Deadly Disguise by David Bergantino

Author:David Bergantino [Bergantino, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sf_horror
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

"What's… your… problem?" Todd screamed when he got Van's hand off his mouth.

"Gotcha!" Van giggled like a moron. "If I find some Depends in the house, I'll grab some for ya."

"Why aren't you upstairs?" Todd asked, out of breath and seething with anger. Embarrassment over letting his guard down put him in a sudden bad mood.

"Oh, I kept hearing everyone screaming and having a good time and I thought I'd see if you wanted to bag the operation for now and go through the Haunted Mansion."

"Are you nuts, Robin Hood?" Todd gasped. "We came here to steal from the rich and give to the poor. Which would be us! There isn't even any alcohol, and you call this a party?"

"Yeah, but Todd," whined Van, "the Haunted Mansion sounds so cool. C'mon, we may never get another chance to come back here."

"Right," Todd told him calmly. "Which is why we have to get what we can out of here now, tonight, because when this party's over, I have a feeling we're not exactly going to be on Jack Spyder's short list for invitations."

"We might if we just went out there and joined the party," Van mumbled in response.

Todd had had enough of Van's… wuss-ocity. "Go back upstairs and do the job you're supposed to do."

Van went reluctantly.

For a few minutes, Todd worried that Van had ditched the plan and rejoined the festivities. That would be insubordination, which was not in the Van McBride playbook. Whining definitely was one of Van's more popular plays, but ignoring orders hadn't been, until now.

It was no use checking on him, Todd had finally decided. It would just be more time wasted. If Van had resumed partying, then fine. He wouldn't get any cut of whatever loot Todd carried out of the mansion. And it would be the end of their friendship.

Todd's mood darkened further. In addition to everything else, he realized that he also wanted to rejoin the party.

Todd glanced around the room. It seemed depressingly devoid of anything lootable. The paintings seemed the most valuable, but they were the most difficult pieces to remove from the premises. The books might be valuable especially the old ones with the leather covers. But books were boring, even if they smelled nice. Eventually, they demanded to be read.

And who needs that kind of pressure? Todd asked himself.

Then his eyes traveled to the one object that seemed valuable and eminently stealable. This was a rifle mounted on the wall near the polar bear. According to the inscription, it was the very gun that had brought down the bear. Todd took it down off the wall to examine it. According to what he knew from trips to the firing range with his Uncle Beau, the gun seemed to be in working order. However, it was unloaded.

Placing the rifle on the desktop, Todd searched the drawers for ammunition.

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