“Wonder how strong the floor is. I’d hate to crash through it,” Maria said.
“Let’s have a look,” Jenna said, and approached the door. She shined her light inside. Maria followed the beam as it swept over the fat planks. They looked sturdy enough. Inside was a sheet-covered sofa and newspapers scattered all over the floor.
“You really think someone would come here to hide?” Jenna said.
“There’s a ton of rooms. It’s dark. A drifter might take refuge here,” Maria said.
“We going in?”
“Let’s go around back, have a look there first.”
They descended the steps and followed the long driveway along the side of the house. It wound around the back and ended in a roundabout with more dead gardens in the center. The remains of a hedge maze sprawled across the rear of the property before the grass sloped off into the woods. Two massive, rotting barns stood out back, as well.
“That’s a good hiding spot, as well,” Maria said.
A chill went down her back. She supposed abandoned places did that to you, and maybe it was the reason urban explorers sought out crumbling asylums and hospitals. For the scares.
Two sets of stairs led up to a back door, where they met on a concrete porch. The rear door had plywood over it, and it didn’t look disturbed to Maria. Some of the windows had plywood over them, while others were just plain broken.
Maria climbed the steps and tried the plywood. A few loose nails held it in place, which she was able to pry out with her fingers. She pulled the plywood away. Her flashlight revealed a large pantry, the shelves bare save for some jarred goods, each with a thick coat of dust on them. There was a counter and more cabinets with dusty, glass-paned doors. She thought this might be a butler’s pantry. A winding metal staircase led upward.
She entered, testing the floor as she went. The tiled floor seemed solid enough. She heard Jenna approaching from behind.
Maria took out her Glock, and Jenna did the same.
They moved through the butler’s pantry and into a dining room with a massive chandelier and a long table. The chairs were long gone. Dust motes hung in the air, visible in the moonlight.
“Have a feeling we’re going to come up with a goose egg,” Jenna said.
“Most likely,” Maria said.
Footsteps thudded upstairs.
Maria nodded. “Staircase in the pantry.”
They hurried into the butler’s pantry, Maria taking the lead up the stairs. Her footsteps clanged on the metal. She found herself in a long hallway with a dozen doors on either side. The hallway came to a T junction at the other end.
“Police!” Maria called out. “Come out now!”
No response. It was worth a try.
They moved down the hallway, guns drawn. Maria’s heart whammed in her chest. There were too many goddamned doors.
Maria spotted someone in a flash; a glimpse of a long coat, quick as a rattler’s tongue. Passing through the T junction.
“Hey!” Martz said. “Stop!”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs and they came to the T junction and turned right, where a grand staircase led into a great room. The person fleeing them was nowhere to be seen. How could someone be so fast?
Clunking on yet more stairs. How many levels did this place have?
A door slammed and they headed in the general direction of the noise. They passed through the great room and to Maria it sounded like the noise had come from the kitchen. They found the massive kitchen, where rusted pots and pans still hung from racks. There was a massive gas stove and a wall of cabinets with glass doors. Inside were dusty dishes.
Maria spotted the door. She nodded to Martz, who stood beside the door. Maria took an angle on the door, her Glock aimed and ready. Jenna flung the door open. Her light revealed wooden steps and there was no boogeyman behind the door.
Opening doors was the worst part of being a cop. She’d known three cops who’d been cut down in doorways.
“Police! Come out! Show us your hands!” Maria said.
She was rewarded with the sound of wind whistling through a gap in the wall.
Maria debated calling for back-up, but if they waited for reinforcements, the mystery person could disappear in the labyrinth of the mansion. “After him.”
They crept down the stairs and ended up in a massive, open basement. At one end was an old coal furnace with arms that stretched like a squid’s. There was old furniture, other items draped in old sheets and even an engine block. No telling how the hell they’d gotten it down here.
“Jesus, there’s enough crap down here,” Jenna said.
“This place was in the family for over a hundred years. Not surprised,” Maria said.
A corridor led off of the basement, and once they’d swept the cavernous area, they approached the corridor. A brick archway led into the darkness.
They shined the beams into the corridor. Cobwebs framed the entrance.
“Only one place he could be,” Maria said.
They moved ahead.
“He had to have doubled back,” Maria said.
They stood before a brick wall at the corridor’s end and Maria could only conclude that they’d missed their chance.
“This is creepy. I feel claustrophobic,” Jenna said.
“Can’t believe we missed him,” Maria said.
They went back down the corridor, guns still drawn. The two of them made another sweep of the basement and found nothing. They went back upstairs and backtracked through the mansion. When they didn’t find anyone, Maria called it
