Ty followed Hanger into a space that was more casino foyer than entrance hall. There was no sign of The Freak. There was no sound of him either. It was quiet, eerily so. Like the front gates, the front door was obviously remotely operated.
Figuring that no one would walk in behind them with Lock standing guard outside, Ty kept his back to the front door as he scoped out the foyer. Ty picked out what he presumed was the home’s owner from several large, framed posters for magic shows featuring a name that rang a very distant bell, Dirk Van Amstel. They showed an athletic-looking man with a mane of thick blonde hair carrying a whip in one hand, a revolver in the other. He was flanked by a fully grown Bengal tiger that was looming over an apparently terrified young showgirl.
A voice called to them from further inside the house.
“Gentlemen, come on in.”
Hanger gave Ty an apologetic shrug. “He’s a little eccentric.”
Ty followed Hanger through the foyer, through a set of double doors and into the living room. There was no sign of The Freak here either. Ty was starting to get the feeling they were being played, and he didn’t like it.
He closed up on Hanger so Hanger could hear him without anyone else picking up on what he was about to say.
“Where do you think he has her stashed?” said Ty.
“I don’t know, man, it’s a big place, and he’s never given the grand tour. Any time I’ve been here, I’m in and out.”
“I’m kind of tight on time,” Ty called out. “If you’re interested in this girl I got, then let’s discuss terms.”
The voice came again, but this time Ty couldn’t tell where it was coming from. It seemed to bounce from one part of the house to another and back again, as if it was rolling out from speakers in different rooms.
“I’m very sorry. I’ll be with you momentarily, gentlemen. I do apologize for keeping you waiting, but your visit was somewhat unexpected so you may have to bear with me.”
Screw this, thought Ty. He was here to find the girl, not play nice with some weirdo child molester.
“This place have a basement?” he asked Hanger.
“No idea. Like I said, he never gave me the tour.”
“Let’s find out, shall we?”
Ty motioned for Hanger to walk back out into the entrance foyer. There was a staircase, but it only led up. Ty started opening doors. The first one led into a powder room, all marble and gold taps. He closed it again and walked down to the next door.
Behind that door was a billiards room with a full size table. There was a card table and a couple of old school arcade video games. One was Ms. Pacman, and the other was something to do with a haunted house. Knowing whose house this was, the sight of gave him the creeps. He stepped back out and headed back in the direction of the living room.
There was still no sign of the homeowner. Or Kristin, for that matter. Leaving Hanger where he was, Ty walked to the end of the room where a pair of glass sliding doors led out to a deck. Beyond that was a large yard with a swimming pool.
Ty stopped at the door and turned around so that back to the doors. Reaching back, he found the key sitting in the lock and turned it. He grabbed the handle and, still with his hand behind his back, pushed the door open a tiny fraction, just enough to be sure that he had unlocked the door.
He dug his cell phone out and started to tap out a quick text to Lock, letting him know that the rear deck door was open. Just as he was about to hit send, Hanger, who’d picked up a book from the coffee table and had been flicking through the pages, suddenly took off, hobbling as fast as he could towards a door off to one side of the fireplace.
Ty sprinted off after him. As he ran, he tripped, banging his knee hard into the corner of a mahogany coffee table. Shrugging off the pain, Ty kept moving.
Hanger reached the door, opened it, stumbled through and slammed it closed. Ty arrived a split-second late. He grabbed the door handle, turned it and yanked it open. It didn’t budge. He guessed it was another guest bathroom and Hanger had locked it.
He could force the door, even shoot through it, but Hanger’s purpose had been getting them in here. He’d done that. What mattered was finding the girl, assuming she was here, and this wasn’t all a snow job on Hanger’s part.
Ty decided to circle back round for Hanger and keep searching the house. He tapped send on the text to Lock, moved to the other side of the room, opened another door and stepped into the kitchen.
At one end of the kitchen was a small dining area. Beyond that, another set of doors led out onto the same deck. Ty crossed to them and unlocked those doors too.
Walking back into the kitchen area, he passed the range and island and opened another door. This one had a set of stairs that led down.
“Bingo,” said Ty, drawing his gun as he started down them.