Chapter 23

“Maybe there isn’t anything.”

“Then why was our nemesis here, obviously searching for something?”

“Because he’s as crazy as we are?” Mika said with a wry smile.

“No. There was a reason he did what he did to your mom and Reko, and for his returning afterward to search your house.”

They went back upstairs, at which point Mika said, “It’s probably time to head home. At least it’s stopped raining.”

“Before we do, we haven’t checked out the greenhouse,” Buck pointed out.

“Umm, okay. It was built well after everything else but if you want to, we can.”

A few minutes later, Buck admitted it had been a stupid idea. Not because it was newer but because all it held at this point were troughs of dirt, most of it obviously dug up by small rodents looking for any sort of edibles. As they stepped outside, he looked up at the short roof on the front of the house. “The cistern.”

Mika rapped a knuckle on his lip, nodding. “A possibility. Getting up there, however…”