Page 70 of The Chameleon

“I was supposed to be the bait. Once I found out where you were staying, I was supposed to text them your location. Then they would come here… and…” Jorge’s gaze dropped to the floor once again. The boy’s shoulders began to bob.

Was he crying?

“And what?” Matteo asked. His stomach was in knots, and his heart was pounding.

This was a setup. A ruse to get access.

“We need to leave,” Ares barked, barging into Matteo’s room and throwing open the closet door.

“What? What are you doing?” Matteo asked, confused as shit.

The boy just stood there quivering, clutching his phone.

It beeped.

The boy shut his eyes tight and refused to look at his phone.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, slowing opening his eyes and looking at Matteo once more. “He lied to me.”

A growl escaped Ares, drawing Matteo’s attention.

Inside the closet, Ares banged open the back panel and pulled a black duffel bag out of the wall.

“What the?” Matteo started, watching as Ares pulled a gun out of the bag and zipped the duffle bag back up. “Holy shit! Where did you?—”

“We need to go. The kid led them straight to us,” Ares barked, giving the kid the stare of a thousand deaths.

Throwing the bag over his shoulder, Ares grabbed Matteo’s wrist and pulled him hard toward the bedroom door.

“Wait!” Matteo yelled, pulling his arm free from the madman’s grip.

“There’s no time!”

Bang!

An explosion erupted at the front of the cabin, followed by the sound of the front door crashing in.

Fuck!

Startled, Matteo threw his hands over his ears, subconsciously trying to shield himself from all the chaos and noise erupting around them.

Behind them, the bedroom window exploded, showering them with shards of broken glass. Matteo felt a piece slice his cheek.

Madness erupted. Shouts, bangs, crashes. Glass shattered, furniture smashed. Everything felt erratic.

Ares grabbed Matteo by the arm and began pulling him into the hallway. Without thinking, Matteo reached out and grabbed Jorge as well, pulling him along in the process.

They ran into the spare bedroom, where Ares quickly shut the bedroom door behind them without a sound. Raising his finger to his lips, he motioned for them all to remain silent. Without waiting for a response, Ares quickly pulled them both toward the closet and threw open the door.

“What are you doing?” Matteo whisper-growled, stunned when he saw Ares lift a trapdoor hidden in the floor of the closet.

Without warning, Ares’s calloused hands grabbed hold of Matteo and shoved him toward the hole in the ground.

“Go, now! Climb!” Ares ordered, pointing toward a ladder that led into the darkness beneath the cabin. In his hands, Ares cocked his gun as shots erupted in the living room.

Men’s voices were heard shouting instructions in Spanish as footsteps charged toward the spare room.

“Now! Go!”

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