We turned to see what he was talking about. He had pulled the mine cart out of the way to reveal a utility vehicle with a flatbed on the back. Shaker climbed into the driver’s seat and cranked it. “Let’s see if Ms. Keegan’s theory is correct.”
Reluctantly, I climbed into the flatbed portion of the UTV with Phoenix while Boar got into the passenger seat. As we moved through the tunnel, it was clear it had been recently upgraded. Lights had been installed, and the walls and ceiling had been reinforced and covered with sheetrock. What was supposedly once a mine shaft now looked more like a subway tunnel.
At the end of the tunnel, we found two doors, both locked. “Stand back,” Boar ordered and proceeded to shoot the locks off of both doors. “Problem solved,” he said proudly. At least, I thought that’s what he said seeing as how none of us could hear shit since he fired two shots back to back in an enclosed space.
The first door we opened appeared to be a storage space with a few cardboard boxes inside. Behind the second door was a set of stairs. The stairs led to a hinged door overhead. Phoenix and I had to use a bit of force, but we were able to push it open. We climbed out to find a house in the middle of the woods.
“How the fuck did we miss this?” Shaker asked.
Closing the door to the stairs, Phoenix pointed at the ground. “It was well hidden, brother. Hell, the cops didn’t even find it.” Looking down, I realized why it was so difficult for us to push it open. The crazy bitch had built flower beds around it and must have been covering the door with the small fountain that was knocked over.
“Shall we take a look inside the house?” I asked.
“No need. Harper and I went through it before we left and the cops have been through it. She really didn’t have much in there,” Shaker answered.
We went back to the mine shaft, loaded up the cardboard boxes, and drove the UTV back to Boar’s property. “Now we know how she got us there and how she was getting supplies, but I still don’t think she did it by herself. There’s no way she could have carried my big ass up those stairs and up the stairs inside the house. My money is on the guy that was renting this place,” Shaker said.
“You got any other information about this guy?” Phoenix asked Boar.
“No, sorry. He paid the first couple of months upfront in cash and then he paid in cash every month after. He was never late on the rent until this month. He seemed like he was going through a tough time, and he had the money, so I didn’t press him for more info. I can give you a description of what he looks like, but that’s about it,” Boar explained.
“I’ll get some of the boys to come out and change the locks on this place tonight and make sure everything, including the entrance to that mine shaft, is locked up tight. We’ll put up a few cameras around the property, too. If he shows up around here, we’ll grab him for you,” Boar promised.
“Thanks, man,” Phoenix said, extending his hand to Boar.
“Do you want me to have those boxes sent to you?” Boar asked.
It didn’t even occur to me that we were on our bikes and couldn’t carry them back with us.
“Yeah, that’d be great,” Phoenix said. “Carbon, you want to look through them before we head out?”
After digging through the contents of each box, I found one journal that appeared to be from Valarie’s childhood. I held it up for Phoenix and Shaker to see. “I think this is what we were looking for.”
Phoenix nodded and turned his attention to Boar. “Appreciate your help, man.”
“Hell, I ought to be thanking you for letting me know about a house I didn’t even know I owned,” Boar said with a chuckle.
“When we get back to Croftridge, I’ll have Byte start digging into Ivan Ceven,” Phoenix said.
I snorted. “Sounds like you might want to have Keegan do the digging.”
Phoenix laughed. “Nah, as soon as I tell Byte that she found something he missed, that boy won’t miss shit ever again.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Harper
I knew they found something. I could tell by the look on Chase’s face when he got back. Without a word, he held up what looked like a child’s diary.
“Is that Hilarie’s? I mean Valarie’s?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah, baby, it is. I haven’t looked at it, other than to see if it was what we were looking for,” he said and handed it to me.
He cleared his throat and seemed to be nervous. “Just tell me what will make this easier for you. Do you want me to stay with you while you read it? Do you want to be with Annabelle? Your brother? Alone?”
I put the journal on the coffee table and walked to my troubled man. Reaching up, I cupped his cheeks in my hands. “Let’s get something to eat first and then we can read it together.”
Over dinner, we talked about their trip to Boar’s property. He told me Hilarie used a UTV to get Shaker and me to the hidden house. “We think the guy renting Boar’s house helped her. We went to the house, but he’s long gone. We’re trying to find him, but I need you to be extra careful until we do.”