by Lukens, Mark
“This place is really out in the boonies,” Gina said from the backseat of the SUV.
Mr. Yates drove and Matt sat in the passenger seat.
“The estate is quite remote,” Mr. Yates said without turning around to look at Gina. “The mansion is situated on forty acres of wooded property.”
Gina didn’t feel too great about that, but it was kind of what she expected.
“Wow,” Matt said as he stared out the windshield.
“Are we almost there?” Gina asked.
A sly smile played at the corners of Mr. Yates’s mouth. “It’s not too much farther.”
An hour later they drove down an even smaller road that cut through a dense forest. This road was bumpy and the snow wasn’t cleared in some places, but the SUV plowed right through it with ease.
They came to a massive iron gate. Mr. Yates pulled up to the gate and put the Jeep in park. He grabbed a remote control from the center console and clicked a big button. The gates swung open silently, pushing snow out of the way. Mr. Yates put the Jeep in drive and drove on through.
It took a few more minutes of driving through the woods until they came to a clearing where a mansion sat back beyond the driveway that formed a large circle in front of the palace with an extravagant (and now frozen) concrete fountain in the middle.
“Holy shit,” Matt whispered when they saw the place.
Gina had expected the place to be huge and opulent, but this was beyond what she had imagined. It was a huge three story structure with rows of windows on each level and a high-pitched roof covered in snow. The roof was dotted with four chimneys—at least that was the chimneys that Gina could see from the driveway. A garage poked out from the left side of the mansion where a runway of pavement had been laid down; the garage looked like it could fit ten cars inside.
Mr. Yates drove the Jeep around the large circular driveway, the tires crunching over the gravel and snow, and then he parked in front of the entrance which was a massive set of doors recessed deep in the ornately decorated entranceway. He shut the SUV off and got out, wasting no time.
Matt and Gina got out and stared up at the huge building in front of them.
“God, I don’t believe this,” Gina whispered to him.
“That’s home, baby,” Matt whispered to her, nuzzling her close. “Home for the next two months.”
Mr. Yates was already at the back of the SUV, the hatchback open. He pulled out two of their bags and carried them with him to the front door. Matt and Gina grabbed their other two bags and the bathroom bag, and then they followed Mr. Yates to the entrance way. He set the bags down near the door and dug out a large set of keys from his pants pocket. He unlocked the door and pushed one of the double doors open.
Matt and Gina followed Mr. Yates into the foyer which was two stories high. The floor was laid with Italian marble and an antique table with a Ming vase sat next to the wall.
“This is unbelievable,” Matt said as he stepped inside, still clutching the bags in his hands.
“You can set your bags here on the floor,” Mr. Yates said, his voice echoing in the foyer just a bit. “There will be plenty of time later for you to take them up to your quarters and unpack.”
They all set their bags on the floor and Mr. Yates closed and locked the gigantic door. The locks sounded so heavy and loud in the silence of the house.
Mr. Yates turned back to them and glanced down at his fifteen thousand dollar wristwatch. “I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll begin the tour now.”
He walked past them, and they followed him out of the foyer, all of their shoes echoing on the marble floor.
They stepped down into a vast living room. Couches, chairs, and tables were situated around the room on the tiled floor. “This is one of the two main living rooms on this floor,” Mr. Yates told them.
Gina had to catch her breath as she looked around at the room, trying to take in all of the details at once.
“Is that a Tiffany lamp?” she asked, not waiting for an answer from Mr. Yates. Her eyes found a seascape on a wall. “And that … that’s not a Winslow Homer painting, is it?”
Gina hurried over to the wall and studied the painting that hung under a large brass light used to light the painting with. On the plaque below, it was listed as a Winslow Homer.
Matt looked at Mr. Yates with a smile. “Gina knows everything about interior design and art.”
Mr. Yates smiled back, but for a moment Matt saw unease in his eyes. Then those cold little eyes flicked over to Gina, watching her. “Is that so?”
“Yeah,” Matt continued, but he couldn’t seem to shake that sudden chill that had run through his body while he watched Mr. Yates’s reptilian-like eyes study Gina. “She wants to be in interior designer one day,” Matt added.
“Admirable,” Mr. Yates said and then he walked to the center of the room, his voice echoing just a bit, his eyes still on Gina as she studied the Winslow Homer painting. “A number of artworks and antique pieces are on display here.”
Matt walked over to a collection of medieval swords and shields hung on a wall over the massive fireplace. “What about these? Are these real?”
“Yes, and I’m sure it goes without saying that you are not to touch any of the pieces of art or antiques.”
Matt backed away from the display on the wall. “Of course.”
“They are on display to be enjoyed with the eyes only,” Mr. Yates continued. “And obviously the fireplaces are not to be used.”
Matt and Gina looked at Mr. Yates and nodded. He glanced at his watch again and then smiled at them. “Follow me please to the next room.”
The next room they entered was a large library. Each wall contained built-in bookcases stuffed with old and rare books. A massive stone fireplace dominated the other end of the room with a large window on each side, balancing it out. Pieces of overstuffed leather furniture were situated around a polar bear skin rug.
Gina’s eyes focused on the bearskin rug. “Don’t tell me that thing’s real.”
“I’m afraid it’s quite real.”
Gina saw that there were other animal heads displayed as trophies on the walls in between the bookcases. “That’s disgusting.”
Matt slipped his arm around Gina’s waist and pulled her close to him. He shot her a pleading glance. “But to each his own, right?”
Gina stared back at Matt. “Yeah.”
“Mr. Crow is an avid hunter. And a collector, as you can probably tell. You will see many odd items mixed in with more contemporary antiques and artworks.”
Matt’s eyes roamed over the wall of books. “Look at all of those books.”
“You are allowed to peruse the books, but please handle them with care. Some are very old and expensive. There are more current books in the entertainment room.”
Matt perked up. “Entertainment room?”
After a trip past other rooms filled with more treasures, Mr. Yates led Matt and Gina down a wide hallway that opened up to the entertainment room. The far wall was a theater-sized screen with two rows of auditorium-style seats in front of it.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Mr. Yates moved without a sound across the room to a long counter. He pushed a few buttons and DVD players popped up from the countertop. He slid a door open below to reveal shelves of DVDs and CDs inside.
“There are thousands of choices,” he told them. “We just ask that you return them to the place you got them from.”
“Of course,” Matt said.
Gin wandered around the room. She studied the movie posters lining the walls: Casablanca, The Graduate, Night of the Hunter, and The Bridge on the River Kwai.
“There’s surround sound here,” Mr. Yates went on. “An authentic popcorn machine in the corner over there. Books and magazines are in that cabinet over there.”
“I think we’ll spend a lot of time in here,” Matt said with that constant smile on his face.
Mr. Yates walked over to M
att with the remote control in his hand. “You can also get regular TV on that screen. Just press these buttons here to switch it over to satellite TV. Hundreds of channels to choose from. There are instructions for the remote and devices in that top drawer over there.”
Matt accepted the remote control from Mr. Yates like he was handling some priceless artifact. “Cool.”
The next room they visited was the exercise room. It was the size of two basketball courts and nearly one half of the room was a pool, but it was covered and Mr. Yates told them the pool was off-limits, but they were welcome to use any of the exercise machines, as long as they used them with caution.
“We can’t have any accidents while you are here,” he told them.
“And what happens if there is an accident?” Gina asked, thinking of the baby just beginning to grow inside of her.
Mr. Yates gave her a cold stare. “I’m afraid the deal will be off. We can’t have emergency vehicles out here. Privacy is the number one priority for Mr. Crow.”
“So if—” Gina began, but Matt cut her words off.
“We’ll be very careful.”
“There are first aid kits in the kitchen and some of the bathrooms. I’ll show you where they are before I leave. They can be used to treat any minor injuries or ailments.”
“But if there is an actual emergency,” Gina continued quickly before Matt could interrupt her again, “we can call for help. Right?”
Mr. Yates let out a long sigh. “Yes. The phones work here, but you can’t receive incoming or outgoing calls. All of them are only programmed to contact 911.”
“That sounds strange,” Gina said.
“These are the conditions you signed off on,” Mr. Yates reminded her.
“I know, but …”
“We’ll be fine,” Matt said. “Everything will be fine.”
They went back towards the interior of the bottom floor and passed another room near one of the living rooms. Gina was getting a little lost in the maze of rooms and she would have to spend a few days getting the layout of the house down in her mind.
Mr. Yates invited them into the trophy room. It was filled with more animal heads hanging on the walls. A full tiger pelt hung in one corner. An assortment of swords, spears, and other weapons adorned spots on the paneled walls.
“I guess Mr. Crow really loves to hunt,” Matt said.
“He’s hunted every animal on the planet,” Mr. Yates said.
Gina saw a glass case near one wall and she walked over to inspect it. Inside was a set of old iron bars with five metal cuffs at the end of each of the bars. Gina stared at it, trying to figure out how a human being could be chained in this position.
“What’s this?” Gina asked Mr. Yates as she pointed down at the contraption inside the glass case.
“Like I said before,” Mr. Yates smiled, “Mr. Crow collects many odd trinkets.”
Gina walked over to another smaller glass case. Inside this one was an iron mask with only eyeholes and two small holes in the formed nose. “And this?” she asked.
“Those are torture devices from the Middle Ages. They are very rare and priceless.”
Gina nodded and wondered why torture devices were displayed in Mr. Crow’s trophy room, but she didn’t ask.
“I don’t presume either of you two will be visiting this room very often,” Mr. Yates said to them. “I just wanted to show you what was in this room.”
He glanced at his Rolex again as he walked briskly towards the door. “There are a few more rooms to show you down here, and then we’ll head upstairs to your quarters.”
Mr. Yates showed them the greenhouse room next. Gina was impressed with the wall of glass on three sides.
“This is the green house,” Mr. Yates told them. “These plants will need to be watered every few days. I’ll leave detailed lists in the kitchen for you, instructions for you to follow.”
Gina walked over to the wall of glass panels that looked out onto a field of snow that stretched out thousands of yards away to a line of dark trees in the distance.
“The glass is unbreakable,” Mr. Yates went on. “It’s able to withstand hurricane-force winds.” He walked over to a glass door that led outside. “The door is locked from the outside and armed with an alarm. All of the doors and windows are locked and an alarm will sound if any are opened or tampered with. Is that understood?”
Matt and Gina glanced at each other and then nodded.
“Of course,” Matt said, feeling the need to answer. “We went over all of that before.”
Mr. Yates had told them that part of the condition of watching the house was that they would be locked inside. Gina hadn’t been comfortable with the idea of it, but as long as they could call 911 if anything happened, she thought she could bear it. The other odd condition was that they would lose their money and never be considered for another opportunity if 911 were called, but at least the option was there. Mr. Yates had explained that the reason Mr. Crow wanted them locked inside was because he didn’t want them wandering outside or inviting other people to his house. The conditions were extreme, understandably so, but if they didn’t like them then he could always move on to the next couple in line for the job.
It was a strange situation, but Gina was going to force herself to do this. They needed the money. At first she thought the place would feel claustrophobic to her, but now that she’d seen the size of the place, she felt sure she could handle it.
“Okay,” Mr. Yates said and clapped his hands, snapping Gina’s attention back to him. He smiled. “Let’s go to the kitchen.”
They walked out back through one of the living rooms and past the foyer to a massive dining room with a sixteen seat dining room table underneath a gigantic crystal chandelier. The dining room led to a few rooms that looked like service rooms, perhaps where food was laid out to get ready to serve, Gina guessed.
From the small rooms, they entered the kitchen.
Gina had been expecting a kitchen with normal appliances and perhaps travertine tiles on the floor and stone backsplashes, but this looked like a restaurant kitchen. There was stainless steel everywhere: counters, appliances, hoods, racks of utensils and pots and pans. The floor was a sea of white tile. The stoves and ovens were massive.
“There are two refrigerators over there,” Mr. Yates said, pointing as he led them through the kitchen. “Three ovens. Two six-burner cook tops. Four microwave ovens. A three-well deep fryer.”
Mr. Yates ran one of his big hands down the stainless steel counter top. “There is a walk-in cooler and freezer on that side of the room. They are both stocked with an assortment of foods—more food than either of you could possibly eat in two months.”
Matt and Gina followed Mr. Yates to a pair of metal doors that stood side by side in the wall. He opened the walk-in cooler so they could peek inside.
“All kinds of meats, cheeses, and vegetables.”
He pointed to a doorway at the end of the wall. “And through that doorway is a stock room filled with canned goods, boxed foods, and other dry supplies.”
“Wow,” Matt said. “This is like a restaurant kitchen. Or a hotel kitchen.”
“Mr. Crow has been known to have extravagant parties here in the past,” Mr. Yates told them, and then he walked them across the room to another doorway. “In here is a small table where the servants eat when they are here. We ask that you eat your meals in here and not in the dining room.”
“Sure,” Matt said, shaking his head like the idea of them eating at the sixteen seat dining room table was absurd. “Of course.”
“We’re just about done with the downstairs,” Mr. Yates told them. “You’ll have plenty of time to explore while you’re here.” He smiled at them. “Now, on to your quarters.”
They followed Mr. Yates up a wide set of stairs that split off from the foyer into two balconies and led to separate hallways. At the top of the stairs Mr. Yates turned to the right and led them down to a doorway about halfway down the hall. He o
pened the door and gestured for them to enter.
Matt and Gina entered the gigantic bedroom—it would’ve made three of their apartments. A king-sized canopy bed was against a far wall. A massive dresser was along the wall with the door. Heavy drapes covered three sets of windows.
“I hope you will find these accommodations comfortable.”
“Oh yeah,” Matt answered.
“Through that doorway over there by the bed is your own bathroom. And the doorway over there on the other side of the room is the walk-in closet.”
Mr. Yates marched across the room to show them the bathroom. His shoes swished across the deep carpeting. He flipped on a light for the bathroom and Matt and Gina went inside.
It was the biggest bathroom Gina had ever seen. There was a glass-walled shower that could fit five people inside of it, a soaker garden tub with jets, a granite countertop with two deep sinks, a separate room for the toilet, travertine and marble everywhere.
“This is beautiful,” Gina whispered.
Mr. Yates watched them from the doorway. “There is one other thing I want to show you before I go.”
Matt and Gina followed Mr. Yates back out to the hallway. They walked past the steps that led back downstairs, and at the end of the hall they turned and saw another set of wide, carpeted steps that led up into the darkness.
“This stairway leads up to the third floor,” Mr. Yates told them. “The third floor is Mr. Crow’s personal floor. You two are not permitted to be on the third floor under any circumstances.”
Gina stared at the steps that rose up into the gloom. She looked back at Mr. Yates and nodded that she understood.
“Of course, this is something you signed in the contract. It’s just a matter of respecting his privacy, that’s all.”
“Sure,” Matt said with a smile. “We understand totally.”
“I believe that concludes the tour,” Mr. Yates said with a tight smile. He glanced at his watch again. “I really must get going. If you’ll see me down to the front door …”
Matt and Gina followed Mr. Yates back down to the foyer and front doors they had come in through. He stood in front of the massive doors, watching them.
