Julian and Jim were still down at the shoreline, and Lily was at the pavilion with her smoothie.

I had a little time, and I did not intend to waste it.

I walked into the master bedroom and knelt beside the wide bed, and I lifted the heavy fall of the white duvet and looked underneath.

There it was, pushed far back against the baseboard where a casual glance would never find it: a squat, heavy case of black steel, the kind sold as fireproof and tamper-resistant, with a small digital keypad set into the top.

I had never seen it before in my life.