Page 7 of The Master's Holiday

He brought Micheal and his team which consisted of many of the new members all of whom had proven themselves qualified and capable. They were a great group of men and an excellent addition to the Hadden Coven. During the ride Josef continued to try and contact someone at the Lodge but so far nothing.

He thought about calling the police but that could go very wrong depending upon the reasons for the cut in contact. They would be there before dark and then the questions would be answered. In his heart he knew there was something wrong, so he urged his driver to go faster.

CHAPTER FOUR

Walker was shocked and dismayed, to say the very least. His perfect weekend getaway had turned into some sort of dreadful action movie. Worst of all, they were trapped, unable to use the skills available to them because they were among humans and surveillance cameras.

This place had been his dream, having heard about it from a friend at the garage who had brought his wife and had a splendid time. Walker had researched it with the help of his best friend Stanley, and it looked like the perfect, private place to spend a lovely weekend with your significant other. He presented the idea to Nik, and although it took a while, Nik had never forgotten his request, and when it was possible, he booked the weekend.

“I wish I’d never heard of this place. I wish I could go back in time and find something else, something less violent with fewer bullets." Walker grumbled.

“I have no complaint up until, as you say, the bullets started flying. Yesterday and last night were wonderful, and I loved spending them with you in our gorgeous room with a lovely view of the forest and the lake. The food and service were impeccable. Do not blame yourself, my love. This difficulty willbe resolved soon." Walker saw him glance at Dumas when he made the final statement, and Dumas nodded.

“How many in total do you think are involved?” He asked Nik.

“The five here of course and then whoever they have guarding the property and keeping people out so guards at the gates probably at least two so we’re looking at least seven.” Nik responded. “I didn’t get a number when I checked out the large one’s mind. The people he’s working with are not a priority to him, but people like this don’t usually show a lot of loyalty.”

The large one came to their table and held open a cloth bag, thrusting it toward them. "All your valuables in here." He barked, and Walker was about to hand over his watch when Nik captured the man’s eyes, holding him entranced. It was a subtle glamour and would not be recognized if caught on camera.

“You have all of our things now move onto the next table.” He told him and kept his voice low and Walker saw the man nod and walk to the next table. He worked his way around the room and then took a stance by the door.

“Now it’s time to pull out your wallets and start to transfer money. I know you have it so don’t even try to play any games. He took his handgun out and shot out the chandelier and also the mirrors on the far wall. It was performative but effective people immediately started reaching for their wallets.

"We've already killed two people, so a few more will not matter." He seemed to be bragging, which was in really bad taste.

“I hate that guy.” Walker couldn’t hold back his opinion.

“Yeah, he's easy to hate," Dumas added.

The guy opened the door and the shorter heavy set man walked in and started making the rounds getting people to wire them cash. Walker assumed it was some kind of secret account otherwise it would be pretty easy to follow the money. "I wish they could have just robbed the safe and left because it would have made life easier for all of us.” Walker voiced his thoughts.

The short man came to Nik’s table and tried a heavy-handed approach, but he calmed him down and backed him off with a dark stare and a wave of his hand. He stepped back, confused by his own behavior. "You're Nikolas Hadden, everybody knows you." He scoffed. "Either hand over some cash, or we may find it necessary to kill that pretty piece of fluff sitting behind you.” The man smiled sickly at Walker. “My rifle could really tear you to pieces, sweet thing." He acted tough, but even Walker could sense that he had little to back up that attitude apart from his rifle. The words, though, did have an effect on Nik.

Walker could sense that Nik was using every ounce of restraint he had to stop himself from ripping this man apart. His knuckles turned white as his fingers curled into tight fists.

“I could cut up your bodyguard here and make you watch, and that would be entertaining for all of us." He spoke in a weird, melodic voice. It was becoming clear that the man was not rational.

“Take your best shot.” Dumas stated and captured the short one’s gaze and Walker saw the flash of the hellhound in his eyes and the man jumped back startled. It threw him off for a moment, but he then shook it off and moved away from Dumas.

"I can open the safe," Nik stated flatly, but Walker had no idea what he was planning. He reached out and clutched Nik by the upper arm, not wanting him to leave.

“Take me to your safe, I can open it.” He repeated and put his hand over Walkers and channeled a quiet calm. Walker relaxed but kept his eyes on Nik and that ridiculous goon. The guy reached out to grab Nik but in the last second thought better of it and simply asked him to stand.

Walker hated the idea of them being separated but he trusted Nik and figured he had a plan. He would try and not make it worse by getting worried and upset which would simply end up splitting Nik’s attention.

“Come with us.” He said to Nik, and Dumas made to stand, but the man turned back and shot a couple rounds into the floor. The guy seemed taken aback when no one at the table flinched. “Your hired muscle and your piece of ass will stay here.” Nik winked at him, and Walker knew at that moment that everything was fine.

Nik followed the guy back out into the lobby, where they were met with two more men in masks holding guns. "What are you doing?" One of them reacted and got into the guy's face. "Take him back to the restaurant.”

“He said he can open the safe.” The guy explained and the others stared at Nik speculatively wondering if he was serious or working some angle to escape. Their minds were filled with chaos and attempts at plans to salvage this mess.

“How would you know how to open this safe?” One of them asked and stepped forward. Nik rattled off the name and number and all the specifics regarding this particular safe. He’d pulled this information from the guy’s mind. It seemed to impress him enough that he stepped back and became interested.

“Take him to the office and see if he’s telling the truth.” He finally decided and then shot a round into the floor at Nik’s feet for effect. The theatrics were becoming tiring. "If he's lying, kill him." He said, then turned his back on them and headed for the conference room.

Nik watched as he tried to open the door, but it would not budge. “Get this door open.” He said to one of the others who rushed over and tried to open it to no avail. Nik found the display mildly entertaining.

“This is Nikolas Hadden of Pittsburgh if we kill him we will be hunted to the ends of the earth.” The short one warned, and Nik decided perhaps he was smarter than he looked.

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