by Jenifer Ruff
“Wow,” Danny said.
“Don’t let it fool you. The wealthy, with their landscapers and cleaning crews, have plenty of their own problems. They’re only better hidden.”
“How would you know, Beth?” He sneered.
“Because I read and watch the news, idiot.” She eased up on the brake and let the car coast past the entrance, about the length of a city block.
“What are we doing here?” Danny hissed. “This isn’t part of the plan.”
“It will only take a few minutes. There’s something I have to do.” She parked off to the side of the road on a wide patch of lush, green grass.
“You going to try to get in there?”
She nodded without looking at him. “I’m not just going to try. I’m going in.”
Danny laughed. “Terrible idea, Beth. This place represents insane money. Has to have high tech security and video monitors.”
Her pride got the better of her and she smiled, even though she hadn’t intended to share even a speck of information with him. “I’ve already scrambled the signals and shut off the alarms.” Truthfully, there hadn’t been any alarms activated. Surprising, for a property like that at night, and also puzzling. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she hoped she wasn’t mistaken.
Danny grunted. “Better be something worth stealing in there. You get caught, I never heard of you. Give me the keys.”
She ignored his comments, but she couldn’t help pondering his words. Was this worth the trouble of what could happen if she got caught?
“You think you’re anything like that agent? She’s a confident trust fund chick. She’d never do things just because someone told her she had to. She’s nothin’ like you, Beth.”
Bristling at his words, Beth scrambled out of the car and called back, “Shut up.” As usual, he just couldn’t stop trying to get under her skin. But this time, his intent backfired. He’d just given her more reason to go ahead with her plan. Her plan. Not his. She knew he wouldn’t follow. He wouldn’t get his hands dirty. He saved all of that for her. Always had.
“Get back here,” Danny screamed after her. “Don’t get your stupid ass caught over your girl crush. You aren’t done with what you have to do!”
Beth stopped, but not because of Danny. Hell, no. She just needed to think. And she had to pee thanks to the huge diet Coke she drank earlier. She dropped her jeans and squatted down on the side of the dark road. “Oh, damn.” Her underwear hadn’t been completely clear of her stream. Once her pants were back in place—now with an irritating wet spot against her lower back, a frustrating reminder that she hadn’t been able to handle the simplest of tasks—she studied the fence, walking alongside it. The bushes on the other side formed a thick barrier at least six feet tall.
Agents probably did stunts like this all the time, climbing over obstacles, pulling themselves up ropes. She could handle it. But as far as she could see in the dark, there really was no break or opening in the bushes. This here’s as good a place as any. She stretched her sweater sleeves down and around her hands to protect them from the tiny spears mounted on the top of every post. Huffing and puffing, with the spears digging through her sweater and into her skin, she hauled herself over the fence.
Amidst the snapping and cracking of branches, she dropped the rest of the way, plunging into the bushes. She landed hard on the other side, falling on her hip. Stinging flashes of pain shot from the scrapes on her arms and ankles, and her hip ached. A branch snagged her hair, tugging strands from her ponytail. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to push through the scrapes and claws of bushes until she was free.
With an aching, angry sigh, she paused to pick the leaves and twigs from her body. When she finished putting her ponytail back together, she was ready. Finally, the lights from the house were visible in the distance.
Like going to the fricking Biltmore mansion. She’d been to the estate in Asheville when she was younger and had never forgotten the place. Its size and the wealth it represented were awe inspiring, but there was also something ominous and creepy about such an obscenely gigantic home, its cold stone walls and floors, the claustrophobic bare-bones servant quarters in the attics and basements. They visited in the fall around Halloween, just like now, when the skies grew dark early. As they made their way to the parking lot, she glanced over her shoulder. In the shadows between the trees, it was the ultimate haunted house.
Pull yourself together. This isn’t a haunted house. It’s Agent Heslin’s home. And if you want to speak with her, you need to get your butt up there.
Cursing her damp underwear and her dirt-smeared knees and elbows to take her mind off her doubts, Beth took a trembling step toward the house. Soft earth squished under her weight as each footstep sank into the ground.
Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty. . .
Chapter Fifteen
Izzy let out a deep woof. Victoria rolled over and opened one eye. Izzy was always the first to alert Victoria to anything out of the ordinary—like the occasional visitor. She flew off the bed and ran toward the doorway, her brown brindle coat blending seamlessly into the dark bedroom.
“Shhh. Be quiet. I need to sleep.”
Within seconds, all the dogs were on their feet and barking. What had woken them? With a touch of sleep still clouding her thoughts, Victoria imagined Ned had stayed the night in the guest wing and was just getting something in the kitchen. But just as quickly, she remembered he had gone home long ago. Had she set the alarms? No. She rarely set them during the day or night, afraid the dogs would set them off, and last night was no exception.
The barking escalated. Victoria wasn’t hearing the excited yelps from earlier when the dogs chased something through the yard. These gruff barks were intended to send a firm message—this is our house. Which meant someone was there who didn’t belong. She whipped her gun out from under her pillow and stood up, the hardwood floor cool beneath her bare feet. Her skin crawled with tiny goosebumps as she listened. In the sliver of light coming from the bathroom, the dogs’ shadows stretched and twisted against the walls like hunched, contorting demons. Eddie slipped through the partly closed door and disappeared. From behind their enclosure, Leo and Bella watched, ears flattened, tails tucked underneath their bellies.
She wedged her cell phone under her arm, turned on the light, and crept out of her room toward the center of the house. The sheer size of her home intensified her concern—so many rooms and corridors where someone could lurk and hide. In a whoosh of movement, Izzy and Eddie ran past her and rushed outside. The dog door—large enough for a person to climb through—slapped shut behind them and clicked into place. That was good. If someone was on her property, they weren’t inside. Yet.
“Exterior lights on.” Victoria’s voice was steadier than her nerves.
Light flooded the patio and yard. Angled against the wall, Victoria scanned the area. Izzy and Eddie trotted back inside, huffing, and shaking their heads, their fur damp. “Good dogs, good dogs,” she whispered. She hoped they sensed her tension, she wanted to confirm their instincts—it wasn’t okay for someone to be out there in the middle of the night. If that was the case. She hoped there was another explanation.
Facing the back door, Eddie growled.
It’s probably nothing. I’ll just check the monitors and go back to bed. A niggling sensation reminded her that just because it was most likely nothing didn’t mean it was always nothing. It was definitely something when her mother was abducted in the middle of the night while the rest of the family and dogs were at their lake house.
Years ago, alone, in an equally big house, had her mother heard something, then tried to convince herself she was being silly, that perhaps whatever she’d heard wasn’t anything more troubling than an animal invading the garden? Did she pass up the opportunity to call 911, thinking there was some innocuous explanation right up until the terror-filled instant she realized she was wrong? Had she thought it was probab
ly nothing right up until the instant when strange men grabbed her, tied her up, and hauled her away from the home she would never see again? Victoria would never know the answers to those questions, but she knew she did not want to repeat mistakes from her family’s past.
With a shudder, she cocked her gun, crept through the kitchen, and opened the door to the control room. Each screen inside the room would show a video feed from cameras spread around her house and property.
When she entered the room, in spite of all her training, an icy current ran up her spine.
Eerie gray static danced menacingly across the otherwise blank screens. Her heart pounded. Never had that happened before.
Closing and locking the control room door behind her, she called the security company.
Someone answered immediately. “Wentworth Security.”
“This is Victoria Heslin. My code is GALGA081895SR2.”
“Confirmed, Ms. Heslin. How can we help you?”
“I believe I have an intruder, maybe not in the house, but outside. I didn’t have the security system activated before I went to bed, so no alarms went off, but my video feeds are down. Can you check on them?”
“Yes, Ms. Heslin. Do you think you or anyone else in the house is in danger? Do you want me to call 911? We can have one of our security personnel out there in . . . ten minutes, or do you want me to contact the Sheriff’s office and have a patrol car come by?”
Victoria studied the gray screens, pushing away the thought that they were mocking her. Something was very wrong. But the dogs were no longer barking. She stared at her gun, curling her toes on the tiled floor. After years of living in a constant state of worry because of what happened to her mother, Victoria signed up for self-defense classes, and then studied martial arts. She hadn’t wanted to live her entire life in fear. When she joined the FBI, even though her awareness of criminal behaviors multiplied, her paranoia disappeared as her training and experience progressed. By the time she graduated Quantico, her sense of empowerment was complete. She was now entrusted with protecting the lives of others, and more than capable of doing so. She could take care of herself.
“Ms. Heslin, are you still there? Should I call 911 for you?”
“No. No, thank you. No need to send anyone here. I’m the only one in the house and I’m armed. I just want to know what is going on with my surveillance cameras.”
“Do you need a technician dispatched this evening, or would you like to make a service call for tomorrow?”
“Let me look around. I’ll call back to place a service call.”
“Okay. Thank you.” She took a deep breath and ended the call.
She opened the door in a shooting stance, her gaze darting around, ready to pull the trigger if necessary. No need to announce her presence as a Federal Agent. This was her home.
The dogs lifted their heads from where they were sprawled across the floor on their sides. Izzy jumped up first and the rest of them scrambled to their feet and surrounded Victoria, each completely focused on their master. Whatever they heard earlier was no longer a perceived threat. Whatever, or whoever they heard was gone.
Ordering herself to calm down, Victoria sat at her desk with her weapon close by and checked her messages, aware of every slightest noise. Exhausted, but wound up like a tightly coiled spring, she eventually returned to bed and replaced the gun under her pillow. Tomorrow would require all her focus. She needed to sleep, especially because there might be some sleepless nights ahead as the investigations moved forward. But details and images from her long day kept flashing through her mind: brain matter, blood spatter, gaping bullet holes, numbers scrawled in black ink across ashen skin, a note left for her, and the bouncing gray static on her security video screens.
A clap of thunder echoed through the walls. Izzy jumped onto the bed, circled, then lay down, draping her head over Victoria’s ankle. Victoria pulled the soft sheet and comforter up to her chin and concentrated on the dog’s soft, rhythmic exhalations.
As a thunderstorm rocked the night, Victoria slept again while her darkest fears took shape in nightmares.
# # #
Shaking with fear, her heart pounding like crazy, Beth ran through the darkness. She landed wrong and her ankle twisted to one side. She yelped as a jolt of pain shot up her leg. Limping as fast as she could, she kept moving across the wide expanse of yard between her and the fence.
At any second, she expected to get slammed to the ground from behind, pulled backwards, and torn apart.
Just as suddenly as it started, the barking stopped. Nothing jumped on her back or tore at her skin. But would they come back? I’ll act crazy, stomp, and wave my arms around to freak them out. Or did that only work with bears?
She shivered, thinking about what might have happened, what still might happen. A small winged creature darted past overhead, flapping too close for comfort. She shielded her face, bracing for an attack straight out of a horror movie. Since the moment she set foot on Agent Heslin’s back porch, it was as if someone flipped a switch to let loose a deranged circus from hell. The sudden barking and growling—like a kennel full of crazed dogs lived inside the house. And not little yappy dogs like her sister’s. Dogs with deep, guttural voices—a bunch of giant drooling beasts like German Shepherds, Rottweilers, and Doberman Pinschers, snarling and snapping their razor-sharp teeth, ready and willing to tear out someone’s throat. That someone could have been her if she hadn’t taken off running for her life. Maybe the dogs were the reason Agent Heslin hadn’t activated her security alarms—no need for them.
Ankle throbbing, she continued with a wincing gallop movement toward the thick bushes. She ducked her head and covered it with her arms, forcing her way through the bushes to the fence. Tiny spears dug into her hands as she lugged herself over and collapsed on the other side in an exhausted heap. Her chest heaved with ragged gasps of breath. Not her finest moment.
The wet earth soaked through her jeans and top. She finally stood, brushing off debris and fixing her hair so Danny wouldn’t know what she’d been through. Sweat trickled down her sides, further chilling her in the cold air.
Where was the damn moon when she needed it most? Unsure if she was heading in the right direction, she painfully hobbled toward the front gate, focusing on calming her heart and lungs so it wasn’t like she was still running an obstacle course. As her fear dissipated, her anger grew. Things had not gone as she expected. Not even close. She’d had to flee like a scared and helpless animal, a terrified little rabbit, like prey rather than the predator.
She turned on her phone flashlight and aimed the small circle of light on the ground in front of her feet. When the large iron gate loomed ahead, she unfolded a note from her pocket and wrapped it around the fence where it was sure to be seen.
The note would have to do for now. Next time, she’d be better prepared.
Chapter Sixteen
A persistent whine broke through Victoria’s slumber in the otherwise silent room. She rolled from her back to her side, jostling Izzy off her legs. The sad sound continued. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, the comforter falling in soft folds around her waist. The first specks of morning light entered the room. Her alarm hadn’t gone off yet. The dogs rarely stirred until she got out of bed. Who was whining? And why was she so tired? As she woke fully, her memories returned—Leo and Bella, the disturbance after midnight, the malfunctioning security cameras.
“Listen up, Leo and Bella, I like my dogs to be quiet until the alarm goes off. So if you’re still here tomorrow, gotta remember that. Please.” She tossed the covers aside, stood up, and left the bedroom, followed by her dogs.
Walking through the main floor, her eyes darted to every corner. A quick check inside the control room proved the video monitor feeds and security system were working. The security company had left her an apology-laden message saying the technology had experienced a mysterious but temporary glitch and then restored itself. Victoria wasn’t comfortable with the “mysterious glitch
” explanation. Quite a coincidence for a night when she thought she might have had an intruder. She intended to find out exactly what happened. It might be time for a new security company. She returned to her bedroom to brush her teeth and pee. Her smooth skin always paled when she didn’t get enough sleep, and dark circles had formed under her eyes, but it was nothing a little tinted moisturizer couldn’t hide. She changed into running clothes and clipped her phone onto her jacket. As she passed the safe in the mudroom, headed outside, she debated grabbing her gun and holster, but decided against it.
Fog descended from a gray sky heavy with thick clouds, another soaking downpour almost a certainty. The scent of recently cut grass and damp earth had been intensified by yesterday’s rain. The yard was littered with leaves and twigs blown from the foliage. Stepping off her back patio, she spotted footprints in the mud. Hairs raised on the back of her neck. A size seven shoe was her estimate. Gazing out through the mist at the tall bushes that framed her yard like a wall, she imagined someone hiding behind them, waiting. But her dogs, with their extraordinary hearing and scent detection, were calm and quiet, so no one was there. She crouched down and took pictures of the shoe prints with her phone.