CHAPTER TWO

Jeremy is on the prowl.

The house is his territory and he determined to know it like the back of his hand. Alicia showed them the attic and the listening post there. Good standard equipment but the bugs were already removed and the house swept clean. So, the listening post is no longer operational.

But it tells Jeremy that there is more to this house than meets the eye. More secret rooms. More tunnels. Maybe even more treasure. Well, maybe not treasure. The Stroessner Fortune is not in the house. It is in some banks somewhere. He doesn’t understand that part very well.

But his job is to check the house for any other secrets they need to know. He stands in front of the door to China’s room thinking. It probably holds nothing of interest, but it is the only room he

hasn’t examined carefully. So far, he found a hidden staircase from the third floor down to the street level. A good way to leave the house without being seen. And he found a secret closet in the kitchen behind the pantry but there was nothing in it. Just empty shelves. Like a pantry behind the pantry. What did they keep in there?

But now it is time to check out China’s room. He has the key in his hand which he got off the key rack in the kitchen. He inserts it and the door creaks open. He isn’t sure why he is being so secretive.

China isn’t there and the rest of the family is happy he keeps himself busy with his explorations. But still, he opens the door slowly and creeps into the room carefully.

It is empty.

The room is tidy as always. Grandma is meticulous about keeping everything in order. The bed is made. The curtains are drawn. The lights are off. But there is something wrong with the room. Jeremy can’t place his finger on it exactly. He tries to think.

What is it? Then he knows. It is too clean. There is no smell of disturbed dust in the air. No musty smell of a room closed for a long period of time. This room has been aired out, used, lived in.

Recently.

He turns and runs down the stairs.

“Mom, mom,” he yells as he barges into the kitchen.

“Yes, what is it,” Annie says. “You don’t have to yell. I’m right here.”

“Mom,” Jeremy says, a bit out of breath, “did you clean China’s room lately?”

“What do you mean by “lately”?”

“Since she’s been gone,” Jeremy says.

“No, I haven’t been up there.

We fixed the door and then closed and locked it.”

“Was the room cleaned up nice and tidy?” Jeremy insists.

“Well, I don’t quite remember,” Annie says. “There were some clothes folded on the bed. They didn’t need to be washed so I just left them there. And her suitcase was in the middle of the floor.
I think those para-military guys kicked it around or something.”

“But you didn’t touch it?” Jeremy insists again.

“I put it at the foot of her bed,” Annie says, “to get it out of the way of the workers who came to fix the door and so I could sweep the floor for all the wood splinters… but that’s about it.”

Jeremy is excited. “Come with me,” he says. “Please.” He grabs his mom’s hand and pulls her out of the kitchen upstairs.

In a few moments, they are in China’s room. “Is this how you remember it?” Jeremy asks.

Annie looks around curiously. “Did you touch anything in the room, Jeremy?”

“No,” he says. “I didn’t even come into the room. I just stood in the doorway, but the room didn’t smell dusty.”

Annie sniffs the air. “You’re right,” she says. “ And there are no clothes on the bed, and I don’t see the suitcase anywhere. What’s going on?”

“I think China is here in the house,” Jeremy says softly. Then he calls out in a loud voice, “China, you can come out now. We found you.”

Silence.

“Maybe somebody else cleaned her room while she was gone,” Annie says, but she isn’t convinced.

“Yeah, right,” Jeremy says. “I’m sure Jane came in here to do the cleaning, or dad. Not likely.”

They are quiet for another long minute.

Jeremy calls out again, “Grandma, come out. We love you. We want to see you. Don’t hide anymore.”

Finally, they hear a creaking sound as the end of the bed closest to them starts to rise off the floor bringing the wooden floor panels with it and revealing a hole with a staircase and China slowly climbing the stairs into the room.