Chapter Eighteen—Reconnaissance

They split up, John heading for the basement stairs between the living room and the kitchen where they had entered from.

With absolute silence he stepped down the stairs one by one, putting his weight onto the steps lightly before allowing them to take his full weight. One step creaked and he stopped, listened for fifteen seconds before continuing down.

As he continued down the steps, he was greeted with a wall of awards Styne had gotten through various academic achievements. The wall was nearly full.

Under the awards was an impressive hardwood table filled with trophies and expensive vases.

John narrowed his eyes and swept his pistol down both sides of the corridor.

It was empty.

Where is this guy?

Deciding to take the left side first, he stepped gingerly making sure not to make too much noise. As he travelled down the corridor, he came to a door. He put the barrel of his pistol to it and cracked it slightly.

With no one in sight, he opened the door fully, revealing a large workout room. But the lights were dimmed and no one was there.

Closing the door, he pressed on, found a luxurious bathroom. He went in, then out the other side and into the bedroom beyond. The lacquered four poster bed was four feet off the floor with stairs leading up on both sides.

A fireplace in the bedroom was lit, the fire therein crackling. There were people in the house, just not here.

Leaving the bedroom, he travelled down the hall and found another kitchen. As he began to enter, he realized a shadow moving on the tiles. John backed away as footsteps followed that shadow toward him and he quietly slipped back into the bathroom.

Someone crossed the hall and went into the room on the other side. Coming back out of the bathroom, he went to the spot where the person had come. Glancing into the kitchen over the barrel of his pistol, he found it empty.

His ears perked up when he heard voices in the room across the hall and the holo-net device that was active.

A man in an announcer-like voice said something and a huge crowd cheered.

“Yes!” someone called.

“Damn.”

John peaked into the room and found two guards snacking and watching a sports match.

There was no need to go in and kill them, so he left the room and went down the hall. He was surprised to find a sauna down there and a heated swimming pool. But why was it downstairs and not above ground?

Then he realized this mansion probably had three pools.

Turning around, John left this area of the basement and went down the other hallway.

I wonder what kind of trouble Kyle’s into right now.