Chapter 24 - copper wires
"Get Chloe," I ordered, sliding the microfilm strip into my pocket and tucking the silver lighter into my coat. "Take her through the service kitchen to the cellar entrance. There's a iron door behind the wine racks that leads to the old drainage tunnel under the carriage house."
Nora didn't argue. She turned and sprinted out of the library, her soft shoes making no sound against the oriental rugs of the hallway.
I walked over to the tall bay windows, pulling the heavy velvet drapes back an inch to peer out into the rainy courtyard. Two men dressed in dark raincoats stepped out of the black SUV, their faces obscured by low-brimmed caps. One of them held a long, rectangular leather case, while the other held a heavy flashlight, sweeping its beam across the ground-floor windows of the estate.
I slipped out of the library and moved silently down the rear corridor toward the master study. Beneath the floorboards of the study sat my father's old gun safe. I unlocked the heavy iron dial—18-32-05—and pulled out a 12-gauge hunting shotgun and a box of brass cartridges.
As I loaded two shells into the breach, a loud, metallic crack echoed from the front foyer. The heavy oak front doors had been forced open.
I backed into the shadowed recess of the dining room archway, holding my breath as footsteps approached down the main hallway. The floorboards creaked under heavy, deliberate weight.
"We know you're in here, Daniel," a low, rasping voice called out through the dark house. "We don't want you. We just want the silver lighter and the woman. Give them up, and you can keep your father's house."
May you like
I raised the shotgun, resting the barrel against the doorframe, my finger light against the trigger. "My brother died three years ago," I called out into the dark hallway. "Whatever he took from you isn't in this house!"
"Your brother isn't dead, kid," the voice replied with a cold, mocking chuckle. "He was sitting in the back of our car twenty minutes ago."
