The Shadow Network by Tony Kent

Author:Tony Kent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Elliott and Thompson

FORTY-THREE

Grace followed the sound of hushed conversation through the warren of the Burton homestead.

She could make out three voices. Two of them she recognised: Maria Frankowski and David Burton. The third she did not but as the speaker was twice as fast as the others and several octaves higher, Grace concluded that it must be David Burton’s thirteen-year-old daughter, Leisha.

The main building of the ranch was both huge and labyrinthine – it gave even the White House a run for its money in the latter category as Grace struggled to find her way around, and tactically that was a negative. The isolated location of the residence gave them the advantage, sure: long, clear views in every direction made an unseen approach nearly impossible. But the sheer size of the place was a double-edged sword.

If any hostiles did reach the building, there were not enough agents in Alpha Team to defend each point of access.

Thankfully this was unlikely to be a problem for tonight. Whoever was coming after Maria and her family, they would not find this place that soon.

And after that, Grace told herself, the ISB will fill the place with reinforcements. By 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, this place will be damn near impregnable.

The voices grew in volume with every few steps Grace took and in seconds she had found them, in a room she entered via a short flight of three steps. It was a kitchen, Grace realised as she stepped inside. And a working one at that. The lack of ornate furnishings and the industrial-sized appliances set it apart from every other room she had seen in the house so far.

‘You guys hiding in here?’

Her question stopped their conversation in its tracks. David Burton looked irritated by the interruption, though he tried his best to hide it. And the girl – his younger daughter, Leila, Grace assumed, though she was tall and pale with fuzzy brown hair and not a single feature in common with her sister – seemed merely curious at the new arrival.

Grace absorbed these details instantly, but her main focus was on Maria. She seemed more downbeat than when they had parted company just thirty minutes earlier.

‘Is everything OK?’ Grace asked. ‘Has something happened?’

Maria forced a smile in reply to the question. It was an act. Grace could see that. But it was a good one.

‘It’s as good as it can be, Eden,’ Maria replied. Her voice was neutral and steady. Which left it at odds with the emotion Grace could see in her eyes. ‘It’s not ideal, what’s happening. But we’ll come out the other side.’

‘You sure there haven’t been developments I should know about?’

‘Does there need to be?’ David snapped. He seemed less friendly than when Grace had left him. ‘Her husband’s put her and her boys in danger before turning tail God knows where. Lady’s entitled to a moment, ain’t she?’

‘Daddy, I told you, he ran because I told him to run.’

‘No offence, sweetheart, but a man don’t go hide on no one else’s say-so.

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