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Kendra found herself at the bottom of a stairwell, and the first thing she noticed was the dip in temperature. The air had become cooler, drier.
It took her a moment, but then she realised why – the air conditioning was purring from the ventilation ducts above, which meant that it was circulating throughout the house.
It was obviously a sign that she wasn’t alone.
Kendra mounted the staircase, gun raised, and as she climbed, she kept herself to the side, away from the handrail, shoulder brushing against the wall.
She knew that she was vulnerable to attack from above, so she acquired the widest possible angle, keeping her pace slow and deliberate.
When she reached the landing at the top, she rounded the corner and continued up the next flight of steps. She emerged into a foyer. The smell of perfumed incense filled her nostrils. It was a mixture of rose and apple.
Kendra paused.
A Persian rug lay spread out before her, and oil paintings lined the walls, lush and intricate Iranian landscapes that stood out even under her green-hued vision.
Kendra recognised two of the paintings, but the rest were new. The collection had obviously been updated since the last time she was here.
Kendra felt the stirrings of the past.
The last time I was here, things didn’t end up so well.
With her cheeks twitching, she moved on.
She continued down a hallway. She remembered the layout well enough. The music room was on the left. The library was on the right.
Eyebrows furrowed, Kendra chose the music room and button-hooked into it. She swivelled her head from side to side to compensate for the tunnel vision that her goggles gave her.
A grand piano stood at the centre of the room. The walls were adorned with tapestries. The heavy drapes at the windows were pulled shut.
All clear.
Kendra backtracked and slipped into the library.
A computer workstation sat in the corner. Shelves filled with books reached to the ceiling. The blinds at the windows were shuttered.
All clear.
Kendra moved through the study and accessed the door at the far end. It opened out into another hallway.
As she stepped through, that’s when she caught the scent of something sharply metallic. It was enough to make her flinch, her mouth puckering up. It was the stench of blood. She’d recognise it anywhere.
With her heart throbbing in her ears, Kendra cleared the hallway and button-hooked into the living room.
The sickly sweet smell got stronger.
She dodged a sprawling sofa set and moved past the supersized television, past a table covered with Persian pottery.
And that’s when she saw the bodies.