She shut the phone off and hid it back inside the drawer. Rubbing her head distractedly, she tried to think of a strategy. At least Faye still had the element of surprise on her side. She cast around the dark bedroom, not seeing anything she could use as a weapon. In all likelihood, Hunt had come alone. Perhaps she could create a loud enough disturbance to scare him away. All she needed to do was buy ten minutes, and Maddie’s team would be there. Her eyes settled on her purse, sitting on the highboy. She ran to it and dug into the front compartment for her car keys. Zachery had insisted on fitting out her old station wagon with an electronic security system. She found the key fob and hit the panic button. Immediately, her car horn blared. She looked through the blinds and saw the flashers blinking madly as well. The commotion would continue until she shut the alarm off or somebody came to see what the noise was all about.
“Granny Faye!”
She could hear Hannah shouting from down the hallway, her voice becoming louder as the girl ran toward her room. “Are you alright?”
Faye scurried out to meet her, keeping the key fob in her hand.
“It’s alright, child. I thought I heard a burglar.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two dark shapes running up the staircase. The old woman barely had time to react before they gained the second-floor landing. Darting past her, they lunged for Hannah as a third man charged the old woman. He grabbed her, but Faye put up a fight. She managed to knock his goggles askew, gouging him in the eye with her thumb. He reached for her arm, but she squirmed out of his grasp. Losing her balance at the top of the stairs, she could feel herself twisting in the air. Falling backwards. Tumbling downwards. And then... nothing.
***
Joshua rushed to assist his men with Hannah. He darted past the body of the old woman, now lying motionless at the bottom of the stairs. The girl was screaming as his Argus agents tried to subdue her. The spymaster had come prepared for this. He held a chloroform-soaked handkerchief over the girl’s mouth until she stopped struggling.
Then he found the key fob which the old woman had dropped at the top of the staircase. He pressed the button and the noise outside instantly ceased. By this time, every dog in the neighborhood was barking. He peered out the front windows to see lights flickering on in several houses.
“We need to get out of here!” he commanded.
“But sir,” objected one of his agents. “What about that one?” He pointed down the stairs toward the old woman.
“Not our concern,” Joshua said coldly. “She probably broke her neck in the fall.”
“But if she lives, she might identify us,” another agent hissed.
Joshua wheeled on him. “And what could she tell the police?” he challenged. “That she caught a glimpse of four men wearing ski masks and night vision goggles in an utterly dark house? I think adding murder to our list of tasks tonight might invite more attention from the authorities than the diviner would wish.”
At the mention of his father’s name, his men immediately stopped protesting.
“We need to get my father’s wife out of here. Now!” Joshua led the way down the stairs.
Two of his men carried Hannah’s limp body between them. A third man went ahead to climb the garden fence and receive the girl as she was lifted over by the first two. Joshua left the house last, closing the kitchen door behind him. In the distance, he could hear a siren’s wail. The sound grew louder. Presumably, it was the police. He loped to the back fence and clambered over. His men were waiting in the back of the van. Hannah was unconscious, but she’d been gagged and bound for good measure. The spymaster nodded and shut the doors on his crew. He climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the lane, his headlights off. As he turned down a different side street, he saw an unmarked car pull into the farmhouse driveway—its red beacon flashing and siren howling. Even if the old woman was still alive, there was little enough she could tell anyone. Hannah’s abduction would be treated as most such events were treated in the Fallen World. Her face would eventually appear on a milk carton, and her whereabouts would never be discovered. Joshua removed his ski mask and gave a satisfied smile. His father would be well-pleased with him this night.
Chapter 38—Planned Aggression
Zach pulled into the driveway of the farmhouse shortly before 8 AM. Maddie had called him an hour earlier to give him the shocking news— somebody had abducted Hannah and injured Faye. When he heard those words, he felt as if he’d been punched in the stomach and an hour later he still couldn’t catch his breath. The chatelaine said that the attacker might come back to search the place. She wanted Zach to go to there and collect Faye’s cell phone and computer as well as anything else that might link the memory guardian to the Arkana.
The tyro was out the door before Maddie had time to hang up. By ignoring the speed limit and barely slowing down for stop signs, he cut his usual travel time to the farmhouse in half. As he parked the car, he noticed a neighbor hovering nearby. Groaning to himself, he climbed out of the driver’s seat. “Hello, Mrs. Martin,” he said as he darted for the front door.
The neighbor intercepted him. “Oh, Zach! I’m so sorry to hear about your grandmother.”
He felt a catch in his throat. “Thank you.”
“What happened? We heard the car alarm from the station wagon go off. It must have been around four o’clock. It woke up the whole neighborhood. Somebody even called the police. A squad car got here, but there was already a
