living room and kitchen and went straight to the basement.
The air grew colder as I descended.
Same unfinished walls.
Same dust and old paint.
Nothing had changed because no one cared enough to change it.
Behind several storage bins, I knelt beside a floor panel that didn’t quite match the others.
Still there.
Good.
I lifted it carefully.
The safe sat exactly where I had left it.
Digital keypad.
No scratches.
No sign anyone had touched it.
They hadn’t looked.
They didn’t know.
I entered the code.
Click.
Inside,
