33. Bailey

"Ican't believe this is here," I exclaimed. "Let me grab a flashlight and we can investigate." I raced to my office, only stopping in the front room to let Vera know I might be a few more minutes.

"What's up with the door?" she asked, shooting a look in that direction.

"It was hidden behind the pile of boxes," I gushed with excitement. "Did you know it was where?"

"No," she breathed. "A door to where?"

"No idea. We're going to—"

A teenager came up to the desk, and while Vera was taking care of his requestion, I returned upstairs and switched on the light, handing it to Katar.

"This is your library, sweetheart," he said.

"And you found the door. I can't believe I didn't know it was here all this time. I wonder why Helga didn't mention it. She must've known about it."

"Is there a plan of the building?"

"Only one showing the location of fire exits. There's no second set of stairs on the map." I grinned his way. "You go first."

"You're sure?" At my nod, Katar took the flashlight from me and stepped through the opening to the other side. He flashed the light around, grunting, but didn't say anything. When he started down the stairs, I followed. Worn and cracked, the boards creaked under our feet.

"Do you think this is safe?" I whispered.

"Seems to be." He reached a landing and started down another level. "The stairs appear to go to the basement."

"The basement is as old as the library, which was built in the 1800s. The basement walls are made up of big slabs of granite and you saw the dirt floor, the cobwebs, the equally ancient boiler. It wouldn't surprise me if a body was buried down there ages ago. It . . . smells." And that was a creepy thought. Goosebumps peppered my skin. "I can't imagine why no one has mentioned this stairwell to me. Surely, someone on the board knows about it."

"Or the person who stole the orc manuscript and trashed your attic and office. They were looking for something, and I suspect this is how they got inside without being seen on the cameras."

"They'd still need to leave the basement." I frowned. "But if they stayed there until the library was busy, no one would notice them coming or going. It really is all connected."

"I believe so."

We reached the bottom of the stairs and found an arched tunnel leading to the right plus a door on the left. Katar cracked the door open, but it would only budge about six inches until he shifted aside a bunch of dusty paint cans.

"This is the closet under the other basement stairs," I whispered, still feeling too scared to speak in a normal tone.

When the passage was clear, we walked into the basement but didn't see anything unusual. I couldn't tell if anyone had remained in the basement for hours, but they'd probably make sure there was no evidence left behind.

"Let's check out the tunnel," I said, returning to the newly discovered staircase. I squinted but couldn't see far in the dark. "I wonder where it leads."

"Let's find out." Taking my hand, he stepped forward, the flashlight guiding our way as we walked crouched over to keep from hitting our heads on the low stone ceiling.

"It smells like the woods after it rains," I whispered. "Crushed leaves and vegetation."

Katar grunted.

After we walked a few hundred yards, we came to yet another door. It opened out on the side of a hill in the woods behind the library.

Katar nodded as he looked around but there was no one near and all I heard was the rustle of squirrels and a few birds chirping.

He grunted. "This must be how someone got inside the library without the cameras picking them up."

One clue. Would it lead us to whoever had stolen the book?