Eximere (The River Book 4) by Michael Richan Page B

to keep Roger talking. “But we
weren’t there at dawn or dusk, so maybe we missed her.”
    “You have to be there at the right time,” Roger said. “If you
can get Percival to take you back out, you might want to time it. That’s one
thing I’m sure the lawyers weren’t keen for people to see.”
    “That’s a good idea,” Steven said. “If I go back out, what else
should I look for? Other interesting things?”
    “Well, check out the library for sure,” said Roger.
    “Where is it?” Steven asked. “We saw the kitchen, dining
room, and the stairs that lead up to the second floor.”
    “Then you didn’t see even half the place,” Roger said. “You
know the hallway you walked down that leads from the dining room to the
stairs?”
    “Yes.”
    “Go around the base of the stairwell to the other side. The
hallway continues on. The library is down there.”
    “I noticed a lot of doors in the hallway,” Steven said.
“Where do they lead? It seemed that the bedrooms were all upstairs.”
    “Several of the doors in that hallway are painted shut,”
Roger said. “Never saw what was behind them. I’m not even sure there’s anything
behind them, but the house is so big, there has to be something there. Behind
one door was a broom closet, I remember that. Another led to a second hallway.
Tours never went down into that area, so we’d explore it when we were bored.
There are more doors in that second hallway, some of them painted shut too.
There’s a room down there that’s incredible. If you go back, try to see it if
you can. The walls are lined with mounted trophies, and it’s crammed full with
a lot of the stuff they removed from the rooms to make the house less crowded
for the tours.” Roger leaned over to Steven a little, and lowered his voice.
“That’s the room with the secret passageway.”
    “Passageway to where?” Steven asked.
    Bess emerged from the kitchen and poured them both a refill.
“You boys want something to munch on? A bagel or a doughnut or something?”
    “No, just coffee for me,” Steven said.
    “I’m fine,” Roger said. Bess eyeballed him and replaced the
coffee pot.
    “Well, just holler if you change your mind,” she said,
returning to the kitchen.
    “Where does the passageway lead?” Steven repeated.
    “Don’t know for sure,” Roger said. “A co-worker and I were
hanging out in there when we discovered it. We weren’t supposed to be back in
that hallway or that room. It’s in a corner, and you slide a lower panel to the
right and the passageway is there. We were both scared out of our minds, but we
were intrigued, so we walked down it. It bent a few times, like we were passing
behind other rooms. It ended at a door.”
    “Did you go through it?” Steven asked.
    “No, it was locked,” Roger said. “And we were getting nervous,
so we went back.”
    “Did you ever find out what was behind the door?” Steven
said.
    “No, never did. The tours shut down soon after that.”
    Bingo , Steven thought. It might not be the prize, but it’s a place to
start.
    “Well, I think this will put me ahead of my father,” Steven
said. “I doubt his document scrubbing will turn up anything as fantastic as
that.”
    Roger smiled and sipped his coffee, happy that his story had
impressed.
    Steven checked his watch. “Oh, I’m supposed to be meeting
him.” Steven stood from his stool and left money on the counter. “Thanks for
your time Roger, I really appreciate it.”
    “Oh, no problem. Thanks for helping me move the boxes,” Roger
said.
    “Would you be available if I have more questions?” Steven asked.
    “Sure,” Roger said. “Just stop by the store. I’m there every
morning. There’s a ton of stories about that place if you want to hear more. Are
you going to check out that passageway?”
    “If we get to go back there and can explore, yes, I intend
to,” Steven said.
    “Good!” Roger said, smiling. “I’ve always wondered what was
behind that door. When