Now we join Rock and Annelie as they go check on Alex’s house. “This is the place,” said Annelie. “Hmm, looks like there’s a road around to the back of the house,” said Rock. So he told the driver to go around that way so the car would be hidden from view. There was a car at the back but since Alex is not married and has no apparent girlfriend right now, they just figured it was an extra car. Rock looked around but could not see any evidence that Alex had a security system, which he thought was odd.

But maybe it was part of his plan to show he had nothing valuable in his house. Which can only mean that he does. Rock put his arms at the door frames right at the locks and “crack” at each spot. Then he just pushed the door open easily. Annelie looked at Rock. “Door frames are flimsy and easy to break,” said Rock, “so you can be in very quickly and quite quietly.” “I’m glad you’re on our side Rock,” she said. Rock just smiled. Hmm, maybe Annelie is getting through to him. The other 4 men went quickly through the house to make sure no one else was around, and the place was empty.

And there was no security system that anyone could see. “You sure this is the right house?”, one of them asked. “It is,” she said, “so tear the place apart until we find a safe, or some hiding place where he might keep his important information. I will check his computer. Don’t worry about being neat, we want him to know we were here.” So they all started moving furniture, tossing things around, ripping pictures off the walls. Rock finally went upstairs to the main bedroom, which was huge, so he figured it must be the one Alex used. He went to move the bed, but it stayed put.

“That’s kind of odd,” he said to himself. He looked under the bed but could see nothing. So he started looking for a switch, otherwise he would just break it apart. The bed frame was solid walnut with large round legs. Rock tried turning them but nothing. Then on the back of one leg he felt something that seemed to be a round button, but was level with the leg. He pressed it and he heard a click. He then was able to lift the side of the bed, including the floor. He looked under with his flashlight but the space was empty. “That can’t be,” he thought and started to feel along the edge of that open space.

Although it was just a tiny crack he felt, he reasoned it must be a drawer in that spot. But he could not pull it out. So he decided to push that button once more and the drawer opened right away. He emptied the contents which included many CDs and DVDs, plus papers, notebooks, and a large amount of cash. He put it all in a bag he had with him and brought it downstairs to Annelie. She looked at just one CD which had names, addresses and phone numbers of a lot of people, including some that were obviously very important.

“Take these back to Kat right away,” she said to Rock, “this is what we want, take Bill with you to drive. I am going to stay a bit longer with the other men to finish looking over the info on the computer, then we will head out.” “Okay,” said Rock, “but you should probably come too.” “With the guns these guys have, I will be okay,” she told him. So off they went and Annelie had one man looking out back and one out front, the other man went to the basement to mess things a bit.

After Rock had been gone for a few minutes Alex drove up at the back and he had 2 men with him. “Alex is here Annelie,” said the man watching the back. She called the man up from the basement and he and the front man went out and around back. Annelie and Sam waited at the back door. But half way up the walkway to the back door Alex saw the hidden car behind the garage and turned around. The two men came out from behind some bushes and shot one of his guards, but the other guard shot both of the men.

Annelie and Sam came out the back door just as Alex pressed a button and the entire house was engulfed in a roaring fiery explosion with debris covering Annelie and Sam. Annelie had been on the phone with Kat telling her what Alex was driving when this happened. Kat recognized the sound. “Car 5, pick up Alex, this is what he is driving,” said Kat, “do what you want, but bring Alex back to me, alive! Car 3 head to Alex’s house and check for survivors, fast!”

To Be Continued.

©2021 Steve McLeod.