides, if the previous owner had done this, it had to have been some time ago. The man had been in his nineties.

  Nick would need to call Colin again, but he would wait until he knew more.

  “When are they going to be here?” Parker asked.

  “Soon.” Genevieve’s tone was a lot softer than Nick’s. Thankfully, she had more patience than him when it came to four anxious kids.

  Hanna peeked out the window, then the other three kids joined her. They spoke excitedly about mummies.

  Genevieve came over and slid her hand into his. “I’m sure it’ll be okay.”

  “I can’t believe we bought a house with a dead body! We’ve had the kids here all week cleaning with it so close.” He shook his head. “How could this happen? The house was inspected! And they missed the attic?”

  “It wasn’t on the blueprints, was it?”

  “I can’t remember. I should know these things—I’m a police captain!”

  She kissed his cheek. “You’re also human. And when we were buying this place, you were thinking like a family man, not as captain.”

  Nick frowned. “Still, something like this shouldn’t have gotten past me. Everyone’s going to think I’m an idiot.”

  Genevieve stepped away and pull
ed out her phone. “I’m pretty sure I snapped a picture of the blueprints.” She flipped her finger around the screen for a minute. “Right here. See? No attic.”

  He took the phone from her and looked through the images of the prints. Nothing about an attic. He frowned. “How did the inspector miss it?”

  “We didn’t see the door, either. Not until you found it. The whole reason the body was found was because of you. Stop being so hard on yourself, Nicky.”

  He drew in a deep breath. “But what else was missed? What if this ends up being a repeat of your parents’ property? We could have bodies everywhere.”

  She squeezed his hand and nodded toward the kids. “Maybe we could air these worries later.”

  “You’re right.” He raised his voice. “I’m sure everything’s fine. It’s probably the only one.”

  Parker turned to him and rolled his eyes before looking back outside.

  “They’re here!” Hanna exclaimed.

  Relief washed through Nick. He wanted to send Genevieve to take the kids somewhere, but they all needed to stay and give statements even though only Hanna and Genevieve had actually seen the body.

  Nick opened the door and greeted Detective Sanchez and Sergeant Wu. They were professional but also friendly, and they did a great job of reining in the kids’ excitement. After they had taken everyone’s statements, Sanchez turned to Nick. “We’re ready to see it.”

  “This way.” He led her back through the hallway and held out the box of dust masks. “Unfortunately, the only way up is that ladder.”

  “We’ve seen worse.” She climbed up and Nick held it steady.

  Genevieve and Wu came in, and in a matter of minutes, they were all up in the attic. Nick followed everyone over to the body, anxious to see what his youngest had found. His stomach knotted at the sight. The body had mummified with the clothes and skin intact. Everything was brown and leathery except the remaining long strands of hair. It was also covered in dust and cobwebs.

  A shudder ran down his back.

  “Is there a way to tell how long it’s been up here?” Nick asked.

  Wu turned to him. “Not without a proper examination. A body can mummify in just two weeks, given the right temperatures. If the weather was extremely hot or cold, that’s all it would take.”