Page 67 of Beautiful Vengeance

She flew the drone over the manor house, circled it, and zoomed the camera in. There was no sign of Kiyomi and the others. Not even her custom infrared device was picking them up inside.

They had to be hiding beneath the house in an old cellar. “Check under the first floor and flush them out of the house.”

With the north and east entrances blocked, the only options for escape were south or west. And the only good cover near that fence line was the woods to the southwest. “Once they come out they’re going to head southwest. Follow them.”

“Copy.”

She watched the screen as she spoke. “Remember what I said. Kiyomi is to be captured alive. And if possible, unharmed.”

“And the others?”

“Kill them all.” They were dead weight and liabilities for her.

“Roger.”

“Extraction is in eighteen minutes. Synchronize timers…now.” She hit a button on her wristwatch, activating the stopwatch function, then turned south and started for the thick band of woods near the southwest fence line.

In just a matter of minutes, Kiyomi would be hers, and then she could finally begin the most important work of her life.

****

“Where’s Karas?” Kiyomi asked as she and Marcus hurried through the study to the bookcase.

“Already inside,” he answered, pulling her through the opening into the secret passage beyond it and shutting the bookcase behind them. Trinity and Brody were already down the ladder and in the old priest hole that he and Megan had converted into a loadout room.

Kiyomi quickly climbed down the ladder. Marcus followed, cursing the pain and weakness in his left hip and thigh. It was still flared up from the attack on Rahman’s headquarters.

As soon as he reached the bottom Kiyomi was there, handing him a ballistic vest. He strapped it on as the others did the same. “They’re going to try to flush us out,” he said. “Our best chance at getting out is to use the escape tunnel.”

“It lets out on the east side of the garden wall,” Trinity added for Brody and Kiyomi. “There’s some cover there, but not much.”

“How far out are the others?” Kiyomi asked, taking a rifle from where it was mounted on the stone wall.

“From Coventry it’s at least forty-five minutes by car,” Marcus said, typing out a text to Megan. There was no reception down here but hopefully it would send once they got outside. He didn’t know when he’d get the chance to stop and text again, so better now and hope for the best. They couldn’t involve the local cops. They’d be slaughtered against this kind of enemy.

Silence met his words, the gravity of the situation hitting hard. They were outnumbered. There was no way they could hold off the enemy force for that long, so escape was the only option.

“We stack up just inside the tunnel exit,” he told them, grabbing extra ammo and shoving it into the pockets on his vest. “Then we make a break along the garden wall and head for the stables.”

Kiyomi stared at him. “We’re going to escape on horseback?”

He nodded. “The ATVs are too far away. We’d be exposed trying to get to them, and they’re too loud even if we could.” Reaching for the sniper rifle on the top shelf, he pulled it down and handed it to Brody. “You’ll be wanting this.”

Brody took it. “After we get on the horses, where are we riding?”

“Woods on the southwest side.” He loaded a full magazine into his rifle, then checked his sidearm and holstered it, urgency beating at him. They had to hurry. Get out before they became trapped. “There’s an eight-foot stone wall there. We need to get the women over it, and find a place to hide until the others can get here.”

“Oh no,” Kiyomi argued, spinning to face him with an annoyed look. “We’re not damsels in distress. If we go over that wall, you’re both coming with us too.”

“The Architect wantsyou,” he told her, a wave of protectiveness blasting through his system. “It’s my job to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“You—”

He held up a hand, his attention riveted to a monitor attached to the far wall. The camera showed a split image of the front and back entrances to the hallway. Two slender figures were slipping inside the back door, and two more through the front. “We’re out of time. Questions?”

No one said anything.

“Right. Let’s move.” He crouched down in front of Karas to ruffle the top of her head. “Stay. You’ll be safe here.” She gazed up at him with confused brown eyes, but this was the safest spot for her and she had food and water put out. If he didn’t make it back, she would be all right until Megan or one of the others could come for her.

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