I knock on the door to the room Ethan is using, my hand feeling oddly naked without my wedding band. I’ve only had it for six months, but it’s become a part of me. I already miss it.
“Come in!” he calls out.
I crack open the door and find Ethan at the desk again, sitting at his computer in the same position I found him earlier. It’s like he hasn’t budged an inch.
“Hungry?” he asks.
“Actually,” I say, “I need your help.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Oh?”
I hold up my left hand. “My wedding band rolled under the sofa. I need you to move it so I can get it back.”
He tilts his head to the side. “Why did you take it off in the first place? Are you pretending to be single?”
I snort. “No. I was just looking at the inscription.”
A smile spreads across his lips. “Ethan and Tricia forever.”
“Right.”
Ethan stretches as he stands up from his chair so that I catch a glimpse of the golden hair on his belly. He slams the cover of his laptop closed but leaves it there. He’s obviously planning to do more work later. He’s thrown his all into this startup company. He had one in the past that didn’t do well, but this one is quite the budding success.
“By the way,” I say, “right before I came in here, were you by any chance in another room? Maybe the bathroom?”
Please say yes. Please.
He frowns. “No, I’ve been sitting here working for at least the last hour.”
Of course. I’m not even the tiniest bit surprised.
He follows me down the stairs to Dr. Hale’s office. My breath catches for a moment as I try to remember if I put the tapes back in the drawer before leaving the office. I’m relieved when we get into the office and find that I remembered to stash them out of sight. I can’t imagine Ethan’s reaction if he found out what I’ve been doing here.
He looks down at the couch and folds his arms. “This is where you lost it?”
I nod. “Pretty sure. I saw it roll under there.”
“All right then.”
He leans over and grabs the edge of the couch. I guess it’s not as heavy as I thought it was, because he easily heaves it out of the way. Almost immediately, I spot the tiny circle of gold on the floor.
“There it is!” I cry.
I bend down to pick up the ring, but when I’m close to the floor, I realize there’s something else down there. It’s some sort of handle. Why is there a handle on the floor?
Instinctively, I tap the heel of my bare foot against the wooden planks. That’s when I realize it.
The floor is hollow.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan asks.
I scoop my ring off the ground and quickly secure it on my finger. When I straighten up, I tap on the floor again with my foot. “There’s some kind of compartment or something down here. It’s hollow.”
“Really?”
Ethan joins me and taps on the floor with his foot. There’s no mistaking the sound.
“There’s something down here,” I say, staring at the wooden planks.
“I think you’re right.”
Ethan grabs the sofa again and shifts it to the other side of the room. Now that it’s out of the way, I can see the full rectangular outline on the floor. It’s some sort of large compartment under the floor.
What could be down there? More tapes? I suppose that’s a possibility, but I have a feeling that’s not what’s down there. I also have a feeling that we are the first people to discover this hidden compartment since Dr. Hale lived here.
“What do you think?” Ethan grins at me. “Hidden treasure?”
“I don’t know…”
“Well,” he says. “Let’s open it up and see.”
He bends down to grab the handle, but before he can, I seize his arm. “Maybe we shouldn’t. Maybe we should tell the police and let them check it out.”
“Are you kidding me? You really don’t want to look? Who are you and what have you done with my wife?”
I grimace. “I’m sorry. I just… I don’t know if it’s a crime scene or something. We don’t want to disturb it. Like, what if there are fingerprints we need to preserve?”
“Nah. It’s probably just where the doctor stashed her jewelry or something.” He winks at me. “You could have your pick of it.”
Does he honestly think I would ever touch her jewelry? I wouldn’t. I’m sorry I took her sweater even though I was cold. It’s burning my skin.