Chapter 3

Preparations consisted of far less than Vivienne would have imagined or preferred considering the extremity of their situation. From the duffel, Daniel removed a V-shaped object that he attached to the barrel of his rifle. A bipod, he explained, though he’d spoken to Cecilia when he said it. He placed the rifle on top of Vivienne’s expensive, custom-fabricated desk, and she cringed when she noticed a pair of tiny scratches appear after he adjusted its position. When he was satisfied with his view through the scope, he removed a small clamshell device from the duffel that looked like a small, thick, ruggedized laptop and opened it to reveal video feeds from a multitude of cameras.

“This is your wireless security camera system,” Daniel explained, again to Cecelia, who leaned over the desk beside him for a better view. “All the cameras feed into a central network video recorder, which I can access through this special laptop.”

“But we don’t have any Internet,” Cecilia pointed out. “How are you able to get the video feed?”

Daniel grinned. “We don’t need an Internet connection. The security system operates on its own private local network. Video is transmitted directly from the cameras to the NVR, and then to this laptop.”

“So cool,” Cecilia said, smiling for the first time since those terrible men arrived at their gate.

Vivienne pulled her daughter away from the desk by her shoulder and cleared her throat to get Daniel’s attention. “This is great and all, but how does any of it stop those men from just crashing their truck through the gate and overrunning the house?”

“Because, I warned them that if they stepped one foot on this property, I’ll splatter their brains all over the ground.”

That brought her up short. “Y-you can do that?”

“I was an Army sniper,” he said, resting his hand on his rifle. “Did two tours in Afghanistan. I have eighteen confirmed kills, and my longest confirmed shot was at 1,329 yards, so I think I can handle those guys.”

Vivienne appraised the caretaker with fresh eyes. Was this man really the killer he made himself out to be? She guessed him to be in his mid to late thirties, which would certainly put him in the right age range. Still, that seemed so improbably lucky that she had trouble believing it. Regardless, sniper or not, he was just one man. There was no way he could cover the entire forty-acre property by himself, no matter how good a shot he might be.

“We need a plan,” she said.

“Oh, is that so? And what kind of plan did you have in mind, boss lady?”

She threw up her hands. “I don’t know. We need to set booby traps or an ambush or something. In fact, what are we even still doing here? How come we’re not already in the car getting the fuck out of here?”

Daniel shook his head. “And go where, Vivienne? Who’s to say those assholes aren’t waiting for us to do just that?”

Her lips trembled as she fought back the urge to chastise him for his continued impudence. “Then we sneak out the back and go over the mountain.”

He laughed in her face. “What? You mean on foot?” He jerked the pistol from his belt, causing her to flinch, and held it out to her by its barrel. “Here. Just put a bullet in your head now and save yourself the suffering.” When she didn’t move to take it, he put it away again. “It drops to freezing at night, you idiot. You’d never survive.” He put his hand on the back of Cecilia’s neck. “She wouldn’t survive. Not in tiny cutoffs and a tank top, that’s for damn sure.”

“Take your hand off my daughter,” Vivienne growled.

Enough was enough. Emergency or not, it was long past time to put this over-glorified landscaper in his place. To her surprise, however, he didn’t take his hand away. Instead, he turned to Cecilia and ignored Vivienne completely.

“Do you want to leave the safety of this house and try to survive the night in the wilderness when it drops down into the thirties?”

The teenage girl eyed her mother nervously and shook her head. “N-no.”

Daniel breathed a laugh through his nostrils. “Me neither. It looks like you’re a lot smarter than your mom, Cecilia. The safest place for us is right here.”

“I told you to take your hand off my child,” Vivienne repeated, now projecting her most authoritative, boardroom voice. “Now!”

He returned her angry glare with an impassive lift of his eyebrow. “Fine.” He lifted his hand, but kept it hovering over Cecilia’s neck for just a moment longer. “You want to call the shots? Fine by me.”

Daniel scooped up his rifle and folded back the bipod, then removed Vivienne’s hand cannon from his waistband and slammed it down on top of her desk, forming a deep gouge in its polished walnut surface.

“Good luck, you arrogant bitch.”

Turning from the stunned mother and daughter, he marched back into the kitchen and started loading his ammunition back into his duffel. Cecilia stared at Vivienne with open-mouthed disbelief.

“What the hell, mom! Now he’s leaving!”

“Fucking right, I’m leaving,” Daniel muttered. He slung the rifle and duffel bag on opposite shoulders, and grabbed his tool bag. “I don’t need to take shit from your stuck up cunt of a mother for one second longer.”

Cecilia grabbed his arm. “No, wait!” she cried, her voice choked with panic. “You can’t just abandon us!”

He paused and shook his head. “Look, I’d offer to take you with me, kid, but something tells me mommy wouldn’t like that very much.” He gave her a sympathetic look and petted her hair. “I’m really sorry, sweetheart. I truly am. When it ... happens, try to go to your happy place, okay? Maybe it’ll help.”

Vivienne’s blood ran cold. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

He turned and gave her a contemptuous look. “What the fuck do you think it means, you dumb cow? You don’t really think those guys are interested in your money, do you?” He looked Cecilia up and down in a way that made Vivienne’s skin crawl. “Trust me, lady, that’s not what they’re coming back for.”

He started for the door, but Vivienne rushed in front of him to block his way. “No, wait! Please!”

“Get the fuck out of my way.”

“You can’t just leave us like this! We’re defenseless!”

He shoved her aside. “Not my problem.” He strolled past her and unlocked the front door.

“I’ll give you anything you want!” she shouted, and he paused. “Please, Daniel. I have money, okay? More money than I could possibly spend. I’ll pay you. Ten thousand dollars. Cash.”

He scoffed. “I don’t want any more of your fucking money,” he said and opened the door.

“Then, what is it you do want? Just name it, please, and I swear on my life, if it’s within my power, I’ll give it to you, no questions asked!”

He took his hand off the knob and turned. “No questions asked?”

“No questions asked.”

He glanced at Cecilia and Vivienne’s stomach dropped, but he didn’t leer at her and his eyes didn’t linger. Instead, they returned to Vivienne and he narrowed them.

“You know what I want? Fucking respect.”

“You’ve got it!” she rushed to say.

“Shut your big, fucking mouth, you greedy, stuck up cunt. I’m not done talking yet.”

“I’m sorry,” Vivienne said, fighting against every deeply-ingrained instinct screaming at her to tell this impudent son of bitch to fuck off and die.

“What I was trying to say before your cunt of a mother cut me off,” he said to Cecilia, “is that I want respect. From her, not from you. You’re cool. It’s your mom who’s a fucking cunt.”

Vivienne clenched her jaw but kept her mouth shut. Daniel turned his attention back to her.

“Here’s how this goes down. You listening, Viv? Because I’m only going to say this one time.”

“I’m listening,” she said through her teeth.

“Good. Starting right now, you’re no longer in charge around here, boss lady. I am. When I tell you to do something, you do it. No questions, no backtalk, no negotiation. If you refuse, or talk back even once, I’m firing your fucking ass, and by firing, I mean I’m out of here. I will walk away from this place and leave you to the fucking wolves. Are we perfectly clear on that?”

“Fine.”

“Fine?” Daniel flattened his lips and lowered his eyebrows, tsking condescendingly. “No, I’m going to need something a little more definitive from you than that, Viv. I want to hear you say, ‘Yes, sir, we’re perfectly clear.’”

Bile rose in Vivienne’s throat, and for a split-second a powerful urge to spit in his face welled up inside of her. But then her focus shifted to Cecilia, and Vivienne’s imagination about what those filthy animals might do to her daughter forced her to swallow her pride, lower her eyes, and say, “Yes, sir, we’re perfectly clear.”

He became instantly chipper. “Great!” He dropped his duffel and tool bag right where he stood. “Pick those up and put them back in the kitchen, then make me and Cecilia something to eat.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

His face clouded and he turned to Cecilia. “Did you hear that?”

“H-hear what?”

“Your cunt of a mother questioning me.”

“Daniel-” Vivienne began.

“I could have sworn I just heard her questioning me.” His chuckle was hollow and humorless. “But that would be fucking stupid, right? Because she literally just agreed less than a minute ago that she would shut her fat fucking trap and do exactly what I told her to do without giving me any more of her fucking lip.”

Vivienne held up her hands in surrender. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Daniel.” She came forward to pick up both bags. “What would you like to eat?”

“I don’t give a fuck,” he muttered, wandering back to the office with the rifle. “Cecilia, come with me. I’m going to need your help with something.”

Vivienne rushed to make a pair of turkey sandwiches, tormented by the fact that she couldn’t see into her office from the kitchen. Occasionally, she heard the murmur of quiet conversation, sometimes followed by her daughter’s lilting laughter. Vivienne knew that laugh. It was the flirtatious giggle she used with boys. What the hell were they doing in there?

She hurried to the office with a plate held in each hand. At the step up into the entryway landing, she caught the toe of her high-heeled wedge on the bullnose lip and tripped, sending her sprawling across the floor. The plated sandwiches flew from her grip, littering the short hallway with bread, sliced cheese, and deli turkey. From the open office doorway, she saw Cecilia sitting in her executive chair with her bare feet up on her desk and the security laptop resting in her lap. Daniel hovered behind her with his hands on her shoulders and a perfect view down the front of her daughter’s tank top. They both turned and Daniel sputtered a laugh.

“Woops!”

Cecilia covered her mouth to hide her smile. “Oh my gosh, Mom, are you okay?”

Vivienne picked herself up off the floor, her eyes focused on Daniel’s hands. “I’m fine,” she said. “Can you get me some paper towels and the spray cleaner, please?”

Cecilia lifted the laptop, as if to set it on the desk, but Daniel pushed it back into her lap.

“She’s busy right now, learning how to work the surveillance system.” He returned his focus to the view below. “You do it.”

“Daniel,” she said, “can we talk, please?”

He waved a dismissive hand at her without bothering to look up. “I don’t have time to talk right now. Go do what you’re told.”

Vivienne shared a look with her daughter, and tried to silently communicate her concerns, but she dared not speak for fear that Daniel would make good on his threat to abandon them to their fates. Instead, she stooped to pick up the plates and spilled food and dutifully returned to the kitchen to remake the sandwiches, pausing only to kick off her traitorous heels by the front door.