He slid back out with the gun in his hand feeling much better. He didn't want to lose Faulkner's property, after all. He straightened up onto his knees and glanced out the window. He did a double take. There was a sliver of light showing under the doors to the smaller barn. Then it was gone. Had he imagined it? He knew it hadn't been on before. Guillory and Ryder would have noticed. But how was it possible for someone to be in there, if the doors were padlocked from the outside? There must be another door. Guillory and his fat partner should have checked. He’d have a word with Guillory about his sloppy work next time he saw him.
What should he do now? He could phone Guillory and pretend that he'd just got there and seen the light. Perhaps he should go down and check first to see if there really was another door. He might be able to lock it from the outside so that whoever was inside - Hendricks presumably - couldn't escape.
Before he could decide he heard a faint noise from downstairs. He held his breath and listened. He heard the low rumble of two men's voices. Had Guillory and Ryder sneaked back on foot? But it sounded like it was coming from somewhere inside the house, and he hadn't heard the door open. He'd checked all the rooms - except the basement. Had they been down there all the time? It wasn't possible - they would have heard him, especially when he fell over. He was trapped. Even if they stayed in the basement, they would hear him if he tried to sneak back downstairs - the stairs would creak for sure if he did.
Any kind of decision was abruptly taken out of his hands as he heard the unmistakable sound of the basement door opening. He fought to control the panic that he felt rising inside him. He was still on his knees by the side of the bed. As quietly as he could he lowered himself back down onto his belly and slid back under the bed, turning his head so that he could see out. From where he was he could see the rug still rucked up on the landing. Shit. He couldn't do anything about it now. He wormed his way in as far as he could go, and brushed something soft with the back of his head. The smell of rotting rodent assaulted his nasal passages and made him want to retch.
The light over the stairwell suddenly came on and someone heavy started up the stairs. Evan tried to draw himself further back under the bed. He touched something with the back of his head and heard the snap of another mousetrap going off. The unexpected noise made him jerk his head away and bang the wooden slats supporting the mattress. It sounded like a thunderclap to his hyper-sensitive nerves.
'Hey Jason, I just need to get something from my room before we go,' a voice he didn't recognize called. The voice didn’t seem to have heard anything.
'For Christ's sake, I've told you it's Carl now,' he heard Hendricks reply with obvious irritation in his voice. ‘Do I have to wear a name badge?’
'Yeah, right. Sorry, I keep forgetting.’
The voice had reached the top of the stairs. Evan couldn't see his face from where he was lying, just his feet and the legs from the knees down.
‘Jas…Carl, what’s been going on with the rug up here?’ the voice called.
Evan closed his eyes and prayed silently to a God he didn’t believe in.
'What the hell are you talking about? We haven't got time for housework. Just get what you need and get back down here. We need to go.'
The guy grumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like dickhead and went into the room that Evan had searched earlier. The light went on and Evan heard him get something out of one of the drawers. He couldn't remember seeing anything more important than clean underwear in them but he might have missed something. The light went off again and the guy came back onto the landing and suddenly stopped dead.
Evan could see his feet facing towards him. He held his breath. The dust under the bed was starting to irritate his nose. He daren’t sneeze. He was sure the guy must be able to hear his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Had he seen something else? Maybe there was blood smeared on the door frame. Seconds passed. What on earth was the guy doing? His feet hadn’t moved but had he pulled out his gun?
The tickle in Evan’s nose was getting unbearable. He was going to sneeze any second. He could feel it building. Carefully he turned his head to face the floor and pressed his nose into it. He forgot that it was broken. A sharp stab of pain made him gasp.
‘Did you say something?’ he heard the guy call down the stairs.
‘No, I did not say anything,’ Hendricks’ taut voice came back. ‘What the hell are you doing up there?’ Evan heard him step onto the first tread. He could imagine him peering upwards, trying to see what his friend was doing. He stepped up onto the second tread.
‘Nothing. I’m just coming,’ the guy said as his OCD kicked in. Despite Hendricks’ increasing impatience, he hadn’t been able to just walk past the rug. He took a second to straighten it out again and then went back downstairs.
Evan heard Hendricks say, 'Got everything you need? Don't forget your hairdryer, you pansy.'
'Up your, Jason,' the guy said. Evan could hear the smirk on his face.
Hendricks ignored him. 'Come on, let's go.'
Evan didn't know whether they were just popping out for Pizza or whether they were about to leave for good. Hendricks couldn't possibly think he could stay hiding in his basement forever. On the other hand, was he going to simply walk away from everything he had here? The most likely answer was he was going to lie low until he could find out if Faulkner died or not. That meant they were probably coming back. Although the crack about the hairdryer suggested they were going away for a while.
He thought about going down and confronting them. He had the gun and he could hold them until Guillory got there. He decided it was too risky. He knew Faulkner was making a good recovery and might not even press charges against his brother-in-law, but Hendricks might think he'd killed Faulkner and that would make him desperate to escape. Added to that, the other guy had a gun too and, if it was the army buddy, knew how to use it a whole lot better than Evan did. Discretion was definitely the better part of valor on this occasion, he decided.
He heard them go into the kitchen.
'Where's the damn key?' he heard Hendricks say. He was starting to sound very pissed indeed. 'It was in the lock.'
Evan felt a sudden tightness in his chest. He had the key in his pocket. Why had he done that? He should have left it where it was.
'Don't look at me,' the other guy said in a defensive tone, 'I didn't touch it.'
‘That makes a change.’
It went very quiet in the kitchen. Were things falling into place in Hendricks' mind - the rug and now the missing key? Evan's heart was pounding. Surely it was obvious there was an intruder in the house. Or was he blaming his friend?
'Haven't you got a spare?' the guy said.
'Of course I've got a spare. It's in this drawer. But I want to know what happened to the one that was in the lock.'
'What the hell for? Was it your favorite?' Evan could hear the smirk again.
'Don't be stupid.'
'You want to watch who you're calling stupid.’
‘Is that so?’
‘I'm not the one who brained Faulkner. Now that's stupid.'
'Really. What would you have done? You’re not exactly the go-to person for useful suggestions.’ Their voices were starting to get raised now. Evan prayed that it would turn into a full scale fight and they’d forget about everything else.
'I don't know. I wouldn't have brained him, that's for damn sure. If I was going to brain anyone, it'd be that other interfering bastard.'
Upstairs, Evan's blood ran cold. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead and he felt his legs go weak. Jacobson had been right. He was in real danger from Hendricks and his partner. Thank God he hadn't gone down and confronted them.
Then a sudden realization took hold in his mind. He actually started to tremble. He didn't know if it was from fear or excitement. He'd been worrying about them finding him in the house while they were trying to make their escape – that, like Guillory, he was after them for attacking Faulkner. But the
interfering bastard remark couldn’t be about that. He'd only spoken to Hendricks once and that had been before Faulkner was attacked. Meaning, if they saw him as a threat, it was because his interfering was getting close to something else. And that could only be one thing - the disappearance of Daniel Clayton.
CHAPTER 37
'Maybe I'll do that too,' he heard Hendricks say downstairs.
'Well if you do, make sure you do a proper job this time.'
Hendricks laughed derisively. 'That's great coming from you. At least I've got the balls to do it.'
'Is that so? It was you who got us into all this shit in the first place.'
'Me? You...'
Evan didn’t catch the end of the sentence as it was drowned out by the sound of someone crashing into the table. One of them had shoved the other one. He heard the scrape of chair legs on the floor. There was a slap and one of them grunted.
‘You better put that back down, you retard,’ he heard Hendricks say, ‘or I’m gonna shove it up your ass sideways.’
Then, before it could go any further there was a sound that stopped them in their tracks. Evan pictured them standing staring into each other's faces, panting, their mouths hanging open, all thought of their argument gone as they heard it. The sound of a car pulling into the driveway.
'Shit. It must be the police again,' Hendricks said. 'Come on. Before they see us.'
Evan heard the pair of them run across the kitchen and out into the hallway. He heard the basement door open and then slam shut again before everything went quiet. Outside the car had carried on round the side of the house and pulled to a halt outside the back door. The light in the kitchen was still on, spilling out into the yard. Evan heard the car doors open and two men jump out. Seconds later he heard banging on the back door and Guillory's voice shouting over the top of it.
Evan slid out from under the bed and stood up. He was happy to let them in now. Hendricks and his accomplice were down in the basement and he'd be able to send them down there after them. With any luck Ryder would go first and get shot before Guillory saved the day. His only concern was Faulkner's gun. He didn't want to be caught with it. He turned the landing light on and called down the stairs that he was coming. Then he ran into Hendricks' room, pulled open the drawer to the nightstand and dropped the SIG-Sauer in. You can explain that to them as well, you bastard.
Guillory was still pounding on the door as Evan trotted down the stairs and along the hallway to the kitchen.
He didn't want to use the key he had in his pocket. He wanted to keep that one in case he decided to come back again. He remembered Hendricks saying that the spare was in the drawer. He put his hands on his head just to be on the safe side and stepped into the kitchen. The table had been knocked across the room and one of the chairs was upended. There was a large kitchen knife sitting on the table.
Too late he realized he was still wearing the cotton gloves. Hopefully they wouldn’t notice with the shock of finding him there. Guillory's face through the glass door panel was a picture. Evan scanned the room quickly and saw one of the drawers pulled half way out. Hendricks must have been in the middle of getting the spare out before they started arguing. Evan dropped his hands and held up his finger to say wait just one minute. Then he walked over to the drawer and opened it all the way. He was in luck. There was a bunch of spare keys on a ring. He took them out and crossed the kitchen to the back door.
Guillory was standing outside with his hands on his hips with a hurry-up look on his face. Ryder was eating something without closing his mouth properly. Evan hadn't paid a lot of attention to the key he used to lock the door but there was one on the key ring that looked like a probable match. He slipped it into the lock and it turned first time. Yes. Then he pulled the door open and stood aside.
'What in God's name are you doing here?' Guillory said as he stepped past Evan. Ryder followed him without saying anything. Be thankful for small mercies, Evan thought. Ryder had chocolate on his chin. Evan pointed to his own chin and mouthed mucky pup.
Evan hadn't had enough time to get a story together. He decided to say as little as possible. People with a guilty conscience always give too much information.
'I wanted to have a look round.'
'You mean you fancied a bit of breaking and entering.' Guillory said. ‘I see you came prepared.’ He pointed at Evan’s gloved hands. ‘Or do you just feel the cold more than most people?’
So much for not noticing, Evan thought, pulling the gloves off and stuffing them in his pocket.
'No, the door was unlocked. I locked it behind me.'
Guillory didn't look as if he believed him but there was no evidence of a break-in. 'What time did you get here?'
Evan knew he had to tell them the truth. He couldn't pretend he hadn't been in the house the last time they came. He’d just told them the door was unlocked, so if they’d got there first they would have found it open, not locked. 'I got here just before you did.’
‘You can’t have. We’ve been sitting down the road waiting for the past fifteen minutes at least. Nobody passed us. You didn’t walk across the fields did you?’
‘I meant just before you arrived the first time.'
'You were in the house the whole time?' Guillory's voice had taken on a sharp edge.
Evan nodded.
'Why didn't you let us in?'
'Because I was hoping to avoid this conversation.'
'I bet. And stop us doing our job at the same time.'
Evan started to say something but Guillory cut him off. 'If the door was unlocked like you say, we could have had a look around ourselves.'
'And not had to come back again,' Ryder added.
Evan wanted to say, 'Sorry for wasting your valuable donut eating time,' but was sensible enough to hold his tongue. He wasn't in what you'd call a position of strength. It was time to play his ace.
'You'll be glad it worked it that way,' he said.
'Oh, really?' Ryder said.
'Yes, really. Because I can tell you exactly where they are.'
'They?'
'It means more than one person.'
'Okay Buckley, drop the wisecracks,' Guillory said. Evan was sure he'd seen a smile cross his face. 'Who are they?'
'Hendricks and a friend...' He'd been about to say he thought it was the army friend that Hendricks went to prison with, before he caught himself. He didn't know how much Guillory knew and didn't want to have to start explaining it all from the beginning.
'Okay. Where are they? And what’s been going on in here?' He walked over to the table and picked up the knife.
‘They were starting to have a fight just as you got here. They’re in the basement now. This way.'
Evan led them to the door leading down into the basement. 'I heard them run down there when you arrived.'
'You heard them?'
'I was upstairs.' He decided they didn't need to know he'd been hiding under the bed. He wondered if he smelled of rotting rat. If he did Guillory wouldn't be able to smell it over the less than fresh odor coming off his partner. Evan wondered how he could spend all day in a car with a smell like that. He supposed you got used to anything.
'Upstairs doing what?' Ryder said. 'You weren't hiding under the bed were you?'
Evan said nothing but his face must have given him away.
'Ha! I don't believe it,' Ryder exclaimed, a huge grin splitting his normally sour face. 'The big, tough detective was hiding under the bed while the bad men were downstairs.' He started laughing.
Evan felt his face color. 'At least I can fit under the bed,' he said but Ryder was laughing so hard he didn't hear.
'Okay children,' Guillory said, 'that's enough.'
Ryder wiped a tear away from the corner of his eye. 'We'll have to try extra hard to keep that out of the papers.' He started laughing again.
Evan wanted to punch him in the gut but wasn't sure he'd get his arm back. He turned to Guillory. 'I think Hendricks' friend has got a gun.' He told him
about the empty shoe box in the closet. 'Why don't you send Ryder down first? He'll provide an impenetrable shield for the rest of us.'
They both ignored him. It was all business now at the mention of the gun. Guillory told him to move back out of the way and they both drew their own pistols. Evan could see that Guillory's was the same as the one he'd taken from Faulkner's trailer. Guillory pressed himself flat against the wall, turned the door knob and pushed the door open. On the other side of the doorway Ryder reached round and flicked the light switch on. Guillory called down into the basement, telling the men down there to come up with their hands on their heads. Nobody came forward. Guillory repeated his order. There wasn't a sound coming up from the basement, and no movement either. Guillory looked over and nodded at Ryder then took a deep breath and started slowly down the stairs. Ryder followed him down. It was only about fifteen seconds before Guillory called up to Evan that it was okay to come down. Evan hadn't heard a thing.
CHAPTER 38
He went down the steps into the best kept basement workshop he'd ever seen. Two of the walls were lined with metal shelving full of every imaginable kind of tool, dozens of tins of paint, boxes of screws and nails and just about every other kind of household item you could imagine. There were bays along the third wall with lumber neatly stacked in them. Workbenches lined the other wall with peg boards fixed to the wall above, more tools hanging from the pegs. There were a number of large woodworking machines in the middle of the room - a table saw he recognized and some others he didn't. Ryder was sitting on one of the workbenches swinging his legs and Guillory was poking around the contents on the shelves. The only thing missing was Hendricks and his buddy.
Evan looked around in amazement. 'I heard them come down here.' he said.
'Are you sure you weren't taking a nap on the bed instead of hiding under it?' Ryder said. 'And you dreamed the whole thing.'
Cruel Comfort (Evan Buckley Thrillers Book 1) Page 19
