by Lisa Harris
“Grandmother, please try to keep Lulu quiet.”
Grandmother offered Lulu to him. “She could help you, Reg. She could chase down anyone in the house.”
“And get killed for her efforts. No, I’d prefer to do this my way.”
He closed the door, wishing he could offer his flashlight, but he’d need that once he got the rest of the lights shut off. Besides, they each had burner phones now, thanks to Nicole, they could use for light if necessary.
Lights in the living room flickered off as the power went out. He doubted the storm had had anything to do with it. He flipped on the flashlight then dashed upstairs to his room to grab his additional gun. He loaded it and chambered a round, all while listening.
The storm would cover too many sounds.
Creeping forward and out of his bedroom, he flipped off the flashlight.
All he heard was the pouring rain. Lightning flashed, giving him a brief view of the house from the staircase landing. Of the terrain outside the house.
A board creaked. Reg remained perfectly still for a few seconds, then crept down the steps in the dark, taking his time, treading lightly and carefully so he didn’t tumble down the old staircase. He also feared dizziness or a blinding headache would hit at the wrong moment. Please, God, help me . . .
As he descended the staircase, he pressed against the wall.
Someone could very well be using night vision goggles. If they weren’t using a flashlight, they would have to in order to see in the darkness. Reg was completely blind at the moment, moving by memory alone. Wouldn’t do for him to have a memory lapse now.
He swallowed the fear rising in his throat. He was a trained agent who’d spent time working undercover. Fear shouldn’t be an issue.
Except Grandmother and Nicole were counting on him.
Sweat beaded on his brow.
God, show me what to do.
He would be the proverbial sitting duck standing here on the staircase with no cover. He continued descending, his back pressed to the wall.
Another creak—entirely too close.
Reg flipped on the flashlight. The intruder groaned, tore off night vision goggles.
A gunshot rang out.
At the sound of gunfire, Nicole tensed.
Harriet whimpered next to her, as did her dog. In the dark, she imagined the woman hugging Lulu to her. Nicole gripped the gun and lifted it toward the door.
Reg had tasked her with keeping Harriet safe.
Keeping her voice as low as possible, she whispered, “It’s all right, Harriet, Reg knows what he’s doing.” She hoped. Oh, Lord, please help him.
They’d heard the gunshot, but nothing more. If Reg had taken out the intruder he would be opening the bathroom door to let them out.
But seconds ticked by. A minute. Then two . . .
Lulu whined and whimpered. Harriet couldn’t keep her quiet. This wasn’t working. Lulu escaped Harriet’s arms and barked uncontrollably.
“Harriet, get the dog and step into the shower enclosure and close the door.” It was all Nicole could think to do.
Nicole offered light from her cell so that Harriet could find her way to the shower enclosure. Once inside, she closed the door and hunkered in the enclosure with Lulu.
Crouching, heart pounding, Nicole aimed her weapon at the door then turned off the light. Even the smallest light could draw attention. She waited and listened.
The floor creaked. These old houses with wooden floors could shift with the changing air pressure and temperature, but she wouldn’t let her guard down.
Someone could be coming down the hallway. Had her light or had Lulu’s bark drawn the intruder?
Pulse roaring in her ears, Nicole couldn’t tell if the cadence of footfalls belonged to Reg.
God, please let it be him.
Nicole’s hands shook. Moisture bloomed on her palms as she gripped Reg’s weapon. If it wasn’t him. . . Oh, God. . . If it wasn’t him, then he’d been taken out.
Tears surged.
She pushed down the fear. She wouldn’t borrow trouble.
The doorknob jiggled.
Nicole fingered the trigger.
“Nicole. . .”
Her heart jumped as relief surged.
Reg! She rushed to the door and opened it. She might have flown right into his arms, except he pulled her out of the bathroom.
“Grandmother come on,” he whispered.
“What happened?” Grandmother asked. “What’s going on?”
Nicole flashed her cell to give Harriet some light.
Reg hissed.
That’s when she spotted the night vision goggles. “Where did you get those?”
“I took them off the guy wearing them. He wasn’t alone. There are two more.”
“In the house?”
Reg leaned close. “No more talking. I’m hiding you two in a safer place. We have to hurry.”
If he was moving them, and there were two more guys—mercenaries wearing night vision goggles, for crying out loud—this was worse than she had imagined. Reg gripped her hand as she urged Harriet forward and up the stairs, although the old woman couldn’t move very fast. Maybe she could only move fast for Lulu.
The dog whimpered and moaned and could give them all away.
Harriet had told Nicole she had special pills for when she traveled to give to Lulu, but they were upstairs in her bedroom. Nicole didn’t miss the irony that Lulu was supposed to help Harriet with anxiety but took anxiety medication. Going all the way to her room in the middle of this might actually be worth if it if calmed Lulu down and kept her quiet.
Reg closed a door, then flipped on his flashlight. “Hurry.” He led them to an opening in the wall. “I had forgotten all about this. Came here to get another weapon then remembered.”
“What is this?” Nicole asked. “A secret passageway?”
“And more. Just stay here. I’ll close you in. Keep quiet, and Grandmother, please keep Lulu quiet.”
“Get her pills in my bedroom. Bottom drawer in my bedside table.”
Nicole tugged on his arm. “Let me help you. Harriet can stay here. She’ll be safe here.”
Harriet cleared her throat. “Give me one of your grandfather’s guns, Reg. I can use the Sig.”
He blew out a breath.
“Reg, your grandmother has a better chance of surviving if you and I work together and take them out.”
By the look in his eyes, he disagreed.
A window shattered somewhere in the house, shutting down all arguments.
The mercenaries had given up on covert tactics for entry.
Chapter Eight
In grandfather’s study on the second floor, Reg secured the hidden door that would keep Nicole and Grandmother safe. Yes, his grandmother needed protection right there with her. He couldn’t trust her to stay in one place and not interfere, though she had the best of intentions. And Nicole . . . he didn’t want her in harm’s way. She’d been out of the bureau for a while, and facing off with armed gunmen was next level. Or. . . maybe it was just that he would rather protect them both.
Pain spiked through his head.
Not now. He couldn’t afford to be debilitated now.
The two other mercenaries he’d seen outside had found a way in. They’d likely heard the gunfire and worried their buddy had been taken out. They would come to rescue him, but Reg had hidden the man. They would have to find him first if they wanted him.
Reg rushed to the other side of the room and glanced out the window. He could hear the rain coming down, but couldn’t see a thing without the night vision goggles, so he secured them.
He spotted an SUV parked up the road in a copse of trees.
Staying here in Grandfather’s study to protect the women until the police arrived could be too risky. The mansion was out of the way. From experience, Reg knew there could be issues with the road in inclement weather, including mudslides. With the current torrent, that was a concern. Armed men had entered
the home to take them out.
Definitely too risky to wait it out.
Leaving the study and taking down the intruders was his best option. He made his way out of the study and secured the door behind him. Where in the house would the other two intruders have come in? The mansion was spread out and included unused rooms. Someone had shattered a window to get inside, which made him wonder how the first intruder had gotten in.
Reg had taken a shot at him and caught him in the leg. He’d then knocked him in the head. Stripped him of his goggles and tied a tourniquet on his leg, trussed him like a chicken and gagged him.
That was when he’d heard the voices outside.
He’d dragged the intruder into the kitchen and stuck him in the large walk-in pantry.
Now, if God was with him, Reg could take out the other two.
He would remain on the second floor and catch them as they came up the stairwell. He had the advantage here—and eventually the intruders would have to take the stairs.
Reg would be waiting. He would use the same tactic as before and shine his flashlight into their night vision goggles, effectively incapacitating them for a few moments, then use the distraction to take them down.
Weird to think that, when he was a child, he used to play a very similar game in this house with his brothers. The grand old house was big and creepy.
Never in a million years could he have imagined those games would mimic real life. What was going on that three hired gunmen . . . mercenaries . . . came to Grandmother’s house to kill them? Was it something much bigger than his previous undercover work? Much bigger than Nicole’s collector? He couldn’t fathom that Grandmother’s painting had anything to do with this.
Movement drew his attention.
The two intruders signaled. One would make his way up the staircase while the other covered for him in the foyer. They were clearing the house. Had they found their bound buddy yet?
Pain spiked through his head, ratcheting up. His breathing quickened. He backed into a protective corner where he wouldn’t be spotted through their goggles. As soon as the first intruder made the third step from the top, he would take him out without exposing himself to the second intruder.
Images and emotions swirled in his mind from the moment when he’d faced off with automatic weapons right before he’d taken off on his motorcycle. His heart pounded and his palms slicked.
A flashback he didn’t want or need. Then he realized . . . the flashback was a memory. He’d forgotten until that moment. Time enough to celebrate later. He had to focus on the current predicament.
He worked to slow his breathing. Steady his aim. Please let my aim be better than at Dinosaur Gardens. He shoved that thought behind him. He couldn’t afford the self-doubt.
What was taking the intruders so long? Had they changed their plans?
Finally, a man stepped into Reg’s line of sight. The intruder noticed Reg at the same moment. Reg pulled the trigger and fired two shots. The man tumbled down the steps. Reg’s aim was definitely coming back.
Would the other rush at him from the staircase?
He waited, the only sound his own heartbeat.
He fired two more shots as he stepped from the shadows to look. The other intruder was nowhere in sight.
Should he leave Nicole and Grandmother? They wouldn’t be safe until he got the third intruder. He needed at least one of the armed attackers alive so he could find out who had hired them.
Reg exposed himself by taking the staircase, but he rushed down. Lights flashed outside. He ran to the window and peeked out. The SUV that had been parked in the trees now rolled onto the narrow driveway.
The last mercenary was getting away.
Reg rushed through the front door. Rain pounded him as he climbed into his Range Rover. He floored it across Grandmother’s lawn, tearing up the grass and landscaping, to get to the road. He couldn’t lose the man for them to face him again another day.
Windshield wipers swishing at high speed, Reg focused on the road and the red backlights ahead of him.
They went dark.
Nicole couldn’t take it anymore. The gunfire echoing through the walls had terrified Harriet. Nicole wouldn’t admit to the woman that she was scared too. Once again, she found herself in the unwanted position of not knowing whether Reg had been shot and she should expect armed men to shoot through the walls.
She slowly inhaled and exhaled. Cleared her mind. Reg had to be alive. She wouldn’t think any other way.
I should trust his abilities, his skills.
The man had more reason than the mercenaries to win this fight. He wanted to keep his grandmother safe. But suffering with TBI, he had a serious disadvantage. Nicole had tried to offer assistance without bringing up what he was sure to consider his weakness.
“Harriet, tell me about this hiding spot. Reg mentioned it was a hiding place and more. I see a deep space back here. Is this a hidden passage? Where does it lead?”
If Nicole could get them out of here and into the garage, maybe they could escape in a vehicle. Something.
Part of her wanted to check on Reg. Was he hurt? Had he been shot? Grief tried to cloud her ability to make the best decision, but she’d been a trained agent, and would rely on that training now. Reg had tasked her with keeping his grandmother safe, and she wouldn’t let him down. Once she got Harriet somewhere truly safe, then she could check on Reg.
She hoped she was making the right decision and would give anything to see Reg walking toward her now, victorious in taking out the bad guys. Whoever they were.
She realized Harriet had been talking to her. “Okay, so you can get us out of here?”
“If I can see where I’m going. Maybe.”
“Good enough. I mean, it’s not like it’s a cavern in the earth where we could get lost forever or anything.” Nicole gave a nervous chuckle.
“But Reg told us to stay here.”
“He also told me to protect you. That’s my priority. I have to use my experience to guide me, and that experience is telling me it’s time for us to find another way out of this.”
“Wait. You don’t think Reg is injured or dead, do you?” Harriet’s breath caught as she spoke.
That sound broke Nicole’s heart. She would definitely need to check on Reg soon.
“Let’s just get out of this house if we can. Lead the way. Neither of us can check on Reg if we’re caught, okay?” Or killed. She wouldn’t make it more terrifying by saying that word out loud.
Harriet placed Lulu on the ground. “Let’s go outside and play.”
Lulu growled and took off.
Nicole turned on her cell to light the way, and so Harriet would see her displeasure at Lulu’s release.
Harriet shrugged. “She’ll lead us out of here.”
“I hope you’re right. But the barking could give us away.”
It was too late to do anything about it since Lulu had taken off. They were left to follow the tiny beast into narrow, musty passageways and then down steep, constricted steps. Nicole swiped at a constant barrage of dusty cobwebs, hoping the webs were old and not fresh. She could have a spider or two in her hair by now.
She shuddered at the thought.
In the distance, Lulu continued barking. Honestly, Lulu didn’t need to lead them because there was no other way to go except forward. Still, at the end of this . . . “Where will this take us? I mean, what room?”
Harriet huffed as if out of breath. She leaned heavily on her cane. “This is an escape to the outdoors.”
“Are you telling me there’s no entrance back into the house?”
“If there is, I don’t know about it. Reg’s grandfather was eccentric, but his great-grandfather built the passageways.”
And his grandfather married an eccentric woman.
“Why did he need them?”
“Prohibition, probably.” Harriet chuckled.
Maybe. Nicole led Harriet carefully down another long and narrow stairway. Harriet’
s breathing worried her so she paused. “You doing okay?”
“I’m. Fine.” The words were spoken separately, between breaths.
Nicole continued brushing away spider webs and breathed in musty earth smells. “I think. . . I think we must be underground.”
Lulu stopped barking. Nicole and Harriet both hesitated taking even one more step.
“Lulu, come here.” Harriet’s tone left no doubt she feared that something had happened to her baby.
Chapter Nine
When the vehicle lights in front of him went out, Reg had stopped the Range Rover and shut it off. He’d been driving without the lights, using the night vision goggles to see. Now, Reg slowly climbed out of his vehicle, hoping he wouldn’t draw attention to himself.
Ignoring the rain, he crept forward to the empty vehicle. The driver’s side door had been left open.
Ahead of the vehicle, a mudslide had blocked the road, just as he’d feared. That explained why the police had not arrived to assist. Still, he should see a cruiser on the other side of that slide. Someone responding to their 9-1-1 call.
He climbed back into the Range Rover and drove slowly forward until he parked next to the abandoned SUV. Reg got back out and, his weapon ready, searched the area around the mudslide. Reg clomped around the slippery, muddy road and peered inside the intruder’s SUV again. He slid into the driver’s seat and looked in the glove compartment. No registration or vehicle documents.
Reg ran around to find the license plates had not been stripped. He guessed they would be fake anyway, but he memorized the number.
Where had the intruder gone? Up the foothill that hugged the road to his left, or through the woods toward the bluff overlooking the water?
He wouldn’t be able to safely climb over the mudslide and continue on his way. Fear gripped Reg. Had the man hiked out on foot all the way back to Grandmother’s house?
Oh, no.
Reg scrambled back into the Range Rover, made a three-point turn, and accelerated. His vehicle lost traction on the muddy mountain road and slid dangerously toward the cliff’s edge. He steered in the same direction to correct course, then slammed on the breaks at Grandmother’s house, sliding through her grass. She would not be happy.