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“Screw that,” I spat back.
“I’m serious!” Duncan hissed. “Delilah—”
I reached out and grabbed his shoulder. “You want to get into trouble alone, or with someone to watch your back?”
He hesitated, then continued forward with me close behind. Just as he reached the living room, he reached for a nearby shelf and pushed on a piece of wood near the center of it.
CLICK.
The bottom of the shelf dropped out at a 45-degree angle, revealing a hollowed-out secret compartment. Nestled snugly within the egg-crated area, two nickle-plated pistols lay perfectly diagonal to each other.
Duncan took both, hesitated, then offered me one.
“You comfortable with one of these?”
Still in shock, I shook my head. “I’ve never fired one in my life.”
Duncan nodded, then took back the offer. “We can fix that problem another time.”
We crept forward together, moving through a pair of plastic curtains and into the darkened part of the house. Luckily the sky was clear, and the moon was out. It shone down through century-old lead-glass windows, illuminating just enough of each room’s outline to make it navigable.
“Whoever’s stupid enough to break in here—”
Duncan’s whisper was cut off by another noise, this one lower but much closer than before. Something fell over in the chamber next to us. Something heavy and clunky, with a metallic ring to it.
He stopped dead in his tracks. Still moving, I literally bumped into him from behind.
“Oof!” I gasped. “Sorry.”
Next room!he signaled, mouthing the words silently. I nodded to indicate I understood.
Okay!
I saw him crouch down, wait for the next noise, then spring into action. As he flung his half-clothed body through the archway leading into one of the abandoned sitting rooms, I leapt into position behind him.
“FREEZE!”
It was all I could do to stop laughing.
Holy shit!
Duncan had both pistols drawn, his big arms held out perpendicular to his corded body. Both barrels were aimed at a medium-sized furry animal, sitting on its hind legs sniffing the air. It had long whiskers and a ringed, black-and-grey tail.
“Hold up,” I chuckled. “Don’t shoot.”
The animal whirled in our direction, hissed venomously, then bounded off behind a pile of broken plaster. Very slowly, Duncan lowered his weapons.
“Great,” he groaned, as our eyes adjusted to the dust-filled darkness. “Now we’ve got a raccoon problem, too.”
