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I reply, “I think it’s an underground bunker; at least, that’s what it looks like to me. Unless you were looking for it, I don’t think you’d be able to find it.”
It just looks like a small mound in the ground, covered with moss and bushes. There’s even a tree growing out of it. It blends in perfectly with its surroundings, and it’s only when you get closer to it and realise the sheer size of it that you realise there’s something not quite right about it. I think a bunker is an obvious choice for what it is, especially taking into account the steps that Rome has found, which are very overgrown and covered with plants and thorns, so much so that you wouldn’t see them unless you were looking for something out of the ordinary and even then you would have to be right on top of them to really see them.
“It must be. I don’t know what else it could be,” Mason adds.
“Well, let's clear the steps off and see where they lead,” I say excitedly, stabbing the overgrown thorns with my spade and trying to break them up so that we can see what’s at the bottom of the steps.
The guys waste no time in helping, and I have to admit that they’re actually a lot more effective at clearing and breaking the debris than I am. Thankfully there only seems to be about five steps which, with the guys all helping, we have cleared in no time at all.
“There’s a door,” I say excitedly as we get to the bottom and find ourselves standing in front of a barely visible door. My words catch up with me, and I roll my eyes as I add, “Obviously, there’s a door. It’s just it could’ve just been steps, although that’s unlikely, I suppose, and yeah, I’m going to stop talking now.”
“We knew what you meant,” Rip chuckles, “Ace, I don’t suppose you packed any shears or anything?”
“Actually, I did,” he replies, smiling proudly as he rummages through his bag and hands Rip the shears as he also pulls out his lock-picking set, “I thought I might need this too. I mean, it’s unlikely that the door is going to be unlocked. I just hope it’s not booby-trapped.”
My eyes widen at the suggestion as I step out of the way of Rip so he can clear the vines growing over the door, “Oh shit, I hadn’t thought of that.”
Ace shrugs, “It probably isn’t. The safe and your grandmother's office weren't.".”
“That’s true, and I think it's fairly safe to say that she wanted you to find it. Otherwise, she could’ve buried the information on the laptop and not made it so obvious that it was the only thing on it or even just gotten rid of it entirely,” Mason points out.
“Yeah, okay. You know, I do wish that at least once she could just leave me a letter or something that tells me exactly what I need to know and the answers that I want. You know, make it at least a little bit easier for me, just once,” I reply, I admire my grandmother and her love of a mystery, but I’m fed up with it now; I want answers.
“Yeah, I think that’s understandable,” Mal replies, “I mean, it wasn’t just one mystery, was it? She gave you a mystery and then another one, and now they just keep appearing, and although it's entertaining, I could do with a few more answers before we do the next mystery.”
“Exactly,” I exclaim, glad that he gets it.
Chapter Nineteen
“I’ve cleared it and I tested the door. It is locked,” Rip announces. It took him a lot less time than I thought it would to clear the door. “Ace, it’s your turn.”
“I’ve got this. I’ll have it opened in no time. Although it might get a little bit more complicated if it's rusted over.” Ace replies.
“Please don’t let there be rats,” I mutter out loud without meaning to as the fear suddenly occurs to me.
“Fuck no, thanks for that, Blue,” Ace says, turning back to look at me with wide eyes.
“I mean, it’s sealed, so I’m sure there aren’t any in there,” I try to reassure us both.
Rome rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest as he smiles, “Just open it. If there are any in there, they’ll be more scared of you than you are of them.”
“I highly doubt that,” Ace mutters, and I nod in agreement but don’t bother saying anything else as Ace gets back to work.
It takes him longer than it has to open anything else, but then again, that’s understandable, considering we have no idea when the door was last opened. The only downside to it taking so long is that I get more and more nervous about what could be in there. I mean, realistically, we know that Demelza was a high-end thief, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this were just more of her stash, maybe the stuff that was a bit too hot to have in the house, things that had too much interest around it. She could have stored it out here in order to wait until the interest in it had died down so that she could then fence it, but why would she want me to find it? Unless there’s something else in there that someone is going to come for me over because if there is, dead or not, I will be having words with my grandmother somehow.
“Oh, this lock is being a tricky fucker,” Ace curses.
“Do you want us to go back to the house and get some power tools or something?” Rip asks, and I watch curiously as all the guys suppress smiles.
Ace practically growls his reply, “Fuck right off, you ass, you know that I have never met a lock that I couldn’t unlock, and I’m not about to break my streak for this fucker right here.”
“Alright, I was just asking,” Rip smirks and Ace somehow realises even though he’s facing the other way and pauses long enough to flip him off.
Rome chuckles, “You know, one of these days, he’s going to get so fed up with you doing that to him he’s just going to blow shit up instead.”
Ace’s head whips around, “Fuck, could I? That sounds like so much fucking fun.”
“No,” Rome replies firmly, “you could damage whatever is behind the door.”
