Tool

Chapter Five

Jonathon leapt out of bed. "Stay here!" he said.

Aurelia was equally as fast and was already pulling on her clothes. "No way," she said. "What if they've come for Nicholas?"

"What if they've come for us?" countered Jonathon. "Stay here. Lock yourself in the bedroom, and I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Absolutely not," said Aurelia firmly. "I'm going to check on Nicholas."

In truth, she wasn't sure why she was being so stubborn when every bone in her body screamed at her to stay put and keep safe.

Jonathon shook his head impatiently, but seeing she was intractable, he quickly keyed a code into one of the cupboards on the wall. He pulled out two metallic devices and threw one to Aurelia.

"It's a stunner; do you know how to use it?"

"Nope," said Aurelia, catching it deftly.

"Then you'd better learn fast. Point it, press the trigger. The longer you press, the harder the shock. Press for more than three seconds, and you'll kill. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Alright, sec Workers are going to be surrounding the house and searching room by room. I'm going to join them and oversee what's happening. I need to code them into some of the rooms, so I have no choice. You go straight down to the basement and meet the sec Workers there, okay? When you've satisfied yourself about Nicholas, get one of the Workers to escort you back up to me."

"With Nicholas," added Aurelia.

"No, without Nicholas. He'll be fine locked up with his security guards, and prisoners aren't generally allowed to wander around the house at will. It will look suspicious and alert the rest of the staff to his presence. Either leave him or stay locked in the room with him, one or the other."

She had never seen him so in control and was impressed with how coldly and logically he could think in a crisis. It was a talent she herself had as a med Worker, but not one she encountered often in others.

He came to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I wish you would stay here, but I can't force you, Aurelia. Be careful. Whoever got in will be caught soon enough. They can't be very professional if they set off the alarms. Just watch out for yourself."

She nodded, and Jonathon opened the door, checking the corridor.

"Clear. Go. Run to the basement stairs, and I'll cover you from here. Afterwards, you're within shouting distance of the sec Workers down there. Go on."

He pushed her out the door, and she fled down the hallway.

Thrusting her way through the door, she went down the stairs two at a time, adrenaline powering her onwards even as fear tried to paralyze her. As soon as she reached the bottom of the steps, she could see the body of the sec Worker who had been guarding Nicholas lying prostrate on the floor. Her legs stopped without her even ordering them to. She took a deep breath and clasped the stunner more firmly in her hand. Walking as quietly as she could, she approached the body. Bending slightly, she could see the calm rise and fall of his chest, so he wasn't dead. She had no idea if that was good or bad, but the mere lack of death calmed her a little. Surely if people were breaking in, they would have killed him?

The door behind the sec Worker was ajar. She pressed her body against the door frame and waited, holding her breath. No sound came from inside. No sign of movement. Gently she pushed at the door until it swung fully open and, scanning the room, she saw nothing. Suddenly feeling foolish, she lowered the stunner and stepped inside. Nothing. No one. Whoever it was had taken Nicholas. No. Wait. Something didn't make sense. There was no sign of a struggle in here, nothing broken or overturned. The bed was neatly made. And . . . yes. The package she'd left on the desk was gone. Now she knew what had happened, though she didn't know why.