“We should.” Ivy sipped her coffee, gathering courage. “Darling, I need to tell you something. It’s important.”
He turned to look at her, and she saw wariness flicker across his face. “Go on.”
“Yesterday, Shelly, Poppy, and I went to the library lot.” She paused, breathing slowly to calm herself. “We dug up what I’d hit with my shovel during the groundbreaking.”
Bennett’s expression shifted from surprise to dismay. “You didn’t need to do that.”
“I know. You told me to wait for Forrest and his crew. Technically, you were right. But I wanted to investigate before heavy equipment destroyed it.”
Her words tumbled out now. “I called Clark first and told him we were researching the soil for a potential community garden. Which we’re considering, so it wasn’t entirely a cover story.”
“Why did you call Clark and not me?” His face was lined with hurt and frustration.
“You were at work. And I knew you’d tell me to wait. That wasn’t the first time we’d been on the property,” she admitted. “Clark caught us there one night.”
He furrowed his brow. “What night? Did you sneak out? I don’t understand.”
“The night we went to the book club meeting. We went there first to investigate, and Clark caught us.” Quickly, she told him the entire story. “I’m sorry. I should have told you before we went.”
Bennett set down his coffee mug with studied deliberation. “This isn’t only about whether you told me first or not. You could have been hurt out there. You should have told me what you were doing.”
“I felt outnumbered between you and Forrest, and I was a little hurt that you minimized my concerns. I think we both have a right to be upset, but there’s more.” She took another breath. “We found something incredible.”
He shook his head, but she saw curiosity edging out the frustration, so she faced him and went on.
“Today, we found a hatch in the ground and opened it. We climbed down a chute and discovered a World War II-era bunker. There’s a room down there with bunk beds, supplies, and magazines from the 1940s. We also found a lot of equipment, probably for watching the horizon for enemy ships or aircraft. The Ericksons must have had it built as a lookout post or shelter.”
Bennett stared at her. “You went down into it?”
“Poppy and I did. Shelly eventually followed, though she wasn’t happy about it.” Ivy sensed the excitement creeping into her voice, but she couldn’t restrain it. “It’s like a time capsule. Everything is preserved. I’ve been researching online and found other bunkers have been discovered in Solana Beach and Huntington Beach. The Army Corps of Engineers built some, while civilians created others for personal use. This fits the Erickson pattern.”
Bennett ran a hand through his hair and pitched forward. “Okay, that is fascinating. A genuine World War II bunker on the library property? This changes everything.”
“Exactly.” Relief surged through her at his change in attitude. “I was thinking we could incorporate it into the library and museum somehow. Preserve it and make it accessible for educational purposes. Imagine school groups being able to see actual wartime infrastructure and read the logs from whoever manned that station.”
“There are logs?”
“Notebooks filled with observations. Times, dates, what they saw. It’s all there, along with notes I can’t make out.” She paused, her enthusiasm dimming. “But there’s something else we found.”
His expression shifted back to concern. “What?”
“We saw a modern sleeping bag on one of the bunks. Someone has been living down there.”
Bennett sat forward abruptly. “Living in the bunker?”
“We think so. Everything else was from the 1940s, frozen in time. But we saw new things.” She pulled out her phone, showing him the photos she’d taken. “I zoomed in on this one. Look at what’s next to the sleeping bag.”
Bennett took the phone, squinting at the screen. Then his eyes widened. “Is that a Java Beach bag?”
Ivy’s voice dropped. “Shelly thinks that it might be a teenager we saw at the farmers market. Cookie gave some cleanup work to a young teenage boy. He also matches the description from Jen and George’s security camera the night Java Beach was vandalized, but I really don’t think he did it.”
As the palm fronds rustled above them, Bennett laced his hands behind his neck and tipped his head back.
Ivy hesitated but went on. “Shelly has a theory based on what Mitch once told her. She thinks Vanz might be Mitch’s son. You haven’t seen him, but he looks a lot like Mitch. We’re not sure if he knew anything about the boy.”
Bennett sat up in shock. “What?”
“She hasn’t told Mitch yet, but she’s going to. We think Vanz is here looking for his father.” Ivy set down her mug, leaning forward. “That would explain why the boy is here.”
