surroundings with renewed interest. He looked unsure for a moment. Then as they continued around a bend, recognition struck. He nodded.
Why? The manor was under police control, likely monitored around the clock. Allyn stirred uncomfortably—his fear of abandonment had been replaced by fear of betrayal. Jaxon had made it clear they would eventually look to strike and recover the artifacts in the library. But they weren’t prepared. To try before they were ready was too risky. They might as well walk into the nearest police station and turn themselves in.
Mason slowed, turning onto a gravel road, and stopped short of a faded yellow gate.
Are we approaching the manor from behind?
“Wait here.” Jaxon opened the door and stepped outside.
Allyn decided the order was directed at Mason, and not everyone in the car. He stepped out of the car to follow. Jaxon had already ducked under the gate and was ascending the steep hill. Allyn jogged to catch up, hearing more footsteps crunching on the gravel behind him. Fallen limbs, walnuts, and slick leaves covered the decaying road, while thick blackberry bushes lined either side and wrapped around deep-rooted tree trunks, suffocating them.
Mason shut off the car’s headlights, and the world went black. Without the moon or starlight, Allyn was trapped in an expanse of pure darkness; and if it weren’t for Jaxon’s shuffling footsteps, Allyn would have quickly been lost.
Allyn took short, tentative steps and held out his arms as if he were walking through a strange house in the middle of the night. Liam tripped somewhere behind him, falling with a grunt, before climbing back to his feet to the sound of cracking twigs and ruffling leaves. Allyn’s eyes took several minutes to adjust, but when the fuzzy outline of Jaxon’s bulky frame resolved, Allyn hastened his steps to take position at his side. If Jaxon was irritated that Allyn and Liam had followed, he masked it behind a determined expression.
“What are we doing here, Jaxon?”
“Searching for answers.”
His leg muscles burning, Allyn continued to follow Jaxon up the hillside, until finally, the landscape leveled off onto a panoramic vista. The trees had been cleared away from what Allyn believed was the southeast side of the hill, giving them a clear vantage into the world beyond. The manor wasn’t immediately visible, but Allyn had little doubt that it was near. Lights from Portland’s neighboring cities shined in the distance, reflecting off the dark clouds and casting a soft light onto the hillside.
Jaxon crossed his arms and stared into the distance. Not the horizon. He was looking at something closer. Below them, perhaps a few miles away on the next hillside, partially hidden by thick pine trees, was a series of circular lights illuminating a construction site. Allyn took a step forward.
Inside the circular array of lights were tractors, trailers, SUVs, and other earth-moving equipment. Even from a distance, Allyn could make out small shadows moving among them, marching around the site like an army of ants. At the site’s center was a blackened scar resembling little more than a shadow in the night. The tractor was clearing part of it away, scooping and dumping debris into a nearby container.
“No,” Liam said softly.
It wasn’t a construction site. It was the manor.
“Tell me what we’re up against,” Jaxon said.
Allyn attempted to swallow the tension in his throat. He’d expected police escalation, especially after Jaxon had told him of his plan to retake the library, but he hadn’t expected it so soon. If they were cleaning up the site, the investigation had reached a point where the police no longer needed the manor rubble. They had gathered enough evidence to move forward.
“Who were those men?”
Allyn could see them as clearly as he could see Jaxon or Liam. The one behind the wheel was huge, larger than even Jaxon, with a clean-shaven head and a goatee. The other had a square face and
Why? The manor was under police control, likely monitored around the clock. Allyn stirred uncomfortably—his fear of abandonment had been replaced by fear of betrayal. Jaxon had made it clear they would eventually look to strike and recover the artifacts in the library. But they weren’t prepared. To try before they were ready was too risky. They might as well walk into the nearest police station and turn themselves in.
Mason slowed, turning onto a gravel road, and stopped short of a faded yellow gate.
Are we approaching the manor from behind?
“Wait here.” Jaxon opened the door and stepped outside.
Allyn decided the order was directed at Mason, and not everyone in the car. He stepped out of the car to follow. Jaxon had already ducked under the gate and was ascending the steep hill. Allyn jogged to catch up, hearing more footsteps crunching on the gravel behind him. Fallen limbs, walnuts, and slick leaves covered the decaying road, while thick blackberry bushes lined either side and wrapped around deep-rooted tree trunks, suffocating them.
Mason shut off the car’s headlights, and the world went black. Without the moon or starlight, Allyn was trapped in an expanse of pure darkness; and if it weren’t for Jaxon’s shuffling footsteps, Allyn would have quickly been lost.
Allyn took short, tentative steps and held out his arms as if he were walking through a strange house in the middle of the night. Liam tripped somewhere behind him, falling with a grunt, before climbing back to his feet to the sound of cracking twigs and ruffling leaves. Allyn’s eyes took several minutes to adjust, but when the fuzzy outline of Jaxon’s bulky frame resolved, Allyn hastened his steps to take position at his side. If Jaxon was irritated that Allyn and Liam had followed, he masked it behind a determined expression.
“What are we doing here, Jaxon?”
“Searching for answers.”
His leg muscles burning, Allyn continued to follow Jaxon up the hillside, until finally, the landscape leveled off onto a panoramic vista. The trees had been cleared away from what Allyn believed was the southeast side of the hill, giving them a clear vantage into the world beyond. The manor wasn’t immediately visible, but Allyn had little doubt that it was near. Lights from Portland’s neighboring cities shined in the distance, reflecting off the dark clouds and casting a soft light onto the hillside.
Jaxon crossed his arms and stared into the distance. Not the horizon. He was looking at something closer. Below them, perhaps a few miles away on the next hillside, partially hidden by thick pine trees, was a series of circular lights illuminating a construction site. Allyn took a step forward.
Inside the circular array of lights were tractors, trailers, SUVs, and other earth-moving equipment. Even from a distance, Allyn could make out small shadows moving among them, marching around the site like an army of ants. At the site’s center was a blackened scar resembling little more than a shadow in the night. The tractor was clearing part of it away, scooping and dumping debris into a nearby container.
“No,” Liam said softly.
It wasn’t a construction site. It was the manor.
“Tell me what we’re up against,” Jaxon said.
Allyn attempted to swallow the tension in his throat. He’d expected police escalation, especially after Jaxon had told him of his plan to retake the library, but he hadn’t expected it so soon. If they were cleaning up the site, the investigation had reached a point where the police no longer needed the manor rubble. They had gathered enough evidence to move forward.
“Who were those men?”
Allyn could see them as clearly as he could see Jaxon or Liam. The one behind the wheel was huge, larger than even Jaxon, with a clean-shaven head and a goatee. The other had a square face and
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