Contract to Kill (16 page)

Holly asked, “What’s going on? Who’s Karen?”

“She’s Mara’s friend; they used to live together.”

“You think Mason’s at Karen’s house?”

Nathan didn’t answer.

“They’re sterilizing,” Harv said.

“Why there?” Holly asked. “Why her?”

Again, Nathan didn’t respond; he was too focused on Karen, going over the layout of her house in his head. First Security had upgraded her alarm system a few years ago. There were multiple keypads in the house, so it shouldn’t take her more than a few seconds to trigger the panic feature and get into her rabbit hole. He hoped she hadn’t used it for storage.

Mason knew his way around security systems and believed someone had just triggered the panic button. The increased exterior light and blaring shriek inside the house meant he had very little time to break in, grab the woman, and bug out. Keeping his head down in case there were hidden cameras, he charged the front door and threw his weight against it. No match for his momentum, it flew open and banged against the wall.

Karen opened a cabinet door and thanked heaven for finding an empty space. She’d been worried Cindy might’ve put stuff in here. She scrambled inside and pulled the door closed.

Total blackness engulfed her.

Over the blaring alarm, she heard a loud bang and knew someone had just kicked open her front door. She blindly felt for the small shelf in the upper-right corner and closed her hand over the butt of the .25 automatic pistol. Fighting back tears, she tucked her knees against her chest and waited for Nathan or death to arrive.

Nathan’s phone vibrated, so did Harv’s. If any of their clients ever activated the panic feature, both of their phones received text alerts.

Nathan accelerated to eighty miles an hour along a straight section of road. “Let’s hope the noise chases Mason away. He should know the police will treat Karen’s alarm like a 911 call.”

“Agreed. Our system shows a home invasion’s taking place. If she made it into her rabbit hole, she bought some extra time. She’s got a gun in there, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah, she’s supposed to. We’ll need to park down the street and proceed on foot.”

Holly asked, “Doesn’t this seem like overkill? I mean, at some point the crimes you commit to cover things up exceed the original crime.”

Harv sighed. “Yeah, they do. It’s the same principle as lying. It snowballs.”

“Hang on. I’m going through.” Nathan approached a red light without slowing.

“Clear on the right,” Harv said. “Good driving, partner.”

Nathan cranked the windshield wipers to their highest setting.

“So Karen knows Toby and Mara, right?” Holly asked.

“Yes.” Nathan ran another red light without incident. “We don’t know whether Toby or Mara told Mason about us, but it looks like one of them may have contacted Karen.”

“But why?” asked Holly. “Why bring someone else into this? You said not to tell anyone.”

“Mara and Karen are close friends,” Harv said. “Friends share secret stuff with each other.”

Nathan nodded. “Well, let’s hope the rabbit hole works. The alarm should force Mason to conduct a quick room-to-room recon, and when he doesn’t find anyone, he’ll bug out.”
Or burn the place down.
Nathan braked hard and made another turn. The wheels drifted on the wet concrete, but he maintained control. “We’re almost there. I’ll park at the corner and take point on the west side of the street. I’ll use whatever landscaping is available to advance. If any of Karen’s neighbors see me, that’s okay. The more people calling 911, the better. Harv, you take the east side of the street and give me a ten-second lead.”

“What about me?” Holly asked.

“You’ll take Harv’s six, twenty-second delay.”

Harv said, “Karen didn’t mention seeing any vehicles, did she?”

“No.”

“Then we should keep an eye out for their SUV and Lexus. Based on everything that’s happened tonight, I know how this is going to sound, but we should avoid a firefight if possible. Again, we don’t have vests and we can’t risk a stray bullet entering someone’s home. Let’s agree that our mission objective is to chase them away if they’re still around.”

“It’s tempting to shoot them, but I agree, Harv. We’ll get an opportunity later. When we’re finished with those BSI . . .
contractors
, they’re going to be droolers for the rest of their lives.”

“Amen to that.”

Nathan made a tight left turn onto Mount Acadia Boulevard and accelerated to twice the speed limit. Every hundred yards or so, he honked his horn. If anyone was out here at 1:43
AM
, at least they’d hear the big Mercedes coming.

Harv said, “Be careful, Nate, they could be tearing out of there. If we see some headlights in Karen’s neighborhood, there’s a good chance it’s them.”

Nathan braced himself for another high-speed turn.

“There’s something else we have to consider,” Harv said.

“What’s that?”

“If it’s Mason, and he finds Karen . . . ”

“Yeah, I know. I’m more worried about her being kidnapped. Mason won’t hang around to interrogate her; he’ll grab her and leave.”

“He’ll also take her phone.”

“I told her to clear her recent calls, but in her current state of mind, who knows. My phone number or name might be front and center in her recent-call list. Let’s hope it doesn’t say Nathan McBride—First Security.”

“Maybe we’ll get some footage of them. Karen’s security system activated all the cameras—inside and out.”

Nathan asked, “It’s a live link?”

“Yes, the video is sent directly to our server.”

Nathan didn’t say anything.

“She’s going to be okay, Nate. We’ll be there in ninety seconds.”

Mason rushed through the breached door and crouched at the entrance to the living room. Except for the bleed light from the exterior floods, it was dark in here. If there were any other sounds, they were impossible to hear over the obnoxious shrieking.

Each passing second represented increasing danger. Many Americans owned guns, and he didn’t want to be facing the business end of one. He was also worried about dogs, but fortunately, none charged out of the darkness.

He rushed from room to room, pivoting around corners and using furniture for cover when he could. His earpiece came to life with Darla’s voice.

“Skinner, we’ve
. . .
lights coming on in the house
. . .
door to the north. Same thing
. . .
the street
. . .
think we’ve got less
. . .
thirty seconds before
. . .
coming outside.”

“You’re unreadable over this alarm. Copy you’ve got neighbor activity?” Mason reached down and cranked the volume.

“Affirm.”
Darla’s voice was louder.

“It doesn’t look like anyone’s home, but somebody had to press the panic button.”

“It could’ve been triggered remotely.”

“Either way, we’re not hanging around to find out. Regroup at the vehicles. I’m on my way. You copy, Chip?”

“Affirm.”

Mason looked for framed photos of the people who lived here but saw none. This place was pretty stark. It didn’t have the feel of someone’s home; it felt more like an office. The infernal noise was getting under his skin. Annoyed at not finding anyone, he kicked a Tiffany table lamp across the room. Its shade shattered on the hardwood floor.

Outside, he kept his head down and sprinted through the blinding light.

“Skinner, we’ve got more trouble.”

“What’s going on?”

“I just heard chatter through the scanner. The fire department just requested a code-three bus for an unconscious gunshot victim.”

Nathan slowed about a hundred yards north of Karen’s house and found a parking spot midway between streetlights.

In the distance, multiple sirens pierced the night. The three of them performed a radio check to make sure all their wiring was still good.

With Harv following across the street, Nathan hustled down the sidewalk. He’d cut into people’s yards closer to Karen’s.

The setting and mood felt eerily familiar and reminded him of the night he’d fought with Toby. Just as they were now, recycle bins had been stationed along the street’s curb like sentinels. Contrasting the anger he felt, the soft patter of rain hitting their plastic forms sounded benign, almost calming.

He could now see the glow from Karen’s yard and hear the blaring of the security system’s alarm—a good sign. If he could hear it at this distance, other neighbors could too. Their system did exactly what it was designed to do. Nathan hoped it would be enough.

He glanced across the street and saw Harv a few paces back, mirroring his forward progress. He couldn’t see Holly, but knew she was back there somewhere.

“Holly, status?”

“I’ve got Harvey in sight.”

“Harv, how long ago did we receive the panic-button text?”

“Just over four minutes.”

Nathan clicked his radio and kept going, wishing it were darker on this street. When he reached the side yard of Karen’s house, he made an all-out sprint for the front door. Its jamb splintered, it lay wide open.

Just inside, he crouched. It was impossible to hear anything over this awful noise. If Mason had discharged his pistol, Nathan ought to be able to smell a trace of it. So far, he didn’t.