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"Search the house," he said quietly.
"As you wish," said Hassan. He nodded at the two other men to break off and start checking rooms. Within ten minutes they were both back with nothing to report.
"Interesting," said Shiraz. "Well, let's get to work, then. Leave one of your men up here to keep watch. If anything comes down that drive, I want to know about it immediately."
"Of course," said Hassan.
Shiraz walked toward the huge chef's kitchen and found the door leading down to the basement. The carpeted stairs muffled his footsteps as he descended, his vampiric eyesight helping him see without the need for a flashlight. Deeper down, though, he would need to use one to find the secret entrance he suspected existed here somewhere.
Hassan appeared at his side. "Now what?"
"Give me a moment and let me get a feel for the place," said Shiraz. His eyes roamed over the walls, sectionals, and chairs. An enormous wide-screen television that would have looked more at home inside a movie theater hung on the wall. On the opposite side, Shiraz saw a popcorn stand and a bar. He wondered if Ava had blood on tap for herself and her guests while they watched the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
He looked at Hassan. "How long until the power comes back?"
"Thirty seconds. But are you sure we want it back on?"
Shiraz nodded. "We cut it so that we could get in and take control of the place before she had a chance to raise an alarm. But since she is not here, there's no sense not having any lights on. Plus, if she happens to come home, she'll be expecting to see lights."
"Very well," said Hassan. He spoke into his phone and almost immediately the lights came back on.
Shiraz blinked and looked at the basement in the light. He was right: Ava had had the place decorated to resemble a movie theater. Heavy curtains hung on the walls to better insulate the sound. And judging by the look of the projector mounted on a shelf coming out of the ceiling, she must have spent a good deal of money on it.
Shiraz ran his hand along the curtained walls, ruffling the heavy maroon material. Somewhere here there had to be another door.
He found it on the second time around, a vague outline that slowly revealed the shape of a thin door as he pressed in on it. "Here," he said more to himself than to Hassan.
Hassan heard him anyway, as expected. "You found it."
Shiraz nodded. "Get it open."
Hassan bent and examined the lock. "Simple." Within seconds, Shiraz heard the click. The door opened with a soft hiss of escaping air and slid back into a recessed portion of the wall. Hassan stepped back and allowed Shiraz to take a look.
The door revealed a cold concrete corridor sloping down at an angle. "It would appear this is the way we go from here."
He stepped through the doorway and glanced around. The high-quality recessed lighting of the proper basement gave way to a string of simple bulbs whose light led the way downward. He and Hassan walked in single file. The corridor broke left at a strange angle and they followed that for perhaps another twenty feet, still descending. At the end, another door--this one much older--stood in front of them.
Shiraz ran his hand over the surface, feeling the weight of the wood before him. The door had obviously been carved long ago. It could have been hundreds of years old for all he knew. But the door itself didn't matter nearly as much as what lay beyond it.
He glanced at Hassan. "What do you think?"
Hassan eyed the door and the keyhole. He shrugged. "I can pick it, but it will take time."
Shiraz glanced at his watch. Time was the one thing they did not have. If Ava came home and found them here, then they would have to deal with a huge liability. "We don't have much time."
Hassan nodded. "The other option is to breach."
"How loud will the explosion be?"
Hassan glanced around. "Down here? Hardly anything. Between the walls and the makeup of the basement above us, the noise should be pretty much muffled. You might hear a vague whomp upstairs, but even that will be negligible."
Shiraz smiled. "Excellent. Get to it, please."
Hassan removed the backpack and started assembling the door charge and placed it around the frame. When that was done, he connected the det cord to a small detonator and then turned to Shiraz. "We'll need to move back since there's no place to stack on either side of the door."
Shiraz nodded. "Very well."
Shiraz moved back to the basement door and Hassan followed, trailing out the cord that led to the charge.
