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with.”
    “Sturdy enough, I bet. If they were built for bootleggers, they wouldn’t have taken any chances. Liquor was a profitable business.”
    “Yeah, for people like Al Capone. This is Cleveland.”
    “Elliot Ness came here after Prohibition to clean up the city,” Niccolo said. “There must have been some business here to draw him.”
    Obviously he’d been listening to Jon, for whom Cleveland history was a favorite subject. “Are you thinking we might tear out this wall and see what’s here?” she said.
    “Rooney, does the tunnel lead outside?” Niccolo put his hand on the old man’s shoulder. “Can we get out this way?”
    Rooney gave a slight nod.
    That was enough affirmation for Niccolo. The possibility existed. “Can you get my kids and get us some tools?” he asked Megan. “And more flashlights, if you have them?”
    “The kids?”
    “Do you know anybody more talented at destruction?”
    She left the two men below and raced up the stairs. In the saloon, she clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Has anybody been able to reach the fire department?”
    Nobody had. Sirens had been heard in the distance, and shouting somewhere down the block.
    She explained quickly what Rooney had found and what they planned to do. Jon and Casey had organized people into small groups. One was tearing towels into makeshift bandages to supplement the small first aid kit. Another had stationed themselves as close to the front as possible to yell for help. Another was washing and doctoring cuts and bruises. One group was making attempts to comfort and entertain the children.
    Barry the bartender kept a crowbar behind the bar for security. He gave it to Winston, who headed straight for the kitchen. The other kids followed with whatever they were handed. Megan pulled a toolkit and more flashlights out of the storeroom, Greta gave Josh a mallet she used for pounding round steak. Peggy, trying to manage a struggling Kieran, volunteered to go upstairs and look in the apartment for more flashlights, but that effort was vetoed as too dangerous.
    Megan promised she would come back with news the minute she knew if the tunnels existed and if they led to safety.
    “They exist.” Deirdre grabbed her arm as she was heading back into the kitchen. “Your father’s not imagining this.”
    “Do you know where they lead?”
    Deirdre shook her head. “We weren’t supposed to know. I think my father’s generation was afraid we’d find a way to get inside and someone would get hurt. Do you want me to go down and help?”
    “Stay here and help Peggy with Kieran, will you?” Megan could hear her nephew wailing. The crowd, the noise and the confusion were bad enough for a normal child.
    She left Casey and Jon in charge, confident they could keep chaos at bay. Downstairs, she saw the boys at work and marveled. The tornado had nothing on the Brick kids for destruction.
    Someone had wanted the tunnels sealed for all time. Five minutes into the pounding and prying, that someone was thwarted.
    “Step back,” Niccolo commanded, and the kids did so without argument. He kicked away the last remnants of the paneling and shined his flashlight inside.
    “What do you see?”
    “I’m going to have to go inside to find out.”
    She didn’t want him to go. Even if the tunnels had been safe at one time, they had been sealed off for decades. But what choice did they have? The saloon wasn’t safe, either, with a quarter of the roof on the floor and gas seeping from God knew where.
    “I’m coming, too,” she said. “Two lights are better than one.”
    “Please don’t,” Niccolo said. “Not until I’ve checked it out a little.”
    “I’m coming.”
    He knew better than to argue, especially in front of the young men, who seemed entranced at the possibility of marital discord so soon after the wedding. “Okay, but step carefully.”
    “Really? I thought we could do an Irish jig or two on the way through.” She winked at