Chapter 14
Devlin
Returning to the conference room, I saw Aubrey had the video paused at the very beginning as she leaned over, looking at something Regan had on her screen. They looked up at me as James, Lucian, and I too our seats.
Aubrey sat down and began to explain. “Something about the video wasn’t right the first time I saw it and I think it was the shock of seeing something so .
. .” She shook her head and continued, “But watching it a second time, I started to notice a few things.” Playing the video without any volume, she paused it again just before the unknown person’s fist connected with Elise’s jaw.
Standing, she sent the video to the large screen at the front of the room and pointed at the screen.
“If you see here, right before the person connects with Elise, the fist changes.” She nodded and Regan reached over and pressed play before stopping it almost instantly.
The video showed Elise’s head snapping to the side as the fist is in mid-air.
“See, right here, he has six fingers.” Another nod and the video played for four seconds then stopped, “And here, there are no fingernails on this finger that were there in the last screen.”
Regan backed the video up to the beginning and Regan pointed to the two instances she was referring to. I leaned forward, trying not to focus on what the screen was showing, but the inconstancies of what appeared.
Six other times, she paused the video and pointed to something that was wrong with the image.
Just before the video showed Elise begin stabbed in the chest, feeling my heart beating erratically, she paused it for the last time and pointed to the screen one last time.
“Here, you can see the blade edge is facing up and without shifting their hand, the blade edge is on the bottom on the next frame.”
She looked at me and stated with confidence. “This video has all the hallmarks of a bad AI video, and I think if we ran it through any system, it would agree.”
Standing from my seat, I walked up to an unsure Aubrey and pulled her into a bruising hug, knowing her skilled eyes just saved Elise, and me.
She patted me on the back, and I stepped back, looking at Regan, then her husband, Rhys. “I’m taking the house. My gut says this is those fucking siblings and, in my heart, I think it’s the place to start.”
Rhys stood and replied, “Let’s get moving.”
Skid stood and spoke, “I’m coming with you, so I think we need to double security on the building, and I want Gunner and Sadie to take Elise’s folks and the boys back to the Death Hounds compound. No one can get to them with my brothers protecting them.”
I gave him a nod. “Make the call and meet us in the armory.”
We took the servers and moved them off sight due to the heat they put off into the building.
The second floor was now an armory, even though we didn’t use it that often.
Skid followed us into the hallway and he stopped to call Gunner while Lucian, James, Rhys and I walked down the stairs to the second floor.
I used my handprint before punching in a long and complicated code into the keypad, opening the door to my personal war room. Inside the lights cam e on with movement and I heard a whistle coming from Rhys as he took in what I kept for protection.
“Is that a sniper rifle?” Lucian asked and walked over to the long gun hanging in the case behind the cage.
I walked over to the uniform locker and opened it before glancing over my shoulder at what he was looking at. “It’s one of two, but it’s hard to get a good line of sight to focus the scope, so it may be as much as half an inch off of dead center.”
“Fuck me,” Rhys said as I pulled out my standard black pants, shirt, and boots before stepping to the side and letting James grab his gear. “Why do you have hand grenades?”
I smirked at him and said, “The same reason I have claymore minds.” He gave me a confuse look so I tacked on, “Because I can.”
Lucian and Rhys stepped up and James assisted them in finding clothes that would fit as Skid walked into the room.
He had his own locker with the weapons he preferred, as well as his covert uniform.
It was one of the rare times I’d ever seen him remove his cut.
Carefully, he hung it up in the locker before removing his shirt, pants, and boots to swap for his street clothes.
As he got dressed, he explained, “Chuck and Blaire didn’t want to move the boys since they were asleep, but once I explained where we were going and why they needed to be moved, they loaded up and Gunner and Jackal are flanking them on the drive over to the compound.”
“Thanks, brother,” I replied, and he gave me a nod as he began to strap guns, clips, and two huge knives to his body.
Rhys, Lucian, and James were each arming themselves as I pushed the last five clips into my belt holder. Walking over to the com’s locker, I opened it, checked the earpieces, and began to hand them out before giving everyone their throat mics.
When we were all strapped up and ready to go into battle to retrieve my wife, I met each of the men’s eyes and made a brief statement. “Thank you for this. I don’t know how I can repay you for helping, but I will find a way.”
James smacked me on my uninjured shoulder and replied, “We’re family and that’s what family does.”
The other men nodded in agreement and if I was an overly emotional man, I would probably cry, but they’d seen that already and now, it was time to go to war. Walking to the door, I looked over my shoulder and remarked, “Let’s get my wife back.”
Without turning back, I walked out of the armory and down to the lobby. My security was waiting for us and when they offered to join us, I shook my head and directed them to stay and keep Amaya and Elizabeth, James’s daughter safe.
“There is an SUV parked in the lot of the lake and Preston has opened the gate for us to enter the private land side,” James instructed and we walked across the darkened street and into the deserted parking lot of Pierce Lake.
James got behind the steering wheel and I got in beside him as Rhys, Lucian, and Skid climbed into the back. It was unfamiliar to go into battle with such a small group of men, but the element of surprise was what we were going for, so I hoped we had enough people to get the job done.
As James turned the vehicle onto the walking path, I scanned the area, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
As we reached the far edge of the public part of Pierce Lake, I saw Preston standing at the large gate that separated the public from the private.
As James drove through, I gave Preston a chin lift, and he returned the gesture as James began to drive farther into the private parts of Pierce Lake.
There were six houses that were part of the land trust, and another home that Was built on the edge of the property, but wasn’t part of the trust. We drove past the first three houses, and when we got to the fourth house, Amaya’s grandmother, Eleanor, was standing at the edge of her driveway with her hand resting on her heart.
Her small gesture wasn’t expected, and as we drove past, I lifted my hand to her in thanks.
Preston’s house was fifth in the line of old, expensive home, and the last house was starting to come into view.
This was Preston’s cousin’s, and I saw the father loading his wife and two kids into their vehicle as we drove past. He raised a fist in the air before he got behind the wheel, and I looked into the rear-view mirror to see them turn in the opposite direction, away from the isolated house outside the land trust area.
James pulled the SUV up to the edge of the cousin’s property and turned off the engine, casting us into darkness. He made sure the overhead lights were off so that when we opened the door and got out, making sure to remain as quiet as possible, there wouldn’t be any lights to show us approaching.
Lucian’s men emerged from the thick growth of trees at the edge of the property, and they were on alert as they approached us. Looking from Lucian to me, one of them spoke low, but his voice was clear in our ears as he gave us an update.
“The house appears to be empty. No vehicle in the garage and no heat signatures within the structure.” He paused then added, “If there was anyone here, they’re gone. At least for now.”
James stepped up and spoke to the group. “I found the schematics for the house with the city planner from when it was built in the last eighties.” He lifted a small monitor about the size of an e-reader and showed us the floorplans registered with the city.
“Is there power and water hooked up to the property?” Lucian asked, and James began to work on his tablet.
“None reported,” James replied.
“What’s the move?” Rhys inquired as he kept his head on a swivel as the eight of us stood, wearing head-to-toe black and all carrying weapons.
I looked at the group and said, “We search every room of the house and clear the entire property. Look for any signs someone has been inside recently, and if you find anything, call out.”
Grabbing my Glock from the holster at my thigh, I chambered a round and began to stalk toward the wood line. From our understanding, there was maybe thirty feet of dense trees before the back yard would come into view, and as quietly as we could, the group of us emerged from the trees.
I held up a closed fist, and everyone stopped as I listened for any noise coming from the house but heard nothing. Motioning the group forward, we moved low and quickly, using the various objects arranged in the lawn for cover as we approached the house.
When we were at the back walkway, I pressed up against the back of the house and held my closed fist again. The group concealed themselves against the structure, and one of Lucian’s men spoke quietly into the throat mic.
His voice was clear in my ear as he asked, “Why is the lawn perfectly manicured on an abandoned house?”
I hadn’t noticed the perfectly cut lawn which was out of sorts for a house that supposedly had no utilities or occupants. Looking over my shoulder, I expected to see an empty room through the window only to be met with a heavy curtain that appeared new.
“When did Eleanor say the family died?” I asked.
James answered, “Twenty years or so.”
“Something’s off about the house,” I remarked. “Use caution when entering. Look for traps.”
Normally, I would use my tool kit to pick the lock on the ornate double doors beside me, but my arm was killing me from the bullet wound.
I didn’t want to mess this up, so I looked at Lucian, and he stepped up to the doors and pulled a small tool kit from his thigh pocket.
With little effort, he got the lock opened, turned the handle, and pressed the door open.
No alarms sounded, and he looked at me before I nodded. Stepping into the room, he held up his weapon, sweeping the space for anyone hiding before he motioned for us to follow. The house was mostly empty, but there were a few random pieces of furniture here and there in the large rooms.
Rhys, James, and I, along with one of Lucian’s men, started to the left while Lucian, Skid, and the other two men started sweeping to the right.
We all made slow, deliberate steps, ensuring our heavy boots didn’t make noise on the marble floor.
I glanced and saw Lucian’s group sweeping down a hallway as they moved through the house.
James was on my right, and Rhys and the other man were behind us as we moved from the large room into an empty dining room, the only clue that anyone had been inside was a single chair near the far wall.
The house didn’t smell musty, like I’d expected, and I was thinking the information we had was wrong.
A closed door was ahead, and James took the lead as I covered him. Approaching the door, he reached out and pushed the edge, sending it swinging out an inch or so. He looked over at me and turned back to push the door open with one hand while he pointed his gun into the dark room.
We entered behind him and when we entered the room, there were some anomalies about what I was seeing.
A basic dining room table sat along the wall, and on the far cabinet, there was a knife sitting on the counter.
As we moved across to the far counter and cleared the room, I looked to see a single plate and fork in the bottom of the sink, both clean of any food scraps.
James gave us the all clear and we all lowered our weapons as we heard Lucian speaking from the other side of the large house.
“I just found a locked room and inside, man, something’s off about all this,” he remarked into the earpiece.
James gave me a confused look, and I replied, “I’m coming to you. Stay put.”
Walking out of the kitchen, I saw Rhys and Lucian’s man following and when I glanced at James, he was leaning against the with his gun tucked under his crossed arms. He was looking over the room in confusion and he didn’t meet my gaze as I stared at him.
I let him analyze the room while I find out what Lucian discovered.
Rhys, the man, and I moved across the large rooms and turned down the hallway, keeping our heads moving and our weapons trained ahead as I started looking into the rooms. Near the end, I saw an open doorway and just as I was about to step into the room to see what he found, a voice came over the earpiece that had me turning and running across the house.
“I found her. I found Elise,” James yelled, with a panic in his usually calm voice.
I turned and ran back down the hallway, not caring how much noise I was making, and I heard people following behind me. I was running so fast I didn’t think to ask if she was okay. I just took off, needing to have her back in my arms again.