Page 115 of Hide From Me

It just felt wrong. Like we were walking into a cemetery or a really, really well thought out revenge plan. The thing was, we wouldn’t have known about Rylee had they not come for her. There was no way this was our threat. This was hers though. I finally knew who those random PIs were that had come sniffing around her aunt’s house at times. Most of them were easy to make disappear, but none had ever had information. None had ever known who hired them. They all had something in commonthough. None of them got more than a simple retainer and then the money never came.

It had been easy to pay them off to go away. That, or I hadn’t minded showing them the stairway to heaven.

I got my head back to what we were doing now. We’d had to rob houses once upon a time. But not here. Not this far from the city.

“Something just isn’t right here.”

We were nearly to the backdoor before there was any sign of life inside. We ducked down out of the line of sight and listened through a cracked window. Scents of something cooking told me this was the kitchen, even without looking at the blueprints.

“Old guy’s late again.”

I looked at Zeid who was able to see inside from his angle. The door was in need of paint, but the glass was intact, if a bit dusty. Still, I could see he was watching something.

A different voice, female this time, answered the male voice.

“I don’t know why we’ve stuck around this long. These rich types are all the same. Stingy. Although I’m making his dinner for two tonight. Maybe some widow is here to loosen him up?”

The woman snorted at her own joke.

“Sure. I let in some guys earlier with a girl, but she wasn’t old enough to be a widow, and I don’t even think she was coherent. I give up trying to figure this guy out. The butler’s just as old and tight lipped.”

The good news, that had to be Rylee. The bad news was she wasn’t conscious. I didn’t like the idea of this guy touching her. What kind of grandfather would kidnap his own flesh and blood? I think it said a lot about the kind of guy we were going to be dealing with.

I whispered to X.

“I don’t think this guy has any money. So far, we know there’s a butler and these two. That’s it.”

He shrugged and stood up, pushed past Zeid, and turned the knob on the door.

“Hi, honey, I’m home.”

“What the fuck? Who are you? Shit. Whitehall never mentioned you. Are you security too?”

X laughed.

“Security? Shit. Sure. You wanna take the night off? Iheard he’s late on paychecks anyway.”

X peeked back over his shoulder and flashed a smile.

“Look, if you’re here to rob the bastard, there’s not much left of worth. We’d know, we’ve looked around. This job isn’t fucking worth it.”

X nodded his head, and Zeid and I followed him in, grabbing the girl and the guy.

“Don’t hurt us, okay? We aren’t going to fight you, swear.”

“Where is there rope?”

The guy shrugged, but the female pointed to a cabinet in the corner.

“Why in the hell is there rope in the kitchen?”

Her voice shook as she spoke.

“I don’t know. The gardener quit and just left everything in here, so I shoved it there.”

I shook my head.

“So the old man? He’s broke?”