As they moved, Gage’s voice came through their earpieces. “All right. I got you guys covered. So far, there’s no one moving around back there.”
The estate seemed quieter than Elvis had expected, but then again, he was sure Matteo wanted little noise to attract attention. Dane and he moved through the eastern tree line and came up against the house’s river face. They strolled past dark ground-floor windows until they reached the only lit room in the entire house.
They came to a stop when they noticed a man on the rear terrace, a cigarette dangling from his lips. The man slouched against a wall, showing no signs that he was guarding anything. Dane slipped up onto the terrace and took the man out without a sound.
Elvis slipped the door open and eased inside just as they heard a commotion at the front of the house. A horn started blaring in the night, and Blaze filled their ears. “Man, it’s like hornets heading this way. They are fast! Make your move!”
Elvis would have laughed at any other time.
Inside, the house seemed quiet, too quiet for what he knew was happening inside. They had entered what appeared to be a kitchen, and he led them to the side hall toward the room with the light, Dane right behind him.
He glanced back at Dane. “I don’t like this. It’s too quiet.”
“Too late to worry about it now. Just keep your head on a swivel.
Elvis nodded, but the entire thing still felt off to him. This house wasn’t empty, even though it felt that way. He needed to remember that.
He moved through the hallway, ignoring the family portraits of criminals on the wall. Then a man stepped out of a door just a few feet ahead of them.
The confrontation was fast, the man jerking his arm up, weapon in hand. Elvis swung, and the gun went up but didn’t go off. He swung his leg, knocking the man on his ass. Dane was right there with zip ties.
“All right, so not empty,” he said.
They both looked at each other and nodded before moving on.
A couple of seconds later they came across a second man outside the main sitting room. Elvis froze, trying to figure out the best way to get past him when Grim appeared out of the door behind the guy, wrapping his arm around his neck in a chokehold.
That made two down.
And under the door a light lit the floor.
He stood, taking a slow breath as he reached for the doorknob, weapon in hand. He leaned against the door, but couldn’t hear anything from inside.
He glanced back at Dane, who merely nodded.
Elvis held up his hand. One finger. Two. Three.
And he kicked the door open.
But the room was empty.
In the middle was an overturned chair with ropes dangling from the arms. The lights were on, but no one was inside. And opposite the door, a window stood open, curtains blowing from the wind outside.
CHAPTER THIRTY
THEY HAD EXCHANGED THE zip ties for ropes when they reached the house, but the way they dug into her skin, binding her to the wooden chair, still hurt like hell. However, the silence in the room was even worse.
“Then we both have something to take out on your mother.”
It was the last thing Matteo had said in the vehicle before turning to stare out the window, ignoring her for the rest of the ride. Fine with her. She didn’t want to talk to him anyway, knowing he only wanted what she had no intention of giving him.
When they arrived, night was creeping up on them. The men in the front seat took her out of the vehicle, dragging her around the back of the house and inside through a side door. They then shoved her down in the chair, a heavy, straight-backed thing one of them pulled in from another room and placed in the center of the room. It reminded her of something she saw in some cop show on television. They wanted her visible, contained, and extremely aware of her situation.
Well, she was aware.
Extremely.
They should be so proud.
