Chapter 6: The Second Door
The second door was hidden behind a row of stacked cardboard boxes.
No handle.
No sign.
Just a narrow seam in the wall.
Ray moved the boxes.
A metal door appeared.
Duke whistled.
"You've got to be kidding me.""
Sarah looked at Noah.
"How do you know that's there?""
"Curtis told me never to touch it.""
Deputy Hall came back inside.
"Where does it go?""
Noah swallowed.
"I don't know.""
The storm had knocked out part of the truck stop's power.
They used flashlights.
Duke found a latch.
Locked.
Curtis had been taken outside to a patrol car.
The deputies called for a warrant.
Ray stared at the hidden door.
Then he noticed scratches around the lock.
Recent scratches.
He pointed.
"Someone opened this recently.""
Lena shined her flashlight closer.
There were footprints in the dust.
Small shoeprints.
Noah's.
And larger prints.
Curtis's.
But another set was mixed in.
Work boots.
Size eleven or twelve.
Tommy looked toward the rear exit.
"Looks like Curtis wasn't alone.""
Deputy Hall took photographs.
They waited for the additional officers.
Minutes passed.
The storm grew louder.
Then Noah whispered, "I have seen someone else.""
Ray turned.
"Who?""
"A man.""
"What man?""
"Sometimes Curtis talks to him.""
"What does he look like?""
Noah thought.
"Gray beard.""
Ray's face tightened.
"Anything else?""
"He drives a green pickup.""
The waitress stepped forward.
"That's Mr. Vance.""
Everyone looked at her.
"Owner?""
She nodded.
"He owns the truck stop.""
Ray glanced at the back room.
"Where is he now?""
She checked the clock.
"He usually comes by before midnight.""
Deputy Hall's radio crackled.
A second patrol car had arrived.
Then headlights appeared in the rain.
Green pickup.
The truck stopped beside the side entrance.
A man stepped out.
Gray beard.
Work boots.
Black rain jacket.
Vance.
He entered and froze when he saw the deputies.
"What happened?""
Deputy Hall said, "Mr. Vance, I need you to stay here.""
His eyes moved across the room.
To Curtis's empty chair.
To Noah.
To Ray.
Then toward the hidden door.
Ray watched him carefully.
Vance said, "What's going on?""
Deputy Hall asked, "Do you know about this room?""
Vance hesitated.
"Storage.""
"No.""
Noah spoke.
"It's where Curtis puts things.""
Vance looked at the child.
"What things?""
Noah's face tightened.
"Boxes.""
"Whose?""
"Curtis's.""
Vance looked at Ray.
Ray said nothing.
He didn't need to.
Vance had already betrayed himself.
He knew.
Deputy Hall said, "Open the door.""
Vance shook his head.
"I don't have a key.""
Noah whispered, "He does.""
Vance looked sharply at him.
Noah pointed at the man's jacket.
"Your pocket.""
Vance slowly reached inside.
He pulled out a key.
The room went silent.
He stared at it.
Then at Noah.
"No one was supposed to know.""
Ray felt a chill.
Deputy Hall took the key.
She opened the door.
The hidden room was larger than the back room.
Much larger.
Shelves covered the walls.
Boxes were stacked to the ceiling.
There were financial records.
School forms.
Medical papers.
Envelopes.
Bank statements.
And dozens of unopened packages.
One box had Noah's name on it.
Another had his grandmother's name.
Another had Sarah's.
Sarah's face went white.
"Those are my letters.""
Ray stepped inside.
"Who has been intercepting them?""
Vance said nothing.
Deputy Hall turned.
"Mr. Vance.""
Vance's eyes lowered.
"Curtis asked me to hold them.""
Sarah stared at him.
"Why?""
"He said the family was causing trouble.""
Ray's jaw tightened.
"And you agreed?""
Vance looked ashamed.
"I thought he had legal authority.""
Deputy Hall pointed at the boxes.
"How long?""
Vance didn't answer.
"How long?""
"Almost two years.""
Noah looked at Sarah.
"Two years?""
Vance nodded.
"Since your mother died.""
The room became painfully quiet.
Then Ray noticed a ledger.
He opened it.
Payments.
Dates.
Initials.
Amounts.
And next to several entries was one repeated word.
"Deposit.""
He flipped another page.
The amounts increased.
Grandmother.
Insurance.
Child support.
School reimbursements.
Everything.
Ray looked up.
"There's your money.""
Noah stared at the ledger.
"How much?""
Ray didn't answer.
He didn't want to put a number on something a child should never have had to worry about.
Deputy Hall photographed every page.
Then she found a file labeled with Noah's name.
Inside was his original school enrollment.
Attendance records.
Teacher comments.
A note from the principal:
Noah Miller has shown repeated signs of fatigue and withdrawal. Family contact advised.
The date was five months before he vanished.
There were three more notes.
All ignored.
Sarah pressed a hand over her mouth.
"I never saw these.""
Ray saw something else.
A letter.
From the school.
Addressed to the county.
It stated that someone had contacted the school claiming Noah had moved to Kansas.
But the phone number provided had been disconnected.
Vance sat down.
"I didn't know.""
Deputy Hall looked at him.
"You knew enough to hide letters.""
Vance lowered his head.
Outside, someone shouted.
The patrol cars' lights flashed through the windows.
Ray stepped closer to the hidden room's rear wall.
There was another steel door.
Smaller.
He touched the handle.
Locked.
Noah stared at it.
"Curtis told me that door was never to be opened.""
Ray looked at Deputy Hall.
Another warrant issue.
Another locked room.
Another secret.
And then from behind the steel door came a sound.
A single metallic knock.
Everyone froze.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
May you like
Noah whispered:
"There's somebody in there.""
