Page 82 of Evidence of Secrets

Smoke was filling the room, and Laura coughed.

“Not happening,” said Ryan. He pushed Jaimie away from his body. She screamed as she fell to the floor.

Laura picked up the only thing on the worktable she could use as a weapon—her rolling pin.

Jaimie kicked out and got Ryan on the knee. When Ryan’s attention was on Jaimie, Laura swung the rolling pin, hitting Ryan in the arm. The gun went flying.

Hank raced around her and body-slammed Ryan to the ground.

Laura heard the sirens out front. Moments later, the police came through the door.

Sam and Hank laid down their guns while the police sorted everything out. They called an ambulance for Jaimie. Ryan was lying on the floor, knocked out.

Hank stepped over Ryan and pulled Laura into his arms. “Are you all right?”

“Except for smoke inhalation, freezer burn, and being terrorized, yeah.”

Someone turned off the screaming fire alarm and the oven. The silence was a blessing.

The EMTs finally arrived and loaded Jaimie onto a gurney.

Sam was talking to the police. Ryan sat up moaning. The police had handcuffed him.

Laura glanced around her kitchen. Shit. The pie! She found a pair of oven mitts and pulled the pie out of the oven. Burnt black, just as she thought. She stared at her empty hands. Then at the pie. Hank was doing so much for her and she just wanted to do something nice for him. Foiled again.

The list of things that needed to be done to the bistro was getting longer. She’d need to get someone in to clean the smoke damage. Her storage room was a pile of rubble. Food containers were tossed around, and one wall had a gaping hole in it. That would have to be repaired. The bistro would have to be closed for repairs. The costs were adding up.

“What was he looking for?” asked Hank. He walked over to glance into the storage room.

“Jaimie says there’s a secret room, probably from the bistro’s time as a speakeasy. I have no idea what’s in it,” said Laura. She walked into the storage room, careful of the loose brick, and peered into the opening.

Laura picked up the flashlight Ryan had left behind and flashed it around inside. “Oh, I see something in the corner,” she said. She stepped over a pile of bricks.

“Careful,” said Hank.

She bent down, then stood. “Oh my, you won’t believe what’s here.”

Ryan looked over at Laura and screamed, “It’s mine, bitch. Mine.”

CHAPTERFIFTY-EIGHT

“What did you find?” asked Hank.

Laura pulled a battered metal box out and handed it to Hank while stepping out of the hole. “It’s a secret room, all right. It’s too smoky in here. Let’s take this outside.”

“That’s mine. I found it!” screamed Ryan as the police led him off.

“Hmmm. It must be really important. Maybe cash?” said Sam.

They walked out to the parking lot.

The police left with Ryan staring out the back window, screaming something. The ambulance was gone. The lookie-loos had left. It was just them.

Hank put the box on the hood of Laura’s car.

Laura wiped the dust away and stared at it. The box wasn’t big, maybe twenty by fifteen inches and ten inches high. It had been shiny at one point in its history, but now it looked worn and rusty. There were two latches on the front.

“I almost don’t want to open it. This box has caused all sorts of problems,” Laura said.

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