John Sneeden - The Hades Conspiracy

Emily laughed. “Dad has major OCD. It drove us crazy growing up. He even had Mom line up the canned goods in the cabinet.”

A sharp beep indicated the desktop had woken up. Zane smiled. In keeping with Pauling’s dislike for clutter, it was almost devoid of icons.

“Not exactly promising,” Carmen said.

Emily opened a few files on the hard drive. “Looks like it’s mostly personal stuff. Bank account information, health records, contact lists.”

“You never know what might be helpful,” Zane said. “We should probably look—”

“Guys!” Amanda called down the hall. “Get down here.”

Noting the tinge of urgency, Zane and Carmen rushed out of the room. Emily followed close behind. What was going on? Was someone coming in? While she seemed concerned, there wasn’t panic in her voice.

When they arrived at the library, they found Amanda standing calmly at a table, holding a closed book in her hand. She looked up briefly then lowered her eyes to the cover again. “I found something.” She turned the cover toward them. “Recognize the name?”

“William F. Albright,” Carmen said.

Zane’s mind shifted back to the dossier. Was it another of Pauling’s colleagues? Then it hit him. He remembered the words of Pauling’s text. You can find it. Start with William F. Albright . He looked at Amanda. “That’s the name Pauling mentioned in the text.”

Amanda nodded then tapped the table. “And guess where I found this? It just happened to be the only book lying out.”

Zane had to admit it certainly seemed significant. What were the odds Pauling would mention Albright in the text then leave a book by Albright on a table in his library. “Let’s take that with us. My guess is there is some clue in there about his work.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Amanda said.

“Guys.”

It was Emily’s voice. Where was she? Zane turned back and forth but couldn’t see her. He guessed she must have slipped off while they were talking about the book.

“Over here.”

Carmen pointed down one of the aisles. Emily stood at the window, holding the blind slats open with a finger.

“I thought I heard something outside, so I came over for a peek. I think we have company.” Emily stepped back while keeping her finger in the slat.

“Go kill the lamp,” Zane told Amanda.

After she turned it off, he stepped up to the blinds and stared through the gap. The dark waters of the Venetian Lagoon spread out as far as he could see. He saw the running lights of a few boats about a quarter of a mile away, but none seemed to be moving in their direction.

“Closer in,” Emily said.

Zane shifted his gaze to the dock at the edge of the water. As it came into focus, he saw movement. Men disembarked from two boats moored there. They were dressed in black and wore bulky coats. Zane didn’t like what he was seeing — a uniform style of dress, and all of it black. An assault team was on their doorstep.

“What is it?” Carmen asked.

Zane scooted over, allowing her to look though at the same time. All the men had disembarked and were ascending the stairs connecting the dock and the promontory. Their movements were athletic, efficient. Their heads swiveled back and forth as they surveyed their surroundings. Military training.

“How many do you see?” Zane asked.

“Eleven,” Carmen said.

The men moved toward the house. As they drew near, several reached into their coats. Zane had no doubt what they were going to pull out. His pulse quickened.

“Automatics?” Carmen asked.

Zane nodded as the weapons appeared. “Looks like HK-Four-Sixteens.”

He watched as the men fanned out in formation. Six went around one side of the house and five around the other. He let the slat drop. He’d seen enough.

They were surrounded, and within minutes, the gunmen would breach the downstairs door.

There was no time to waste. Zane looked at Amanda and pointed to the stairs. “Go to the second floor, and listen for any sounds of entry.”

“Somebody, please tell me what’s going on,” Emily said as Amanda moved off.

“We’ve got some uninvited guests.”

“Do you think they know we’re here?” Carmen asked.

“The fact that they’re drawing weapons tells me they know someone is here. They may have been watching from the lagoon.” Zane nodded at her pocket. “What do you have on you?”

“One magazine in my gun and a spare. Thirty rounds. And of course, I have our new device.”

“I have the same. Between us, that’s sixty rounds, plus whatever Amanda has.”

“I’m sure they have enough ammo to keep those rifles firing long past the time we run out.” Carmen tapped her pocket. “If we get pinned down, we can always take the nuclear option.”

Zane knew she was referring to the explosive device. For now, he wanted to focus on getting away without a fight. “Only as a last resort.”

“Remember this is the very situation these were designed for.”

Emily’s eyes widened with fear, reminding him there was a civilian under their care. Their top priority needed to be getting her to safety.

“These men are ex-military,” Zane said, “and if that’s the case, I’m guessing they’ll spread out once they come in. While one group clears the first floor, another will move to the second. They’re not going to congregate in one room, which means the device is virtually useless. We’ll fight if we have to, but right now, we need to focus on finding a way to get out without them knowing.”

A dark figure appeared at the top of the stairs. Zane pivoted with his Glock in hand. It was Amanda.

“They’re trying to breach now,” she said. “I could hear them fiddling with the lock and didn’t want them to hear me run up once they got in.”

“This is crazy,” Emily said. “Someone call the police. If you don’t, I will.”

“Go right ahead,” Zane told her. “Then you can wait the ten to fifteen minutes it will take for them to get here. Good luck with that.”

“We need to do something,” Emily complained.

A loud click and a snap carried up from below. A thump followed. The gunmen were inside. Zane sorted through several ideas.

“We do need to get going,” Carmen said.

Amanda looked at Emily. “Is there an attic or some other hidden room?”

“I’ve only been here a few times, so I don’t know much more than you do. There might be an attic…” She snapped her fingers. “Wait, I do know of something. I have no idea if it will—”

“Show us,” Zane said. “At this point, anything might be helpful.”

“This way.” Emily entered the hallway with the others just behind. About midway down, she pointed to the left. “Over here.”

Carmen flicked on her flashlight. A small square-framed door appeared near the bottom of the wall. Zane guessed it was about three feet high by three feet wide. There was some sort of control panel to the right.

“What is that?” Amanda asked.

“Laundry chute,” Carmen answered. “It’s all the rage among the wealthy in Italy now.”

Emily grabbed the handle on the top of the door and pulled it down, revealing an open metal carrier. The whole contraption looked like a miniature elevator.

Amanda’s brow furrowed. “I thought it was just a chute. You toss the laundry in, and it drops all the way to the basement.”

“The chutes are the most common design,” Carmen noted. “But here in Europe, we also use them to transport heavier items to upper floors. Television sets, and so on.”

Zane heard several successive thumps. This time, the sounds were louder. The intruders would be on their floor in a matter of minutes. “Let’s get moving.”