“What’re they saying?” I askedEllion.
He pressed the button. “Nothing. They're staying silent. We've done drills like this many times, both here and the house in Nashville, and at training facilities. They don't need totalk.”
I quirked an eyebrow at him. Maybe that sort of training was fun for them. Black-ops and all that. What other reason would they have to be so well-trained? The excuse that Griffin was wealthy was just that, an excuse. Lots of wealthy people had no idea how to protectthemselves.
Chandler climbed back to the floor, and they both trained their sights on the vehicles. This time, Chandler covered Griffin while he darted forward and opened car doors one at atime.
Once all the vehicles were cleared, they both ran the barn perimeter again. Then, after they put their heads together for a minute and conferred, Chandler provided cover, and Griffin climbed the ladder to the loft. Once he rejoined Chandler, they looked up at the camera, and Griffin's lipsmoved.
Ellion responded over the headset. “Where the hell could he have gone in this blizzard? If he went out in it, we’re most likely going to find him in the spring thaw.Dead.”
I tapped Ellion on the shoulder. “Is there a camera view of outside thebarn?”
He nodded and pulled itup.
I pointed to a spot outside the barn door. “The snowmobile I used to try to run away isgone.”
Ellion's mouth dropped open. “I forgot about it,” hesaid.
Chandler clearly said, “What?” oncamera.
“Linda took a snowmobile the other night and left it at the barn. Now it's gone,” Ellion replied into hismicrophone.
They ran to the door. Chandler bent and inspected the damaged handle. I'd forgotten to tell them about it. Ellion took his headset off, and with the click of a button, Chandler's voice filled theroom.
“...been pried open. I'm surprised it stillcloses.”
I winced. “Yeah, sorry, I forgot to mention that. It was cracked open when I got to the barn before. In all the excitement it slipped mymind.”
Griffin shrugged. The speakers crackled when his deep voice blasted over them. “It's okay. We should've been more careful. Nothing has happened in a while, so we got complacent, stopped checking the cameras and perimeters asmuch.”
Chandler opened the door to look out and was blasted in the face with snow and wind. “Holy shit!” he yelled. “Damn, it's cold outthere.”
Ellion laughed. “What did you expect would happen?” he asked. “It's ablizzard.”
Griffin slammed the door shut and fiddled with the handle. “It won'tlock.”
“We can still arm it so we'll know immediately if it opens,” Ellionsaid.
Griffin and Chandler left the barn anddisappeared.
I leaned back in my rolling chair and looked at Ellion. “Where the hell did Hunter go?” Iasked.
He stared back at me, confused. “I have noidea.”
The other two guys joined us, sinking on a sofa in the corner and removing their helmets and headpieces. They'd already put their riflesaway.
I rolled over to them. “My question is, you guys have this super fancy security system, all this training. How’d he get into the barn unnoticed in the first place? How’d I get in thereunnoticed?”
“We've been a bit distracted since you arrived,” Chandlersaid.
“Yeah, and it’s total bullshit,” exclaimed Griffin, fury written on hisface.
My eyes widened, and I rolled my chair back, out of the range of his ire. Not that I thought he'd hurt me, but my anxiety was riding too high to be able to handle extremeanger.
“Not a single one of us thought to re-engage the alarm when we brought her in, did we? Not even me.” He stood and paced the room. “She comes in, batting her big eyes and swinging her curvy hips and shiny hair, and youbothlost yourminds.”
Chandler and Ellion had the good sense to keep quiet and let him rant. Ididn't.
