Page 41 of V-Day
10.
PARRIS WAS GOOD AT HERjob. She and one of her unit, called Ramirez, eased Chloe and Cristián through the woods at the back of the silent and still Peña house, down to the yard. The back wing of the house thrust out nearly to the vertical wall of calcium rock which had been carved when the house was first built.
They jimmied a window, put the pane aside and eased the window open, all without a sound.
Isabela had been forceful about coming with them. Parris refused to let the older woman move out of the tree line behind the house, where the rest of Parris’ unit would guard them. “Tell me what you want from the house so badly, and I’ll get it myself,” Parris told Isabela, looking her in the eye.
Isabela shifted her gaze away self-consciously and rubbed at her throat. “There are medicines in the kitchen we need…”
“No, tell me what youreallywant,” Parris insisted.
Isabela blushed. “The photos on the shelf over the sink…” she said softly.
Cristián drew in a soft breath, startled. Chloe didn’t think anyone heard him.
Parris nodded. “I’ll get them. Pia and Cristián come with me because they know where the gear is. That’s it.”
“Chloe, too,” Cristián said flatly.
“She has no purpose in the house,” Parris said dismissively.
“She comes because I don’t move from this spot if she doesn’t,” Cristián replied.
Parris rounded on him, her chest lifting. Then she let out her breath and glanced at her watch. “Fine. Let’s go before I start caving in heads.” She glanced at the one called Ramirez and jerked her head.
He slung his rifle and unholstered his hand gun, with a short nod. He slid through the trees beside the three of them—Cristián, Pia and Chloe—his head moving as he searched the trees for the enemy. Parris led the way, also moving with cat-like silence.
Now they were climbing through the window into the back wing of the house. Chloe didn’t think any of them had made a single sound, even on pebbly dirt at the back of the house. There were houses on either side. Chloe heard music from one and a woman talking loudly in the other. A slammed door. Domestic, suburban sounds. All while the five of them sneaked into a house in broad daylight.
No wonder burglars found their trade so easy. Everyone went on with their lives, oblivious to what was happening right beside them.
The window Ramirez boosted Chloe through was a bedroom window. She passed a made bed and a dressing table with makeup on it. One of the triplets’ rooms, Chloe guessed, although it was not Pia’s for she moved through the room without lingering.
There was a short corridor outside the room, running past a second door and down five steps, to run for another few yards before it moved out of sight.
Chloe remembered that about Cristián’s house. “It’s full of stairs and levels,” he’d told her, when they had still been using only text. “It’s the only way houses can be built in Pascuallita. Horizontal surfaces are in short supply.”
There were another two doors on the lower level of the corridor. Pia opened one of them and moved inside. Her room, clearly.
“Which way?” Parris asked.
Cristián pointed along the corridor. “Down the stairs, through the kitchen, then up to the north wing. My room is there. That’s where the stuff is.”
“Let me go first,” Parris said. She was carrying a handgun now, too. Hers was a Glock 19 Gen4 9mm. Chloe approved of her choice. It was a good weapon for a woman. It had real stopping power, yet it was small enough for the average woman’s hands. Parris was petite, although it was hard to remember that most of the time.
Parris padded ahead silently, her gun moving from side to side as she checked corners and nooks and angles.
Eight more steps down to the kitchen. From Cristián’s descriptions, Chloe knew this was the heart of the house. A huge cast iron range sat under a big brick chimney and a well-scrubbed wooden table was in the middle of the room. The benches on either side had gaily colored cushions. The two chairs, one on either end of the table, had curved backs and spindles.
As they passed the chair at the far end of the table, Cristián laid his hand on it, letting it rest there.
Chloe wondered who usually sat there.
Five more steps up into a stunted corridor with only two rooms coming off it. Cristián pointed to the door facing the kitchen and Parris pushed it open and stepped inside, looked around and came out.
“Make it snappy,” she breathed.
Cristián nodded and stepped in.
