SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Twenty-Nine
Cadence pulled the car up to the video-com system at the entry gate and pushed the button. The welcome screen flipped from an image of the DeLeon family crest to a live image of a staff member that was standing a bit too close to the camera.
“No nighttime deliveries. Come back after nine tomorrow.”
“I’m not a delivery. It’s me, Cadence. I was just here for my job orientation ninety minutes ago.”
The staffer stared back into the camera to see her better.
“Yeah, I saw you here. Why are you back? You don’t start ’til tomorrow.”
“I lost a piece of jewelry. I think I may have dropped it while I was here. Can I come in and look for it?”
“Why don’t you look for it when you come in tomorrow?”
“I kind of ‘borrowed’ it from my granny without her knowing about it. I wanted to look nice for my interview. Please let me come in and look. She’ll be so upset if she finds it missing!” Cadence pleaded. “I’ll be quick, I promise!”
“I really shouldn’t, but, what the hell. Is it only you in the car? What’s the big lump I see in the passenger seat?”
“It’s just my gym bag,” Cadence popped her door ajar, allowing the dome light to illuminate the car’s interior. A large duffle sat strapped behind the seat belt. “I’d put it in the trunk, but there’s no room with the bodies I’ve got hidden back there!”
The two laughed. The gate began to roll to the side.
“I’ll meet you at the back porch,” Cadence said as she waved at the monitor. The staffer nodded as the screen returned to the DeLeon crest.
Cadence pulled the car back to the parking spot that it had occupied a few short hours ago. She exited the car and pushed the trunk release button on her key fob. The lid popped but was kept from opening by one of the trunk’s occupants.
“Wait until you’re sure I’m inside before you climb out of there. Don’t get caught!”
“We’ll see you tomorrow,” a muffled voice replied.
“You better!” Cadence responded.
The kitchen door opened, and Cadence hurried to meet the staffer.
“Thanks again for letting me look around . . .”
The conversation faded in the distance and then was silenced by the closing of the kitchen door. A few seconds passed before the trunk lid raised and Dorian rolled out and onto the pavement.
“You smell sweeter than that gym bag, but you’re a whole lot bonier!”
Gary joked as he followed Dorian from the trunk. He quietly lowered the lid and gently pushed it down until he felt the latch engage. The two squatted beside the car on the side farthest from the house.
“I know of two ways to get down to the grotto. We either go through the mansion or the boathouse,” Gary pointed to the darkened building in the distance. “The boathouse will take longer, but I think we’ll be safer.”
“I’m okay with safer,” Dorian agreed.
The two moved around the front of the car and continued to duckwalk until they were covered by the darkness of the backyard. They continued along the side of the garage and turned the back corner, so the building was between them and the house. Gary took Dorian by the shoulder and turned him, so they were facing one another.
“This is your last chance to reconsider. Once we hit that boathouse, I am committed to finding Leslie. You can stay in the car and wait for Cadence. I wouldn’t be offended or angry.”
“I’m going,” Dorian insisted.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
“Thanks,” Gary patted Dorian’s shoulder. “Here’s the game plan. Once we get into the boathouse, we will head down a really long hallway that ends at an elevator. We take that down to the grotto. We’ll have to play it by ear after that.”
“Got it. Boathouse, hallway, elevator, grotto, ear,” Dorian repeated.
Gary checked his phone for the time. “We’ve got about eight hours before I change. I’m hoping that will be enough time.”
“I don’t even want to think about what kind of trouble we would be in if we were still in there eight hours from now,” Dorian moaned. “Let’s get moving.”
Gary raised a hand. “Let me go first. I’ll sniff out a path. You follow.”
He ran, crouched, to a good-sized tree a couple of dozen yards across the lawn. He stood alongside the trunk and beckoned to Dorian, who traced his steps. They continued this game of “follow the leader” until they reached the shoreline.
“Leslie and I limbo-floated under the door last time, but there must be land access somewhere. It must be up around the other side,” Gary pointed across the face of the boathouse. The two went around the rear of the old stone foundation, making sure they hugged the building trying to stay as unseen as possible. The opposite side of the structure yielded an open staircase that led up to the deck that wrapped the glass doors that lined the perimeter of the second floor. Entry was gained by jostling a particularly loose-fitting slider. Dorian walked toward the fireplace as he ran his hand across the back of the time-worn leather sofa.
“Whoa! I could definitely live here.”
“I hear ya,” Gary agreed. “Too bad there’s a vermin problem in the basement.”
Gary walked to the landing at the top of the staircase. He looked down at the doorway that opened to the long, underground hallway that led to the elevator that would give them access to the grotto.
“It’s been all pregame warm-ups until now. I don’t know what’s waiting down there and it might not be too pretty. Dorian, are you sure you want to do this?”
“You better stop asking me that. I might just change my mind!” Dorian scolded. He pushed past Gary and headed down the steps to the doorway. He took a hard swallow and stepped into the hallway.