Bodie eased the door open. Cassidy breathed easily at his side, perhaps hoping for trouble. Inside lay a cement courtyard, unadorned, just a single flat expanse of gray. Nothing to draw attention.
Jemma had taken her time to locate initial blueprints of all the houses in the city archives, but even that kind of diligence had yielded little. The two entry doors should lead to a kitchen and a basement, the latter of which Jemma had suggested they try first, assuming it would have another exit inside the house.
Great plan.
Bodie moved swiftly to the door, Cross and Cassidy at his back. Jemma whispered in his ear, the comms loud and clear.
“On point so far. Gunn says nothing moving. He’s accessing the interior and exterior CCTV. Wait!”
Bodie froze.
“Camera almost caught you then. Gunn managed to overlay a still frame just in time.”
Bodie checked the new keypad. “Has he overlaid the interior? And checked the basement for sensors?”
“All good. As you step off the last stair there’s an infrared beam, a foot broad. Perfect placement really. It’ll catch anyone coming down that last step. Make sure you jump over two feet.”
Bodie concentrated on the keypad, looking down. “You manage that, Eli?”
“You missing Agent Moneymaker, Guy?”
“Smooth.” Bodie entered the passcode. “Smooth and sweet.”
Inside, they used their flashlights, descended eleven steps and jumped over the last. The basement was a huge storage area, full of boxes of food, drink and wine racks. It smelled of spices and was clean and dry. Cassidy pointed out the exit.
“Another set of stairs,” Bodie said through the comms. “We good?”
“All clear,” Gunn came back.
The door at the top of the stairs opened; light flooded down. Bodie acted instinctively, moving with lightning speed behind a pile of boxes. Cassidy chose the wine rack and Cross an old armchair to shelter behind. Bodie shook his head. Predictable behavior.
It made him smile whilst the figure rustled around the basement, found what they were looking for, and headed back upstairs. Bodie allowed two minutes and then peered out.
“Let’s move.”
They ascended slowly, then used the device to get the interior keypad code. Earlier, Bodie had explained how his mind was working.
“Our old archaeologist didn’t have access to this house but someone did. The Illuminati member that was expelled, the one that was helping him. That guy must have returned once more for the archaeologist, on some pretense, and planted the next waypoint.”
Jemma had agreed, already revising her plan. “I see where you’re going.”
“Find out who it was. Hopefully he had an office right here.”
It took a little digging, but the name Thomas Kilby came up and it turned out that man had been a major part of the York Lodge, expelled for indolence. Nothing terribly serious, so he may have been readmitted at some point. Bodie reasoned it was another — and possibly the main — reason the archaeologist had chosen the York Lodge against any other — purely because he had a way to access the building under his enemy’s nose and keep safe his next waypoint.
“Thomas Kilby,” Bodie now repeated. “Second floor, third from the eastern end. Am I right?”
“Jeff cross-referenced the name Kilby with his footnotes, the part of the map where the archaeologist explained himself. All it says is TK, two up, three from east. Bullcrap to anyone that hasn’t come this far, but makes sense to me.”
“And it’s the only York footnote,” Jeff added. “It must be important.”
Bodie nodded to himself. It made perfect sense. “Moving on.”
Ensuring the readiness of his colleagues, he cracked open the inner door, stealing himself for anything. The corridor was brightly lit, the floors carpeted in beige and the walls badly plastered.
“All for show,” Cross whispered. “Wait until we reach the second floor.”
Of course, the house had to be prepared to receive regular visitors. Confident in Gunn’s ability to mask their movements remotely, the trio quickly traversed the corridor, stepped through an opening at the end and ran down another. A set of stairs now twisted upward on its own small spiral, a brace of security cameras watching.
“Hope the geek got ’em all,” Cassidy muttered.
Bodie grinned. “Me too, love.”
“We have a problem,” Gunn said seriously.
The trio froze. “What?”
“Every time Bodie opens his mouth the glare from his teeth interrupts my Wi-Fi jamming signal. Tell him to keep it shut.”
Cassidy tried hard not to make a sound. Bodie kept a poker-face and Cross shook his head. They moved up, trying hard to keep it quiet on the metal staircase. This time Cassidy came up first, and her vision was filled with a shocked guard.
“Hey…”
The redhead moved like a striking snake, lashing forward and catching the guard around the head, sending him tumbling backward before he could react. Immediately he was on the back foot, pursued by a powerful killer.
He caught his balance, reached for a gun that was holstered in plain sight to Bodie’s surprise. Not your average guard then. Cassidy struck down, snapping the arm at the wrist, then smashed knuckles into his mouth before he could utter a scream. Not the best option for her skin and bone but the fastest on this occasion and necessary. The man spluttered, head down. Cassidy delivered a blow to the back of his neck which sent him further down into an upraised knee.
Lights out.
No movement.
“Did you kill him?” Cross asked.
“Maybe. Best check.” Cassidy moved off, checking the remainder of the corridor. She turned back quickly with a thumbs up.
Cross grunted. “Shit, yeah, he’s dead.”
“Bring him,” Bodie said. “And his gun.”
Cross looked up as Bodie moved off. “Ah, a little help?”
“Sorry, man. That’s Thomas Kilby’s office up ahead and he’s our priority. Put yer back into it.”
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
“Jemma, we’re inside Thomas Kilby’s office.”
“Good. Another step closer to getting away unseen.”
Bodie looked at the guard Cross was dragging in. “Yeah, well, we have to assume it’s been altered, redecorated and God knows what else done to it over the years so suggestions are welcome. Jeff?”
“I’d say pictures,” he came back. “Pictures on the wall.”
Cassidy was already on it. “Nothing,” she said. “Not even Illuminati-ish. A few old drawings of old York, the Viking encampment, the Roman fortress, and a modern aerial view. A letter and a certificate. Nothing here with Kilby’s name on it; not a surprise.” She licked blood from her split knuckles.
“A safe?” Gunn suggested.
They lifted pictures and frames. They checked the carpet and the desk, finding nothing suspicious. Bodie checked the walls for hidden alcoves. Cross even looked suspiciously at the ceiling.
They paused and studied.
“Y’know,” Bodie finally said. “The oldest things in here are those pictures. The discoloration underneath shows it. I say we have another look.”
The dead guard groaned. Cassidy glared over at Cross. “ ’Kinell, old man,” she growled. “Not only are you slower than a long winter, you’re losing your marbles too.”
Cross licked his lips. “Shit, Cass, I was sure he was dead.”
“Well maybe my sensual personality brought him back to life.” Cassidy walked over to the guard. “It’s been known before, but in a different way.”
Cross frowned. Bodie ignored them as he scanned the wall. Every little detail, even the York pictures, might be the key. He tried to imagine what an archaeologist and a fallen member of the Illuminati might come up with in the early 1900s.