Page 42 of Take a Hike
Shaking off her unusually introspective thoughts, she moved more quickly toward the swinging doors that led, she assumed, to the dining area. A cautious peek confirmed that the big room held several rows of tables and benches. It was brighter than the kitchen, thanks to the windows set high along one wall.
Seeing no signs that the space was occupied, Charlie slipped into the dining room, holding the swinging door open for Kieran. In the dim light, he looked larger and more hulking than usual, but somehow friendlier. Charlie realized that this was because she couldn’t make out his expression so well.
Amused by her thoughts, she felt a rush of affection for her breaking-and-entering partner and gave him a fond pat on thearm. Noticing the question in the way his dark shape cocked his head, she just gave a forget-about-it wave and started to weave through the long tables to the closest exit.
Cautiously, she cracked open the door and peered at a large space modeled after a hunting lodge. Dead animal heads mounted on the wood-paneled wall cast extra-creepy shadows, and the huge, empty fireplace looked like a monstrous, gaping mouth.
What iswrongwith you tonight?Charlie gave her arm a pinch.Monstrous, gaping mouth? Are you a Victorian-horror writer now?
She distracted herself from her oddly imaginative mood by checking the scattered armchairs and couches for any stray militia members who’d resisted curiosity and stayed inside. Charlie was grateful for their paranoia, since even this room only had narrow windows placed high in the wall. They worked well to keep members from being spied on, but it also made it impossible to see what was going on outside without actually leaving the building.
Creeping through the room, she hesitated at a cluster of chairs gathered around a coffee table constructed of peeled pine branches. The coffee table seemed like the obvious spot, but that was the problem. It wastooobvious. Kieran gave her a nudge and pointed up at the ceiling.
At first, she thought he was indicating the exposed timber beams a good twelve feet above their heads, but then her gaze landed on the hideous chandelier made of elk antlers suspended at a much more manageable height.
Manageable, that was, with a little help from the giant nextto her.
Leaning so close, she could smell his woodsmoke and, oddly enough, new-car scent. Mentally filing that away to tease him about later, she breathed directly into his ear, “Give me a boost?”
As soon as the words were out, he was crouching down. Expecting him to go down to all fours to make himself into a step stool, she startled when his head nudged its way between her thighs. Swallowing a surprised yelp, she felt her eyes widen as he stood, easily hoisting her onto his shoulders as if she weighed nothing at all. Once he was at his full height, and Charlie was at her much-more-than-full height, she enjoyed the feeling of towering over the room…as well as the sturdy strength of Kieran’s shoulders under her thighs.
Pulling out one of the tiny listening devices, she stuck it firmly in an antler crevice, mentally thanking Norah for making the bugs self-adhere. As enjoyable as it was to sit on Kieran, Fifi and Bennett’s distraction wouldn’t keep the militia members distracted forever. With a regretful, silent sigh, she patted the top of his head, surprised by the softness of his short hair. He crouched again, and she dismounted, giving him another pat in thanks…and also because she couldn’t resist touching him once more.
On her feet again, feeling especially short, Charlie took another look around the dim room. A smile spread across her face as she carefully made her way around a leather couch to a snarling taxidermied bear standing against the wall. Going up on her tiptoes, she carefully reached into his toothy mouth and stuck the tiny camera on the back of his strange-looking tongue.After making sure the lens was pointing out toward the room, she withdrew her hand and gave the hideous beast a light pet on the top of his snout.
“Good boy,” she mouthed soundlessly.
A double pat on her shoulder had her turning to look at Kieran, who waved toward the corner, where a set of stairs led downward. After one last sweeping gaze over the shadowed room, she gave a nod and moved toward the top of the steps. Best to save the rest of the electronic devices for other areas.
Kieran maneuvered in front of her, so it was his turn to have his arm pinched. He jumped, turning to stare at her. Although she still couldn’t make out the details of his expression, she could almost smell his offended surprise.
In answer to his silent question, she grabbed him and pulled him back next to her. He gave an almost soundless huff. Although it was whisper quiet, the sound was still packed full of exasperation. Contrary as she was, Charlie grinned while keeping a close eye on him to make sure Kieran didn’t try to shoulder his way in front again.
As they descended, the darkness lightened, which concerned Charlie. More light meant people—plus more chance of them being spotted and outed as intruders. The silence was reassuring though. It was probable that people left lights on as they went to investigate the explosions outside.
At the bottom of the stairs, she turned left as Kieran turned right, but it was only a moment before he rejoined her. Although it would’ve been more efficient if they’d split up to each explore half of the lower level, she felt that same reassurance that hehad her back, just in case. Besides, she’d watched enough horror movies and Scooby-Doo reruns to know that splitting up was always,alwaysa mistake.
Doors lined the hallway, a few cracked open to allow strips of light to run along the carpeted floor. She paused before the first door—this one ajar but dark inside—but she couldn’t hear any sounds of other humans. Flattening herself against the wall, she checked to make sure that Kieran wasn’t in the line of possible fire. He’d mirrored her on the other side of the doorway, and she gave him an approving nod. Although she couldn’t imagine firefighter training included surreptitious compound searches, since their work was more along the lines of loudly hacking their way into a burning building with the owner’s express permission, Kieran was doing a bang-up job of sneaking around.
She gave the door a light push, and it swung open easily, revealing a large, dorm-style bathroom with rows of urinals, a few toilet stalls, and an open bank of showers. It smelled about as clean as Charlie would’ve expected a militia bathroom to be, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste as she moved to the next door—this one closed—in the hall.
This revealed a large closet, stacked with piles of bedding and towels on one side, and cleaning equipment and supplies on the other. She wondered why they had the latter, since the bathroom hadn’t shown any sign of their use—and that was with the lights off. What horrors would the unforgiving LED lights reveal?
With a small shudder, she eased the door closed and slippedacross the hall to the closest door. This one had lights on inside, so her adrenaline ramped up in response to the possibility that this room might not be empty. She and Kieran fell into position on either side of the slightly open door as automatically as if they’d already searched fifty rooms.
This time, she slipped inside as she pushed open the door, muscles tensed, ready to dive to the side if she heard the distinct sound of a shotgun shell being racked. Instead, all she found was an empty bedroom, the covers on the bed rumpled and tossed aside, as if someone had risen in a hurry. As her gaze raked over the basic furniture—bed, dresser, nightstand, lamp—a worrying thought hit her. How were they supposed to tell which was Saul’s room? Would they need to search through every member’s underwear drawer looking for their embroidered initials?
Even as she thought it, she pushed the concern aside. Surely friends of the leader of this gun-loving cult would have the fanciest rooms—or even a suite. There had to be some pretty good perks if his friends were willing to kill for Clint.
Kieran was still in the doorway, angled so he could see if anyone was coming down the hallway. Charlie slipped by him and crossed the hall diagonally to the next door. Except for being a bit tidier, that room was a mirror of the first, so she moved on to yet another door.
By the sixth small and empty bedroom, Charlie was starting to get antsy, and judging by the muscle jumping along Kieran’s jaw, he was feeling the same way. Skipping over the next four doors, she headed straight for the last room at the end of the hall.
This one was closed, and no light was escaping from the crack beneath the door. She fell into position, shooting Kieran a quick smile when he did the same. Slowly turning the knob, she pushed the door open…well, shetriedto push it open. Something was holding it closed.
Charlie looked at the door and mentally kicked herself for missing the dead bolt Her heart began to thrum in her chest as she realized what this meant. Either someone was inside, or the occupant of the room locked it behind them, which meant there was something inside that was valuable or private. This felonious outing might prove to be more than just a bugging expedition. They might actually get some information about the militia and its members’ crimes.
She slowed down her racing brain, knowing she was getting ahead of herself. The room’s occupant could just be private or even had locked their door out of habit. Pulling out her lock-pick kit, she held it up toward Kieran, who gave her a tight nod before returning his attention to the hall behind her.
