Page 64 of Cyn
He followed the map app directions projected on the small screen in his SUV, and soon, they were turning onto a barely paved road where the slush and snow mixed with gravel and dirt. At one point, it might have been a nice road, but with the New England winters and the short road repair season, that point was long in the past.
They passed the first two houses, then about a mile up the road, they passed the third. The last mile and half led only to Bartlett’s place. There were tire tracks in the unplowed snow, and Joe was careful to avoid them with his own vehicle as his gaze took in the area. Woods crowded in on either side of them, which was both bad and good. Good, because it would be a hard place for an ambush since there was nowhere to park a vehicle. Bad because forests, even deciduous winter forests, could hide a lot of people.
“Any updates from Lucy on the security?” he asked, pulling over to the side of the narrow road about a quarter of a mile from Bartlett’s drive.
Cyn nodded. “Before I get to that, though, Six just texted. None of the three men are at the apartment, although their phones are. They must have dumped them and are now using burners.
“Is she on her way back to Cos Cob?”
Again, Cyn nodded. “Before she left, she put up a few cameras in the hallway that no one should notice. We’ll be able to keep an eye on the building, but I’m betting the young men have gone to ground.”
Joe agreed. The three men might not be the sharpest knives in the drawer, but going to ground the day before orchestrating a terrorist attack would be a basic strategy to avoid attention. “What about Lucy’s updates?”
“She shut a few outside cameras down, but her initial assessment from inside the house is that there are a few systems in place, but none are turned on.”
“Do we trust that?”
Cyn chuckled. “I trust Lucy, but it is weird. Then again, if he’s dead or injured at home and he let an attacker in, it wouldn’t be unusual for the system to still be off since presumably, the attacker wouldn’t know how to turn it back on when he or she left.”
Joe let out a long breath. “We haven’t said it out loud, but I assume, based on your words, that you agree with me that something has happened to Bartlett?”
“We walked through cover stories. I think it’s safe to say we have the same assumptions.”
Joe grimaced. “I didn’t bring a mask,” he said, easing his foot off the brake and rolling forward. If a body had been left in a heated house for two days, it was going to be ripe.
“Lucky for you, your new girlfriend likes to come to a crime scene prepared,” Cyn replied, pulling a small container of Vicks from her bag. “You have no idea how many times these little containers have saved my stomach.”
He chuckled, then slowed the car again as Bartlett’s drive came into view at the end of the road. But as the forested road ended, Bartlett’s property opened up into a huge field. At some point, the trees had been cut back dramatically, and at least ten acres of cleared land sat between them and Bartlett’s squat ranch-style house.
The tire tracks Joe had been avoiding continued onto the drive, and he stayed to the side as he pulled forward. Parking in front of a closed garage door, he turned to ask Cyn what the next move was only to find her gazing at the front stoop.
“The door doesn’t look fully closed,” she said. He shifted his gaze, but either her eyesight was ten times better than his, or her position let her see something else because from where he sat, the door appeared shut.
“Time to check it out?” he asked.
With a nod, she tugged on winter gear, then opened the door and slid from her seat. Joe followed suit and met her in front of his SUV. Together, they pulled their weapons out and walked up the snow-laden path, avoiding other footprints along the way. Not only had the road not been plowed, but the walkway hadn’t been shoveled either.
They paused on the stoop, with their weapons drawn, and both he and Cyn cocked their heads to listen. He didn’t expect to hear anything, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. After a beat, Cyn signaled to him that she was going to ease the door open. With a nod, he moved to the side.
Placing her shoulder on the door near the hinges, she gently pushed, and it swung slowly, and silently, open.
“Kevin Bartlett!” she called. No answer. “Bartlett!” she called again. When again there was no answer, she gestured with her head that they should proceed. He gave a sharp nod and signaled that he would go first and that they should go in quiet. Yes, she’d already announced themselves, but no need to make it easier to find them in case someone was lurking about.
Rolling around the doorframe, Joe entered the foyer, his weapon raised. Not a second later, Cyn joined him, pressing the door all the way open and keeping her back to it.
“Together or split up?” she asked.
“Together,” he responded. The house wasn’t that big, and they weren’t in a hurry.
“Dining room?” she asked, jerking her head to her right. It would have been good to get schematics of the place beforehand, but that was a luxury they didn’t have.
“I’ll cover your back,” he said. A few moments later, they’d cleared the dining room and the kitchen. A hallway ran down the center of the house from the kitchen to the other end and Joe assumed bedrooms and bathrooms lay on either side.
Motioning with his head for her to take the lead, Cyn began walking down the hallway. Keeping her back to the wall, she paused at a door, then spun to face it as she moved across the opening. Once she was positioned on the other side, Joe used his foot to gently kick the door open. The door bumped against a counter, preventing it from opening all the way, but behind it was a bathroom. The shower curtain was open and the cabinets too small to hide someone, so he gestured for Cyn to continue. They’d check again more thoroughly once they’d cleared the rest of the house, but for now, it was enough knowing that there was a 99 percent chance the bathroom was empty. And if it wasn’t, then whoever was hiding in there would have to climb out of the cabinets—and make a racket—to get out. They weren’t going to be caught unawares.
They came to the next door, and Cyn performed the same spin, but then drew to an abrupt stop in the middle of the move. She paused and lowered her weapon a touch.
“Cyn?”
