CHAPTER 118 Huff Hills


    Sebastian


    There wasn’t any good newsing in from the team of men I had sent to the Bahamas.


    When I called earlier, they informed me there was no sign of Pete McDowell at any of thergest


    densely popted inds. To widen the search and cover more area, my men decided to split up, each


    one assigned to visit a designated area.


    The Bahamas had thirty inhabited inds….


    And I only sent five men to conduct the search. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.


    This was a huge problem. None of us had a clue to where Pete was.


    And we were running out of time. The Spring Formal was next week..


    to


    Dina was going through all the feed from airports, bus terminals and train stations within the Central


    States, hoping to find Pete through her facial recognition software. Cristos was following the news on


    the series of sexually assaulted exotic dancers, waiting for another pop up so he could triangte a


    location. The most recent victim was a woman in a town near the North Dakota and Minnesota border.


    Cristos believed Pete was rounding up all his subordinates and allies in his territory, making Cristos


    suspect a war was brewing.


    Xavier, on the other hand, said he was keeping tabs on someone he believed may lead us Pete, but


    didn’t mention anything else. He said if he found something, anything, he promised he would tell us, but


    not until then.


    As for me, all I had was the information Ma gave me. Since De Luca was back in town, I asked him


    to apany me and check out the McDowell mansion up on Huff Hills before heading over to the


    cabin at Red River.


    It was reckless not to tell Xavier and Cristos my ns, but I wanted answers right away.


    As they say, “If you want things done properly, you have to do it yourself.”


    I intended on getting the information we needed… for Joy’s sake.


    Since the McDowell residence in New Salem was cleaned out before Link could even purchase the


    house, I figured it was possible there might be some things at Huff Hills or at that cabin along the river


    that could point us at the right direction.


    CHAPTER 118 Huff Hills


    I felt lucky. Theodore’s death was a sess. I believed I could aplish one more feat before the


    day was over.


    De Luca and I arrived at the foot of Huff Hills in a ck SUV, dressed in our tactical gear, just as the


    sky grew dark, with thest of the sun’s rays disappearing from the h orizon. We parked several blocks


    away from the lonely mansion sitting atop the highest hill and decided to hoof it the rest of the way to


    do away with the chance of being heard or seen.


    All the lights inside the old gothic mansion were off. The only light illuminating the massivepound


    was an orange hued bulb at the front porch.


    From afar, the mansion reminded me of one of those old haunted houses resting atop a sp ooky


    mountainside.


    ording to a website, the Huff Hills mansion originally was owned by a family ancestor of the Taylors.


    The man made his money growing wheat and was said to own prime farnd


    from here to New Salem.


    Undoutedly, the Taylors were once the richest in North Dakota up until the Cohens came.


    Although the mansion’s structure was old, it looked well-kept. The front door, walls and shutters had a


    new coat of paint on them while thewn was cut, the bushes around the porch area were neatly


    trimmed and the grounds were swept clean.


    There were no cars parked on the paved driveway nor were there any security roaming


    around, not even a dop


    As we approached the tall ck iron gates to the estate, I noticed the gates were chained together with


    a huge silver padlock.


    “This padlock and chain look new,” De Luca whispered as he bent down on one knee and picked the


    lock.


    Whoever was here just left. That gave me a bad feeling.


    I turned around to survey the dense forest in front of the house and I suddenly felt uneasy.


    Pete might be expecting us.


    I was about to tell De Luca that we should juste back another time, but he had already entered the


    estate, swinging the gates free of the thick chains, so I could pass through.


    2/6


    CHAPTER 118 Huff Hills


    What the hell… If Pete was inside, I’ll just kill him. Problem solved.


    “I don’t see any CCTV cameras in the area. Do you think the house has an rm inside?” De


    Luca asked.


    “It probably does. We need to go through the front to check. I’ll shoot the light out. Ready


    tools to pick the lock on the front door,” I said.


    your


    “Copy,” he replied.


    Crouching low, we quickly crept towards the porch. I took my gun out from its holster, screwed on a


    silencer and aimed for the light.


    The shattered ss from the bullet hitting the bulb made a loud enough sound.


    I gestured to De Luca to stop moving. The noise could have alerted anyone inside. If there was


    someone inside, we would definitely see some movement. Fortunately, nothing.


    I gestured to De Luca to proceed to the front door. He hurriedly went up the steps and took


    out his tools to pick the lock.


    While he focused on unlocking the door, I took out my jamming device and turned it on. If the house


    had a wireless rm system, the signal, which would supposedly alert the police, would be blocked. If


    it wasn’t a wireless rm system, then we had exactly thirty second cut the phone line.


    “Alright,” De Luca said, sliding a neodymium ma along the door. “Now, I just need a ma to


    unlock the top lock.” After he heard the unmistakable click of the lock, De Luca slowly turned the


    doorknob and slightly opened the door, looking closely for some tripwire. Then, with a smug smile, he


    swung the door wide open. “After you, sir.”


    I swiftly entered using a small shlight to illuminate my surroundings. I saw a characteristic red sh of


    a security panel. It was a wired house rm.


    I followed the line, found the wire to thendline and spliced the wires with a pair of Lineman’s pliers.


    Once that was done, I opened the security panel and took out its battery source. The blinking red light


    disappeared instantly.


    I quickly turned off my jamming device. I needed a signal for my phone.


    “What do you want to check first?” De Luca said.


    3/6


    CHAPTER 118 Huff Hills


    “There must be an office in this ce,” I said. “Let’s look for it and search in there. If it isn’t on this floor,


    we’ll go upstairs.”


    We shed our shlights around as we quietly roamed through the first floor of the house. The


    furniture was covered with white linens while the rugsying on the hardwood floors


    were covered in stic.


    The kitchen was immacte. I went over and checked the sink. There were no dirty dishes.


    and the sink itself was dry. That was a good sign.


    “Sink’s dry. Means no one has used the sink recently. Come on. Let’s go over there. I saw a


    door to the left of the staircase.”


    We quickly left the kitchen and headed to the direction of the staircase where I had seen the door. I


    tried the doorknob and the door opened.


    chair I was right… it was an office. An empty office. Only a wooden desk and single wooden was


    inside. De Luca rushed towards the desk and began opening its drawers one by one. I surveyed the


    room and looked closely at the light switch and walls. When Xavier broke into the coroner’s house, he


    said the coroner’s files were hidden behind a wall which swung open by pressing a button underneath


    the light switch.


    There was no button underneath the light switch. I ran my fingers along the walls. There were no


    indentations. I checked the floors for scuff marks. Nothing. This room didn’t have


    secret panel.


    “I found something,” De Luca suddenly said showing me sheets of crumpled paper.


    “Where did you find that?” I asked.


    “They forgot to empty the trash, De Luca said, pointing at a trash bin underneath the desk. “Anyway,


    this is a print out of an itinerary for a flight from Texas to Chicago under a name Luis Villegas. This was


    dated yesterday.”


    “Another one of Pete’s aliases I gather,” I said.


    “This is strange,” he murmured, puzzled. “My asset at the FBI told me the capo who fled from Texas


    was a man named Luis Villegas.”


    “There’s no one in New Salem by that name,” I said, knowing that for a fact.


    “He could’ve changed his name.” De Luca said.


    4/6


    CHAPTER 118 Huff Hills


    “Even then… this is the Mexican mob we’re talking about,” I reasoned. “He’d definitely stick. out in New


    Salem just like Pete. I haven’t met anyone who looks Hispanic unless he went


    under the knife.”


    The sound of screeching tires made us both turn our shlights off. I walked out of the room towards


    the living room window and peered outside.


    A dark van had stopped in front of the gate. Four men walked out… all of them… armed.


    S hit!


    I took out my phone and dialed. I had to call Xavier. Since the backyard opened to a cliff, there were


    only two ways out… Through the gate or over the tall concrete fence.


    “What’s-”


    “I need your help. I’m at Pete’s mansion on Huff Hills and there’s a team of mercenaries who’ve


    entered thepound,” I quickly exined, pausing as I heard the unmistakable sounds of sirens on


    Xavier’s end.


    What was going on in New Salem?


    “I’m on my way,” Xavier said. “How many are there?”


    “Four,” I answered, peeking through the window again. The four men were huddled toge while they


    prepped themselves. They all had vests on which meant I had to shoot them


    the head to


    kill them.


    “They’re the weingmittee. Rig the entrances with explosives. That’ll take a couple off your


    back,” Xavier instructed. “ETA twenty minutes, unless I get caught speeding. Since Mandan is closer,


    I’ll alert the men and send them to your location. And Dom, wear your


    earpiece.”


    After hanging up, I opened the backpack I brought… packed by Xavier himself. Inside a clear pouch


    was some semtex and in a ck case were charges and detonators. Easy peasy.


    “De Luca, shield yourself behind the kitchen counter. The only way they’ll be getting inside.


    is through the windows. Aim for their heads.” De Luca took the safety off his gun and readied


    his ammo.


    “Time for some target practice on live bait.”


    5/6


    CHAPTER 118 Huff Hills


    I molded a small amount of semtex and stuck it on the front door, inserting a charge. I did the same for


    the back entrance and handed De Luca the detonator, instructing him to detonate when they twist the


    doorknob.


    Armed with the detonator for the explosive I stuck on the front door, I went back to the living room


    window to check on our guests. They were casually walking across the paved driveway, looking quite


    pleased.


    I smiled and positioned myself behind the couch.


    Let the games begin. Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024.


    Chapter Comments


    Susan Wynne


    can we get more than 1 chapter at a time please


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