Chapter 2: The Second Alert
Part 2 ⬇️
My hands went cold.
I turned the volume up and watched them on the small screen.
Tom was standing slightly in front of Linda.
He wasn't knocking.
He wasn't ringing the bell.
He was just standing there, facing the door, like he was listening for something on the other side.
I called Jason over.
He watched the footage without saying a word.
Then Tom reached out and tried the door handle.
"Jason." My voice came out barely above a whisper.
Tom tried it once, slowly.
Then again.
Then he stepped back and said something to Linda that the camera didn't pick up clearly.
Linda shook her head.
Tom pulled out his phone.
Thirty seconds later, our garage door camera sent a second alert.
I switched feeds.
The side gate to the garage was open.
I called the non-emergency police line with shaking hands.
The officer who answered asked if anything had been taken.
I told him I didn't know.
I was three hours away.
"Do you know these people?" he asked.
"They're our neighbors," I said.
"They've lived next door for thirty years."
There was a pause.
"Ma'am, do you have any idea what they might be looking for?"
I almost said no.
Then I thought about the hidden room in the basement.
The one Linda already knew about.
The one she had no reason to know about.
And I thought about Margaret.
I had her number saved from the closing paperwork.
I had never once used it.
I used it now.
She picked up on the second ring.
And the first thing she said — before I could even explain why I was calling — stopped me completely.
"I was wondering when you'd find out."
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What did Margaret know?
What were Tom and Linda really looking for in that house?
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The full truth is darker than you'd expect.
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