Page 42 of Ghost
Gunner pulled out his gun and begandown the stairs.
“Coming down,” the bigsniper warned the men below.
Conor stayed with Ghost, which heappreciated.
“Weird, there weren’t anyexterior windows indicating a full basement. Someone put a greatdeal of effort into hiding it,” Conor said.
“Did you find anythingoutside?” Ghost asked.
“Nothing. The place wasbare. Garage empty. The shed contained a riding lawnmower, butother than that, it was empty. Much like this house appears to beon the surface anyway,” Conor said while pointing toward the secretpassage.
“There’s a lot more goingon here than a missing baby, Great-Aunt Sophia, and whether thepriest shot Jericho,” Ghost stated.
“Agreed.”
“We’re all clear downhere,” Elias announced from the basement.
Ghost didn’t wait to be told twice andimmediately started down the stairs, his curiosity peaked andimagination working overtime. When he reached the bottom, he firstnoticed a completely separate living area with a couch, television,single bed, kitchenette, and bathroom.
“Is this some type of bombshelter? Was Cross a doomsdayer?” Ghost asked.
“Not as far as we know,”Elias answered.
“Looks like he lived downhere,” Conor said.
“Explains a lot about thestate of the rest of the house. But why?” Gunner asked.
“The fridge is fullystocked, all fresh stuff,” Ray said from the kitchen.
“No windows,” Elias pointedout.
“Look at this,” Brick saidfrom what looked to be the office. “The place has video inside andout. Cross could see everything in and around the house from downhere. Explains those cameras.”
“Was he hiding?” Ghostasked ’cause it sure looked like it.
“And from who?” Rayadded.
“Better question,” Conorsaid. “What does this map mean?”
They all converged on a table Conorwas hovering over. Ghost looked down to find what looked like a mapof Marshall with different colors shading certain areas and namesattached. He wasn’t familiar with all the people who lived inMarshall, but he did recognize the Matthews lake house, downtown,and the Berry farm.
“Why does he have a map ofthe county?” Ghost asked.
“Along with the exactboundaries of each landowner’s property,” Elias pointedout.
“There’s Bryan Murray’sranch,” Conor said, motioning toward the map.
“Isn’t that the barn wewere in, Ray?” Ghost asked.
“Yes. It’s shaded red alongwith this property here.”
“That’s the Berrys’ land,”Elias said.
“That makes sense ’causeCross said the Berrys bought the Miles property. So all this overhere belonged to Jericho Miles’s family.”
Ghost pointed at the large areasurrounding the barn.
“Yes. The house is longgone; only the barn remains, and the land is being used forpasture,” Elias said.
