Eximere (The River Book 4) by Michael Richan

secret lever somewhere,” Russell said.
    “Maybe,” Steven said, “but Roger didn’t mention one. He said
you just push it to the right.”
    Roy placed both hands on the panel and pushed in, hoping to
feel it recede. Instead he felt it bow a little, held firm in place at the
edges.
    “I say we bust it down,” Roy said.
    Eliza smiled.
    “What, just kick it in?” Myrna said.
    “Why not?” Roy said. “If they want to sue me for damages, let
them.”
    “Fine with me,” Steven said.  The rest of the group nodded
their heads in agreement.
    “If anyone is asked,” Roy said, “none of us know who did it,
OK?”
    Heads nodded again, and Roy turned to face the panel. He
raised a foot and kicked. His foot went through the thin wood and into the
space beyond. He pulled his foot back out, and kept kicking around the hole
until he’d widened it enough for a person to climb through. Then he stepped
into the space on the other side of the panel and began helping others come
through.
    As Steven climbed through to the new passageway, he noticed
it was dimly lit. He found his flashlight in his coat pocket and turned it on.
Once they’d all reached the inside, Roy turned to examine the panel. “Steven,”
he asked, “would you turn your flashlight on this?”
    Steven moved over by Roy and shone the flashlight down on the
back side of the panel.
    “Look here,” Roy said. “This metal rail is the contraption
that the panel slides along, and this spring is what holds the panel against
the frame.”
    “What is that glistening around the edge?” Steven asked,
pointing his flashlight at the inside edge of the panel, where it met the wall.
    “Epoxy,” Roy said, reaching out to touch it. “Still tacky.
This was glued shut recently.”
    “How long ago?” Steven asked.
    “An hour? A day? Don’t know for sure,” Roy replied.
    “Someone didn’t want us to find this passageway,” Myrna said.
    “That’s a good bet,” Roy agreed.
    “Well, we’ve made it through regardless,” Eliza said. “Shall
we proceed?”
    “Just be careful,” Steven said, moving to the front of the
group so he could lead with the flashlight. “Things have obviously changed
since Roger saw them.”
    The passageway was about three feet wide and seven feet tall.
It twisted and turned. Steven remembered Roger saying it passed behind other
rooms. He let his flashlight drift up from the floor occasionally to look at
the walls as they passed. He spotted a small device and stopped the group.
    “Look,” he said, shining his light on a small, round brass
fixture about five feet off the ground. It was covered with a small metal flap,
which he lifted.
    “Peephole,” Roy said. “For looking into the room on the other
side.”
    Steven held the flap up and moved his eye to the fixture to
look through. “Whatever is on the other side, there’s not enough light to see
it.”
    “Light probably turned off in that room,” Roy said.
    “Do you think there are passageways like this upstairs,
behind the bedrooms?” Eliza asked. Steven suddenly wondered if they’d been
spied on as they slept the night before.
    “I would bet there are,” Russell said.
    “What are these rooms we can’t see?” Steven wondered aloud.
“The doors sealed shut, but a peephole to see in?”
    “Let’s keep going,” Roy said, and Steven turned his
flashlight back to the passageway in front of them.
    After a minute more of twists and turns, Steven saw the door
at the end of the hallway. “We’ve reached it,” he said back to the group. But
within a few steps he knew something was wrong.
    Covering the door was a heavy metal latticework. It was
welded within a frame that was bolted into the wall surrounding the door. It
effectively sealed the door – there was no way through it.
    Roy inspected the metal. “This has been welded into place
recently,” he said. “Within a few hours. It’s still warm.”
    “The fabrication van we saw leaving,” Steven said. “They