PREVIOUS POST:
Mary Pat put her finger to her lips, crept toward the door, and aimed her Ruger LCP.

She stepped into the hall and scanned the area. Seeing nothing, she backed into the room and removed the cell phone from her pocket. "Billy Joe, where are you?" She listened a moment. "There's somebody in the house besides Paige and me." Again, she listened, then put her phone away.

"The guys are on their way." Mary Pat continued staring into the hall with her weapon ready.

TODAY'S POST:

In a rush, Cash took the stairs two at a time. Billy Joe followed. As they reached the landing, Cash saw Mary Pat. "What'd you hear?"

"A door opened and shut. I think it came from the front of the house, but I'm not sure." Mary Pat put the revolver into her pocket, then hugged her husband.

"You all right?" Billy Joe stroked the back of her head and glanced at Cash. "What now?"

"You stay with the women. I'll check downstairs." Cash turned to leave.

Billy Joe put his hand on Cash's shoulder. "We need to stay together. Might be more than one." He pointed at the door. "Mary Pat'll make sure nobody gets in here."

After a short pause, Cash glanced toward Paige and saw her eyes wide open, staring at the door, and she'd drawn the blankets tight at her neck. Morgan peeked out from between her arms. He sat on the bed beside her. "I'm sorry this happened."

"I want to go back to Boston."

Cash swallowed hard. "I understand. Can we talk about it in the morning?" After she nodded, he glanced at his buddy. "If you're coming, you'd better hurry."

"Cash?" When he turned, Paige said, "Please, be careful. You too, Billy Joe."

Both men nodded. Billy Joe pecked Mary Pat's cheek as he walked past.

At the bottom of the stairs, Cash slugged the walnut bannister post. "We need to find out who's doing this and fast. Paige is thinking about going back to Boston." He examined his fist.

"I'm sure between the three of us we can talk her into staying." He scanned the room. "Where to first?"

"I don't know. Could there be more secret stairs or a room somebody's hiding in? We checked everything and there was nobody. There's more questions than answers."

"We ain't got no answers." Billy Joe scratched his head. "If we know about the hidden stairs, so could somebody else. Mary Pat's only watching the door. The bathroom also opens to the nursery. There's three ways to get in that room."

"The door between the two rooms and bathroom is locked. I locked it myself." Cash stood by the ceiling to floor cupboard. "Where'd you touch to get this to open?"

"Around here." Billy Joe ran his hand up and down until it swung open.

Cash examined the opening. "I think a padlock and braces at the top and bottom will fix the problem. You stay here. I have spare ones in the outside kitchen."

When Cash returned, Billy Joe studied his face. "It took you a while. Was something wrong?"

"Our supplies have been rummaged through. Nothing's missing, just messed up."

"That's strange."

"Yep. I'll put a new lock on it in a little while."

"Should we call the cops?" Billy Joe removed the toothpick he'd been chewing and put it into his shirt pocket.

"And tell them what? We have a ghost-infested house with secret staircases and tunnels. Oh yeah, don't forget the KKK left a mysterious note on the front door." Cash missed the nail he was hammering and hit his thumb. "Shit! Nothing's going right."

"You have a point. With that information the cops'll put us in the loony bin. After we get this taken care of, we'll check things again and call it a night. You're staying here, right?"

"Yep." Cash's eyes met his buddy's.

Billy Joe leaned against the wall. "I hope this doesn't open another stairwell. Me and Mary Pat'll stay, too."

"Our lives were peaceful until Paige moved here. How can one woman attract so much trouble?"

"No idea." Billy Joe shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe 'cause she's a Yankee."

Cash hooked the padlock on the top brackets he'd installed. "You could be right." He knelt to work on the bottom. "This won't prevent somebody from taking the stairs, but it'll slow them down." Cash stood. "Let's look around one last time."

The two men walked into the parlor and their eyes widened. All drawers were dumped on the floor. Lamps, books and doilies that had been on the tables were scattered. The couch cushions were tossed around the room, along with the pillows. The artwork on the walls had been removed.

Cash rubbed the back of his neck. "What are they looking for?"