Dark Abyss by Kaitlyn O'Connor (top fiction books of all time txt) 📗

Ian shook his head ever so slightly and slipped slowly toward the ground, flattening himself behind a scrubby plant that was no more than a foot high or much more than that across. Hoping the deep shadow from the building itself would conceal him, he eased his revolver slowly from its sheathe.

The two pairs crossed paths, paused to exchange a few comments and continued.

Ian let out the breath he’d been holding when they reached the corner.

“Got her! Second floor, north east corner,” Joshua said abruptly.

“Are you in?” Simon asked.

“Negative, no hole.”

“Caleb?” Simon asked.

“Second floor, first room at the top of the stairs. They’ll probably spot me the minute I step into the corridor again. Go or no go?”

Ian glanced up, calculating the distance. There were false balconies over the windows on the second floor, curved, decorative ironwork that were as much of a barrier as ornamentation. “Give me five,” he said abruptly.

As he stood up to sprint toward the end of the house where Joshua had spotted Anna, though, he threw a last glance inside the room where he stood. Cavendish was pushing at what looked like a section of the bookcases that lined the wall at that end of the room. He had something in his hand, but Ian didn’t wait to see what it was. The guards had taken roughly two minutes to reappear once they rounded the corner. Unless they were moving faster ….

He took a running jump toward the ornamental railing around the last window on the east side of the house, hoping to hell it was well anchored into the wall. It would’ve been a much easier leap if he could’ve run straight on. Running parallel to the wall of the house, he counted himself lucky to have caught a hold at all. Gritting his teeth, he pulled himself up by one arm and caught the top edge to hoist himself upward just as the guards rounded the building again.

It was too much to hope they wouldn’t see him, he supposed. Hearing a half uttered expletive below him, he hauled himself upward, ducked his head and used his back to take out the window.

Gunfire accompanied the sound of breaking glass. Anna, he discovered, was halfway between the bed and the window, her eyes rounded, her mouth forming an ‘O’ of surprise.

“Ian!” Anna gasped, rushing toward him.

Ian scrambled toward her at a half crouch, catching her around the waist and carrying her to the floor. Caleb burst into the room through the door just as they hit the floor. Within seconds the sound of gunfire escalated to a deafening roar around them.

Bullets shattered the glass of the other windows and plowed into the walls, the molding and the ceiling.

Caleb flicked a quick look at the two of them as he slammed the door and then glanced around the room. “This lock isn’t going to hold them long!” he bellowed at Ian.

“Stay down!” Ian growled at Anna as he lurched up to a half crouch and headed toward the piece of furniture closest to the door. The Armoire shattered as he shoved it over, but neither man waited to see if the pile of broken pieces would be enough of a barricade.

“Coming in!” Simon bellowed, slamming against the door, flying through the narrow opening he’d made in a diver’s arch, and rolling to a stop at the foot of the bed.

Ian kicked the door shut behind him and shoved a heavy dresser in front of it.

Anna, after looking around a little frantically for a safe place to hide, scurried under the bed just about the time Simon snatched the mattress off, pitched it toward the door and reached back for the support panel beneath it.

He froze for a split second when he lifted it and saw Anna staring back at him from beneath the bed. “Get in the bathroom and into the tub!” he bellowed when he’d glanced around for a place for her.

Rolling onto her stomach, Anna crawled out from under the now empty bed frame and raced for the bathroom.

“Get down!” Caleb bellowed at her just about the time she stubbed her toe on the threshold between the bath and the bedroom and sprawled out on the tile. Fortunately, the tub stopped her. When she’d recovered enough to figure out she was lying against the tub, she crawled over the side and flattened herself the best she could against the bottom. Bullets seemed to be flying in every direction, however. She’d barely settled when a bullet ricocheted through the room and shattered the edge of the tub near her feet.

Screaming instinctively, she jerked her feet up closer to her body and then rolled to her side when she saw that position put her knees higher than the rim of the tub. It didn’t seem to be working all that well as a shield, but it was certainly better than nothing!

For a while the barrage of gunfire seemed to escalate and then, so subtly she didn’t notice at first, it began to subside.

“You alright in there, Anna?” Caleb called out.

“Yes,” she said weakly. “What are we going to do now?”

Simon appeared in the doorway, staring down at her. “Stay put. Our men will have everything under control shortly.”

She was reassured, briefly. Even as she lay listening to the sporadic gunfire as men died or fled the scene, listening to Simon and the others as they discussed the possibility of finding evidence against Cavendish, an unknown uneasiness began to churn in her stomach.

“He’s a got a vault, or maybe just a secret room off his office on the first floor.