Page 29 of Countdown to Murder
“Ember needs to have a talk with her. This is why he’s so cocky about getting her. He’s probably putting suggestions in her head about not telling us.”
“You asked what I’d do? I’d knock her out and fly her somewhere far, far away. We’d leave shortly after dawn took him, and I’d make damned sure she was at least a thousand miles away six hours later, but even then, I’d lie my ass off about where we’d taken her.”
He shook his head. “I’m not authorized to make those kinds of decisions. Only Aaron or Nathan can take that kind of action.”
I figured as much, but that was the only way I knew for sure to keep her safe. “If there’s a secret exit, we need to know about it.”
He nodded. “Most likely, it’s a way out but not in. Someone inside will have to open the door, but we all know he drank from her during sex, so if he orders her toopen it, she will.” He took a drink of his orange juice. “She’s been self-medicating with an anti-anxiety drug. Knocking her out to keep her safe wouldn’t be a huge stretch if we can make her think whatever she’s taking built up enough in her system to knock her out. I need to talk to Nathan.”
We sat down to eat, and I shook my head when he poured more orange juice for himself. I was fine with water.
“Ember is scheduled for some sleep as soon as we get past dawn. The client will likely sleep at that point as well. I need you to take a picture of all medicine bottles, and I’ll talk to Ember about what she’s observed the client taking. While you’re in there, look for some kind of secret exit. A sliding bookshelf, or wall panel. False back in an armoire. Possibly something in the floor.”
“I need to be in there with Ember tonight, and probably one other person. Ya’ll can’t come into the suite unless someone opens the door from inside. If the vampire comes in from a backdoor, you’ll have to watch and listen to whatever he does, with no way in to help. We need someone on the door to open it, and we need someone in both the bedroom and sitting room of the suite.” I took a breath and asked what I knew would be an unpopular question. “Does Ember have experience taking down Master Vampires?”
“Not the kind of experience you have. She’s fast, she’s strong, and she’s good with her weapons. He won’t get past her mental shields, but he’ll probably be faster than her.”
“And more experienced,” I pointed out.
He nodded. “You’re right. If the client won’t tell us where the other exit is, we’re going to have to knock her out. Once she’s out, we’ll put one of Jones’s men on the door, ready to open it when the target shows up. I’ll contact Nathan.”
We’d set things up so the client thought we all assumed the hit would come Halloween night, but we were going to be prepared tonight at sundown. Most of us assumed he’d hit in the early morning hours of Halloween, thinking we wouldn’t be expecting him yet.
Three hours later, our client was sound asleep in the saferoom bedroom, and I was looking for the secret entrance she’d assured us didn’t exist, but we’d all smelled the lie.
Ember plus three men were in the bedroom on guard duty, and I was leaning against the wall in the sitting area, feeling the way the expensive wood paneling vibrated when I tapped on it. Eventually, I got someone else to tap while I listened and felt for differences, and I went all around both rooms and the bathroom.
“It’s the bookcase,” I finally told them. “I can only lean against the wall beside it, but it’s enough. The tapsfeel way different when you tap the wall between the shelves, and the fact the whole thing is attached to the wall is yet another point towards it being the door.”
The control room had been going over the blueprints while I worked, trying to find something, and they were of the opinion that section of wall sounded different because of the way the bookcase was built. They were convinced we should look at the floor. So, I went to my stomach, put my face to the floor, and had the mentap-tap-tapall over the floor.
Our client had voluntarily taken something to help her sleep, so we moved our floor tapping into the bedroom, and I heard something different near the bed.
“Move the bed,” I told them.
They tried, but it was attached to the floor.
Fifteen minutes later, the client was on the sofa, her guards were in the living area with her, and I was staring up at Sloan from a hole in the floor, though I was still on the bed. The floor had opened and the bed had dropped down when I’d pushed an odd-looking knot in the wood of the rustic headboard.
“There’s a tunnel. We should see where it goes,” I told them. “Someone should probably push anything on the bookcases that look like a knot, too. I’m still not convinced it isn’t a doorway as well.”
* * **
Panda
An hour after Mira found the first secret exit, we thought we’d found them all. Whoever had made this saferoom system had been serious about their safety. Officially, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company had purchased the land and had the house built, but I wondered if perhaps he’d had his hand in something illegal. This seemed like overkill, unless you were Pablo Escobar, and then it was probably about right.
Mira had been right about the bookcase, and that tunnel led to the garage. Another tunnel led from the back of the bathroom closet into a cave system, and I instructed our control room to find maps of the local cave system, rather than follow it in all directions.
The tunnel under the bed led to a cabin about three miles away, off the property. Two motorcycles were in an attached, locked shed. Weallsmelled the vampire on this property. He wasn’t staying here, but he’d been here and hadn’t tried to hide his scent.
The owner had three escape plans — the garage onsite, this cabin with the motorcycles, and wherever the cave system led, which was yet to be determined.
Mira was in the saferoom. I trusted she could handle the vampire, so she was with our still-unconscious client. She’d been listening in as we reported our findings to thecontrol room, but so far hadn’t spoken up, so I was surprised when I heard her speak.
“He’s going to scent you at the cabin and in the tunnels. If he has a Plan B, he’ll use it. If he doesn’t, there’s a chance he’ll walk away.Old-onesare quite good at staying alive. They’ve had lots of practice. However, this guy seems a little off to me. It isn’t normal for them to play these kinds of games. If they want someone, they take them. He’s turned this into a challenge, a competition to be won or lost. I’m not confident he’ll walk away just because we’ve found the tunnels.”
“You’re our onsite expert onold-ones. I’ll check in with Aaron as well, but what is your recommendation?”
