The lock was broken.
The door opened with a loud creak.
Inside were old tools, broken furniture, gardening equipment, and several wooden crates.
Nothing immediately appeared suspicious.
Then one officer noticed something unusual.
The floorboards near the back wall looked newer than the others.
He crouched down.
“Detective.”
Bennett walked over.
They removed several boards.
Beneath them was a second layer of wood.
And beneath that was something that shouldn't have been there.
A metal handle.
Noah felt a chill run down his spine.
“What is that?”
The detective looked at him.
“Everyone stay back.”
She pulled the handle.
A hidden door slowly opened.
Cold air rose from the darkness below.
There were stairs.
Old wooden stairs leading underground.
No one spoke.
The detective switched on her flashlight.
The beam disappeared into the darkness.
Then she looked at the officers.
“Call for backup.”
Noah stood frozen.
His father grabbed his shoulder.
“Stay here.”
But Noah could barely hear him.
For fifteen years, everyone had told him Lily was probably gone.
For fifteen years, he had wondered whether she was alive.
And now, beneath his grandfather's shed, they had found a hidden passage.
A passage that had apparently been concealed for years.
Detective Bennett descended the first few steps.
Then the second.
Then the third.
The air became colder.
At the bottom was a narrow corridor.
The walls were made of old concrete.
There were several doors along each side.
One door stood slightly open.
The detective pushed it.
The beam of her flashlight swept across the room.
There was a small bed.
A chair.
