Over the next week, we fell into a comfortable pattern. During the day, I work on my articles and go through the boxes in the attic, while Zeke and his father set up the new branch of their construction business. At night, we started renovating the kitchen. We need to be ready for the new appliances to be delivered at the end of the week.
After Zeke leaves for the day, I head upstairs to the attic to continue sorting through boxes. Piles are created for items to keep, donate, or discard. The first box I have to move is tall and awkward; I try to brace it with my arms and gently move it away from the wall toward the trash pile because it's filled with mildewed sheets, towels, and bedspreads that are not salvageable. My objective is to put it in the trash pile. While moving it, my feet trip over a small box in front of me, and my body falls forward, landing on the box. I roll off onto my back, lean my head back on the dusty floor, and laugh. I probably look ridiculous lying here on the floor.
Quickly, I pushed myself into a sitting position and looked at the wall where the box had been sitting. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary until I saw a gap in the wall. It was noticeable unless you were really paying attention. Walking over, my hand pushes onto the wall where the gap is, and a hidden door swings open, revealing a large room.
There were several shelves on the far wall lined with canned food, and on the others, a bed and a TV. The walls were painted white, and cobwebs hung from the ceiling. The wood floors looked dingy and needed to be cleaned. All it needed was a little TLC. If we fixed the gap, we could use it as an actual safe room.
Seeing this room reminded me of the diary entry where Amber mentioned her dad was paranoid; perhaps she was right. The room seemed as if someone was getting ready for a disaster. While searching through the room, I hear footsteps approaching on the stairs. At first, I thought they might be phantom footsteps again. My hearing is on high alert. I stand quietly in the room and listen intently. As the footsteps reached the top of the stairs, I heard Zeke call out, and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey Rocky, are you up here?"
"Yeah, Z, I'm in here," I yell so he can hear me from the room.
I hear his footsteps as he walks across the attic floor until his body fills the frame of the hidden room's doorway.
"Oh, wow, how did you find this?" He asked.
"Honestly," I chuckle, "I tripped over my own two feet with a box and found this behind it," I say.
"That doesn't surprise me, you can be clumsy," he says, smiling.
"Hey, we could fix this up and make it a safe room. In case anyone breaks in here again." I state.
"Yeah," he says, looking around the room, "if we fix the door and clean it up, it would be perfect."
"Well, let's save that for another day," I say, pushing him back out of the hidden doorway and shutting it.
Since the night of the break-in, we have shared a room. At first, it was because it made me feel safer, but now my feelings for him are the reason. I like the closeness. After changing, I climbed into bed next to Zeke, who was on his phone, scrolling. He had on a pair of sleep pants with no shirt. Shamelessly, my eyes were focused on him. He must have sensed me staring because he suddenly looked at me. I was caught off guard and quickly looked away, my face burning with embarrassment. He chuckled softly and returned to his phone. My cheeks felt like they were on fire, blushing intensely. He had to know how I felt.
"Zeke, can we talk?" nodding, he laid his phone on the nightstand and turned his full attention on me. Taking a deep breath, I continued, "I have something to tell you, but I hope it doesn't ruin the friendship we have." My gaze averted to my hands that were clutching the blanket on my lap. Zeke gently puts his one hand on mine and gently places the index finger of his other hand under my chin and lifts it until I'm looking him in the eyes. He leans down and kisses me sweetly on the lips. After he pulled away, he smiled at me. I was speechless, not knowing what to say or do.
"Does that help clarify my feelings for you, Rocky?" He says, breaking the silence.
"H-h-how did you know that's what I was talking about?" I asked, feeling flustered but happy. He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"We've been sharing the same bed for a while, and I've had a crush on you since high school. We know each other better than anyone." He explained. Smiling at myself, I gently pressed my finger to my lips and rested my head on his chest. My heart was full of happiness and love, yet darker thoughts kept resurfacing. Mostly, it was for his safety.
The darker thoughts made me worry about what would happen if someone tried to take things further and hurt one of us. I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen to him. He meant everything to me, but I was determined to keep searching for answers about this family. It wasn't fair to ask Zeke to keep endangering himself by staying here. He needed to know it was ok if he didn't want to stay. It took a few minutes to muster up bravery to talk to him about it.
"Zeke," I say, while running my hand up and down his chest.
"Yeah, Baby," he replies, looking down at me.
"I just wanted to say that I don't expect you to stay here and continuously put yourself in danger for me," I say softly. His eyes soften as he looks at me.
"Rocky baby, look at me and listen. I'm not leaving or going anywhere," he says reassuringly. He leaned down, kissing me again. Relief flooded my body. Zeke had made his point, and I knew that I could trust him to keep me safe.
During the night, another dream haunts me. The dream plays like a suspenseful movie, with me as the sole spectator. Amber and her brother ascend the stairs and run towards her bedroom while her father's anguished screams echo through the house. The sound of someone hurting him was unmistakable. Once they are in the bedroom, Donovan slams the door in my face, locking it behind them. Suddenly, the scene changes, and I find myself standing inside the room with them. Donovan hands Amber a backpack.
"Amber, run towards the tree line and hide," Donovan instructs her urgently, "I'll follow you with the other two as soon as I can." The sound of banging on the door caused them both to jump in fear.
I was jolted awake, and the dream ended. My heart was racing, sweat covered my body, and I was trying to catch my breath. If Amber ran away, then she could be my mother. The timing of her pregnancy and the uncanny resemblance to my mom made me suspect I was on the right track. Is this why my mom told me not to investigate her family? She must have been scared they would come after us and kill us both. So many questions assaulted my mind. I had to find out more. Zeke, who had been sleeping next to me, leaned up and pulled me into his embrace.
"You ok?" he asks. His voice was laden with sleep.
"Yeah, I just had another dream, this time it was about her and her oldest brother," I tell him, "I'll tell you more about it tomorrow." My mind wouldn't stop going over everything from the dream.
"Go back to sleep, baby. It's only three in the morning," Zeke says sleepily. I could feel his warm breath on my skin as he fell back asleep. His deep breathing lulled me back into a deep slumber.
When we woke up the next morning, I decided after breakfast to search more of the house. The one room that interests me the most is Mr. Catalano's office. It was one of the rooms we hadn't explored yet. There had to be an answer somewhere in there. The biggest question I needed to answer was whether they were my family. It would explain a lot about my mom's fear surrounding her family. The room would also make a good office for me to work from.
Zeke had left early that morning to meet his father at their new branch location. They were interviewing potential employees, which meant he would be gone for a while.
That was fine with me. It would give me time to explore the office and hopefully have some answers to share with him when he returns home. Hopefully, he will be back before dark, because that's when everything seemed to happen, but I will try to put on a brave face. Before he left, I told him about my dream from the previous night, and he seemed genuinely concerned.
"Roxy, your mom was very secretive about her family, and I know it hurt you," he says with concern etched on his face. "Please be careful until I get home. I hate leaving you alone with everything going on. Call me right away if anything happens."
Clearing my head, I walk to the office, focusing on the task at hand. The oak door has intricate carvings and a rustic doorknob. I gently push it open to slowly reveal a room bathed in warm sunlight streaming through the large window on the opposite wall. Walking over to the large desk, I lowered myself into the plush desk chair and began opening the drawers. As I opened the middle drawer, I was pleasantly surprised to find two different calendar books. One was for his law practice, and the other was his family calendar. As I placed them carefully back in the drawer, there was a key in the corner of the drawer. It was a small silver skeleton key. Grabbing it, I set it on the desk, deciding to figure out what it was for later.
Exploring most of the drawers was disappointing. Most of the files were for work. The last drawer wouldn't budge when I pulled on it. Thinking it was stuck, I yanked harder on it, but nothing happened. Examining the drawer further, I found a hidden key slot.
"I wonder if the key goes here," I said to myself out loud. Quickly grabbing it and inserting it into the key slot, the drawer opened, revealing several folders. Placing them on the desk, one stood out to me. It was labeled "Andrew." Could this file be about Amber's boyfriend and the father of her baby? I hoped that the folder would have clues as to who he was and confirm that he may be my father. I really believe these people are my long-lost family. With shaking hands, I slowly open the file. The first piece of paper was a report from a private investigator. It listed his basic information. It was then that I realized Sheriff Dawson, my worst nightmare, was his father. That means he could be my grandfather. The revelation left me feeling numb, and the only thought running through my head was, "What did I do to deserve this? Is he why my mom was so scared?"
After finding the file, my enthusiasm for rummaging through the other documents was lost. Carefully gathering them, everything was placed in the drawer and locked. The key went on the necklace around my neck to ensure no one could access it but me.