Bloody Heart (Brutal Birthright #4) - Sophie Lark Page 0,94
won’t take him long to figure out who the giant on her doorstep was.
I’m about to head back to the Escalade, when I have one more idea.
I text Seb:
One second. I’m gonna check around the back of the property.
Without waiting for him to respond, I cut around the side of the house. The property isn’t fenced, so it’s easy to cross Irene’s grounds. However, I’m mindful of the dogs I heard barking in the house. I don’t know if there’s more prowling around, and I don’t want to have to choose between shooting an innocent dog, or losing a chunk of my leg.
Irene’s grounds are mostly untended—several open fields, an old horse paddock that looks like it hasn’t been used in years, a tumbledown barn, and a few wooded lots.
I’m about to turn back to the car, when I see what I was looking for, way out on the edge of the grounds: a tiny cabin. Large estates usually have a house like that for the groundskeeper—out of sight of the main house, but close enough to watch over the bulk of the property.
This one looks as untended and overgrown as the rest of the grounds. But I’m still going to take a look. It would be the perfect place to hide if you wanted to stay at your great-aunt’s house, without actually being bothered by that aunt.
Irene is too old to come tramping all the way over here. Christian could stay for months without her noticing.
As I get closer, I see a rear access road winding up to the cabin. You could drive right up and park without being noticed. There’s no vehicle around at the moment, but I think I see fresh tracks in the mud next to the cabin.
I approach the hut warily, looking for cameras. Looking for tripwires, too. We had plenty of those in Iraq. The insurgents used fishing line, transparent and set up at shin-level. Almost impossible to see until you blundered right through it and set off an incendiary device. Or one of those damn bounding mines—you trip it, and the propelling charge launches the body of the mine three feet in the air, where it explodes, spraying fragments in all directions at just the right height to rip open your guts.
Yeah, we didn’t love those.
We carried around Silly String to spray the area. The string would hang suspended on the trip wires, without detonating the bombs. But I don’t have any Silly String right now. So I just watch where the fuck I’m walking, carefully picking my way through the overgrown grass.
As soon as I get to the cabin door, I become certain that Christian has been here. I can see the arcing line through the dust where the front door swung open. I check all around the frame for boobytraps, then turn the knob and step inside.
It’s not locked. I doubt Christian expected us to figure out his identity, let alone where he was staying.
I can smell the scent of his soap, over the mildew and dust. He’s been washing up at the sink. And sleeping in the cot in the corner. The bed is neatly made, corners pulled tight and the blanket tucked in all around, military-style. I’d recognize that technique anywhere—six inches between the top edge of the blanket and sheet, four inches of folded material, four inches from pillow to fold.
The cabin’s been swept clean, and a single plate, mug, and fork sit drying next to the sink.
There’s no TV or stereo—just an old cabinet against one wall, with a couple moldy books and a battered teddy bear high up on the top shelf.
I’m not interested in any of that. I’m drawn straight to the neat stacks of paper next to the bed. The folders and clippings are set atop an upside-down crate. I scoop them up, flipping through the pages one by one.
Chicago Library Welcomes Imogen Griffin as Newest Board Member . . .
Fergus and Imogen Griffin are pleased to announce the engagement of their eldest son Callum, to Aida Gallo, daughter of Enzo and the late Gianna Gallo . . .
Callum Griffin Voted in as Alderman of 43rd Ward . . .
Alderman’s Bodyguard Slain in Cemetery . . .
Dante Gallo Arrested for Murder of Walton Miller . . .
Jack Du Pont, son of Horace and Elena Du Pont, was laid to rest at Rosehill Cemetery on . . .
Shooting at Harris Theater . . .
Gallo Construction Announces Massive Redevelopment Project on South Shore . . .