She followed Eric into the hall. It was darkened, as if this floor of the building was not currently in use. Still, she and Eric moved quickly and carefully, always on the alert for others. They left a wet trail for a few yards, but eventually their clothes stopped dripping. Rachel worried someone would see the trail. She was grateful to see it end just before a fork in the hallway. Anyone who came after them would have to decide which way to turn.
There seemed to be nothing on this floor but supplies. Then Eric found something strange in one of the darkened rooms. Rachel looked at the triangular-shaped wheeled piece of equipment. There was a pulley and chain attached to it, rusted now after years of disuse.
“What is that?” she asked.
Erie touched it. “A winch. The kind of thing you use to pull boats out of the water. This is a strange place to store something like that.”
Rachel looked toward the door, as if she could see down the hall to the secret passageway.
“Maybe not,” she said. “Maybe that wasn’t an escape tunnel at all, Eric. What if they were using it to pull something into the building?”
Eric nodded eagerly. “Of course! Something they couldn’t bring through the town because they didn’t want it to be seen. When the job was finished, they destroyed that loading dock out there and covered up the opening to the tunnel with sand. Nature took its course, and the tides came in over it.”
“At a different time of day,” Rachel added, “we may not have been under the water for so long.”
Eric took her by the arm.
“Let’s get going,” he said. “I have a feeling we’re going to find something very important on this floor.”
Rachel hurried along with him. She looked around herself in wonder.
“Why aren’t there any other people on this floor?” she asked. “If it’s so secret, where are the guards?”
“I have a feeling there may be only one or two other means to get in here,” Eric said. “The guards are probably based at the stairs and elevator. They might not even know about the tunnel.”
Rachel pointed down the hall. All the other doors had been simple wood ones, some with glass windows. But this was a double door, made of metal. Even from this distance Rachel could read the sign:
“DO NOT ENTER! DANGER OF CONTAMINATION BEYOND THIS POINT! NO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL!”
Again Rachel looked for a guard.
“Whatever they had in that room,” she said, “it must be gone now.”
“Let’s have a look anyway,” Eric suggested.
They were only half-surprised that the door was unlocked. It was true—whatever had been stored here had been moved away. The room, as huge as an airplane hangar, was empty. Disappointed, Eric turned to leave the room. But Rachel tugged at his wet sleeve.
“Wait!” she cried. “Look over there! Do you see how that panel of the wall is slightly different from the others?”
Eric looked in the direction she was pointing. He squinted his eyes and studied the back wall, but it all looked the same to him.
“Not at all,” he said.
“Well, it is,” Rachel said. “We’ve found another secret room. Let’s take a look.”
She went to the panel and pressed her hands against it. Eric’s eyebrows went up when it slid around like a revolving door. There was blackness beyond it.
“Another secret passageway?” Eric whispered. Something about the darkness warned him to be careful.
Rachel did not answer. She reached inside the room and felt along the wall until she found a switch. When the lights went on, she gasped.
The room was filled with metal boxes, at least thirty of them. They were neatly stacked, carefully numbered, and padlocked. Eric went to one and pulled on the lock.
“What do you suppose is inside here?”
“I don’t know,” Rachel said. “But I want to find out. Eric, I saw some tools in one of the rooms we entered. Let’s go back for them.”
They turned off the light, replaced the panel, and hurried to the room Rachel had mentioned. When they found the tools they needed, they returned to the secret room. As they entered and turned on the light, Rachel whispered:
“Eric, I don’t think we’re alone.”
“Is it Steven? Are you feeling his presence?”
Rachel’s head swung back and forth. “No. Eric, someone is watching us.”
Eric felt a chill rush through his body, and it wasn’t from his damp clothes. He looked around himself, but the whole area seemed empty.
“I don’t think there’s anyone here,” he said, although he couldn’t be certain. Rachel had been right about her other “feelings.” “If they were, they would have come out by now.”