Dark Abyss by Kaitlyn O'Connor (classic novels for teens .txt) 📕

from the wall, however, he spotted a pair of guards rounding the back corner of the compound, heading toward the front. After glancing quickly to his left and right and discovering there was no cover for several yards, he dropped to a crouch and stilled, his finger on his trigger while he watched the men advance slowly, scanning the grounds.

He thought for a moment he’d been spotted when both men stopped almost directly in front of him, but after exchanging a few words, one continued toward the front and the other headed to the back once more. Easing his finger from the trigger of his gun, he moved to cover, scanned the roof and then the grounds and sprint toward the house, flattening himself against the wall between two windows. There were low growing plants near the house, but they were few and far between and not tall enough for concealment unless he crawled on his belly. Worse, the house itself was built of pale stone and his gear was black. After flicking a quick look through both windows and discovering both opened to the same empty room, he debated for a moment and decided to try the windows.

The first he tried was unlocked. After he’d paused to check for any sign of motion detector or alarm and found none, he pushed the window a little higher and hoisted himself through. He checked the room again once he was inside and closed the window.

He touched his communicator. “I’m in.”

* * * *

Ian studied the four men standing together at the rear of the compound, waiting for them to move and give him an opening. When he tired of waiting, he checked his surroundings and moved to the corner of the wall, running north along it for several yards before he checked the compound again. He was still within sight of the knot of men he’d first spotted, but they had their backs to him. After checking the compound as far as he could see for any others, he went over the wall, paused to make sure none of the men would turn in his direction and raced toward the corner of the house where a spindly tree offered some cover.

Dragging his gaze from the group after studying them again for several moments, he scanned the house for an opening and saw light spilling from a door or window perhaps three yards from where he stood. He debated briefly whether to wait where he was for the men to get tired of standing around with their thumbs up their asses or move and decided to move. Dropping, he crawled toward his goal, stopping just before he reached the square of light beneath what he saw now was a window.

When he turned to check the position of the guards again, he saw the four had split up into pairs and set off in opposite directions. The first pair reached the corner and turned it before the second. Waiting only long enough to see if they would turn around and pace back, he pushed away from the ground and into a crouch, and then straightened.

He heard muted voices coming from inside before he’d come fully erect and shifted to the side of the window, taking a quick sideways glance inside.

He couldn’t see the men talking, but he could hear them well enough that he decided it wasn’t a recording of any sort and it was men’s voices. Although he strained to hear, he didn’t detect a woman or more than two men, he decided. After glancing quickly in both directions for the guards, he ducked beneath the window and moved to the other side.

Caleb’s voice whispered through his earpiece as he changed positions, alerting him to the fact that he was inside. He depressed his own communicator. “Two men, rear of the building, first floor.” He glanced back in the direction he’d come from. “South west corner.”

The minute he raised up high enough for another quick look inside, his heart skipped several beats. He could see a monitor displaying at least a dozen positions that were clearly inside the house itself. “Cameras in the corridor!”

He hadn’t even gotten the warning out when he saw Caleb step from one of the rooms, saw him freeze at the warning and scan the ceiling and then dart from his position toward a stairway.

A quick search of the room for the men talking sent a brief flicker of relief through him. Neither of them were guards and neither man was looking directly at the screen. Even as he watched, however, the man sitting with his back to him glanced toward the display. Ian jerked a look back toward the screen and discovered with relief that Caleb had made it up the stairs and ducked into a room.

He was about to leave when the man he’d been watching stood up. He recognized him instantly from the image Anna had created for them—Miles Cavendish.

He wasn’t certain who the other man was, but suspected it was the bastard that had tried to run them down with the boat.

His focus on the men inside nearly cost him dearly. Two guards rounded the end of the building nearest where he stood. It was too late to move. The movement itself might alert them to his presence and they hadn’t seen him—yet. He froze, easing his hand very slowly toward his revolver.

He realized after a moment that the light spilling from the window was enough to make it impossible for them to see him on the other side, but they were still moving. In a few minutes that wouldn’t be the case. He’d just cast a quick look for cover when he heard Joshua on his communicator. “Two more nearly at the corner. You want me