Vendetta in Death (In Death #49)(104)

“Clear the house, floor by floor. Main, second, third. Find any more droids, take them out. Roarke?”

“Another minute or two.”

“Roarke goes in the front with me and Peabody, then heads up to the third level. He’ll take out the droid there, determine the grandmother’s status.”

Impatient, she rolled to her toes, back on her heels. “Once we’re through the gate, we need to shut down any exterior cams. We’ll wait until we go through the door to shut down interior.”

“She’s moving into the center of the basement level, Dallas,” McNab said in her ear.

“Roarke!”

“And there we are,” he said, cool as ice. “Two seconds and …” The gates quietly slid open. “I assumed you didn’t want everyone to climb over.”

“Good thinking.”

“Slick work” was Baxter’s opinion.

“Move fast,” she said as she passed Roarke the last earbud. “If she notices the monitors shut down, she could just take the vic out. She may have other weapons. Move fast, deactivate any droids who may be hostile or programmed to alert her. Find the access to the basement. Let’s go.”

She took the short drive at a jog, watched her teams peel off. “Roarke, take the stairs to the third level once we’re in. You’ve got one known droid to take out, and the grandmother to check on.”

“Do you want the MTs if she’s in distress?”

“Life-or-death, yeah. Otherwise check the house ’link or Eloise’s personal. The nurse is bound to be on there. Donnalou Harris, contact her.”

She stopped at the entrance door. “Alarms, locks.”

“A moment or two,” he said, and got to work.

“Hold for security system shutdown,” Eve warned the teams. “Wait for my go.”

The light had changed, softening toward dusk. A fresh spring breeze kicked up, making the bulging tips of ready-to-pop blooms shiver and sway. Eve listened to the teams’ chatter in her ear, and thought of the man hanging by his wrists a floor below.

“Very clever,” Roarke muttered, “but expected. Here we are now, aye, here we are. Time to go to sleep, and … done.

“System’s down,” he told Eve. “All exterior locks down.”

“All?”

“Well, we do like to be thorough.”

She only shook her head, shifted the weapon she’d already drawn in her hand. “Hear that? You’re go. Move in, move in!”

She heard Baxter’s admiring “Slick work” as she went in low with Roarke and Peabody going high beside her.

Absolute silence. That struck her first, how silent a wealthy house could be. She signaled to Roarke to take the grand stairs, pointed Peabody in the opposite direction.

“We need to find the basement access. Callendar, elevators.”

“Got it going now.”

“Movement?”

“Just basement level, both humans still in the center area, but movement from both.”

“She’s circling him, Dallas,” McNab added. “He’s jerking. Still upright, jerking and swaying. Fuck.”

Bad for Brinkman, Eve thought, but Darla seemed too busy to notice blank monitors.

“Two droids down,” Feeney said. “Two damn nice droids.”

“One on the third level,” Roarke reported. “Medical type. It’s down. Ms. Callahan seems to be sleeping peacefully.”

“Hold off on medical for now. Clear third level.”

“We’re clear,” Baxter reported. “And I think we’ve got your access door.”

“Got one here, too,” Feeney said. “Kind of a fancy pantry deal off the main kitchen.”

“We’re heading back. Clear as we go, Peabody.”

“It’s so quiet.” Peabody swung, weapon first, into another doorway.

“Serious soundproofing. Clear.”

“I’ll say. Clear”

“Another droid, shut down, now locked down,” Roarke said. “Closet in what I’d say is Pettigrew’s suite of rooms. So we’re clear on the third. I’m coming down.”

“Sweep the second on the way.”

“How about Baxter and Trueheart take that,” Feeney said as she and Peabody finally reached the kitchen. “We could use another e-man on these doors. I’ve seen fricking vaults with less cover.”

“Baxter, Trueheart, clear second level. Roarke, main level, rear. What’s with the door?” she asked Feeney.

“Scanned it,” he told her. “She’s got it locked down, alarmed, and with a couple of fail-safes to kick it off. We gotta take it in layers. If we try a straight bypass, try to take it down, you’re going to set off secondary alarms and seal it.”

“It’s the same deal with mine.” Both frustration and admiration tinged Callendar’s voice. “Maggest of the mag.”

“Shit, shit. McNab, secure the van and get in here. Work with Callendar. What can we do?”

“Give me room,” Feeney told her.

He ran a scanner over the door, tapped his shit-brown shoe, tapped a few commands. “Not that way,” he muttered. He glanced over as Roarke walked in.