Shadows

3. Episodes- Part II

They ran towards the library, the weight of the unconscious man slowing them down. The had barely shut the door of the library when they heard the sound of the broken door being kicked aside. The men that came spoke in hushed voices, so nothing was audible. But their motive was clearly foreseeable; they would search the house for Mr. Chipping and their colleague who was nowhere to be seen, and then... Frank didn't want to think about the next part. What would they do? Kidnap them? Knock them out? Or worse, kill them right there? None of the possibilities were good.

Both the boys were surprised when Mr. Chipping kept walking even after they were inside the library. He walked towards the biggest shelf in the room, a polished mahogany classic which was built into the wall. He pulled out one of the books, and started searching for something behind it.

"Woah, there's a secret door in this house! That's so sick!" Casey struggled to keep his voice from rising, he was very excited.

"Do you live in a fantasy kid? Of course not! An extra pair of keys to my car is hidden here; the main one is hung by the kitchen door. We cannot go there, so I'm using these. We can make our way out through the back door and probably get somewhere safe without being noticed."

Casey's face grew red, he was clearly embarrassed and refrained from asking any further questions.

"But who are they?" Frank asked.

"They are the people whom I sold my rum factory to. I was getting too old to handle it, and it was in loss for years. Then these people came along, offering me a handsome figure for it. Too late, I realized their true intentions. They wanted to turn the factory into an obscure drug production center, and of course I disagreed to give them the deeds to my factory. They are after those deeds. The deeds are still in the house, they will use me to reach the papers, forcefully take my signature and kill me."

"But why didn't you burn them or something?"

"Do you think it's that easy? They have multiple copies of it. Damn me, I called them today morning, telling them that I was withdrawing from the deal. They might have understood that I had uncovered something shady about them. I should have acted without letting them catch my trail. I even called this guy to be here as witness, and as security for me if something bad happened. But he isn't due until today evening, so I don't think there'll be any help for us. Now come, let's go."

They made their way through the back door, which was at one corner of the library.

They made their way out, and were about to go towards the gate when they saw one of the men coming from the far side of the house. Fortunately, he hadn't seen them until now, because he was looking the other way, towards the upper windows. They stood flat against the wall, and a segment of the wall jutting out hid them. But it wouldn't hide them for long, the man would soon come in front of them, and he had a gun. They had to think fast. They couldn't go back either, it would make a lot of noise to open and close the door, and that would only make him aware of their position sooner.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mr. Chipping whisper something in Casey's ear. He couldn't hear it, but Casey nodded like he understood, and crouched down for some reason. Then he told frank to be ready to run.

The man came into view: he was holding the revolver loosely in his hand, and was still staring up at the windows, as if he expected someone to appear up there. He noticed them a split second later and trained the gun towards their faces, but he failed to notice Casey for a second more, and Casey, taking the opportunity, sprung with his weight and landed on the man in one single move.

The air was knocked out his lungs as the man landed with a sickening thud on ground, and his head hit the concrete and he passed out.

Casey stood up and brushed off the dust off his clothes. He looked slightly shaken, but unhurt. He had managed to land squarely onto the stranger.

"Quick, he has friends!" Frank said hurriedly and they started making their way towards their escape.

"Stop right there!" a voice came from above.

Another man showed up in the window of first floor right above them. Of course, how had they been so stupid?! The man they had knocked out had been looking up at his colleague, keeping touch in case they found something. But where was the other guy?

The question was quickly answered quickly as the third guy too walked out from behind the corner of the house, holding up his gun.

They were cornered and in open sight. As the guy on the ground kept his gaze trained, the one on the top started making his way down. What could possibly go wrong? They were unarmed, and it was a very short while before he would join his colleague, and they could finish their job nice and easy.

But he was very surprised when he came down to the spot he had been looking down on from the window. There was no one in sight, except for his colleague who was lying face down in the dirt. His weapon was nowhere to be seen. He knelt down next to the unconscious man, utterly confused. Then everything went black for him.

****************

All the four people sat around the old teak table, sipping tea.

One of the men pressed an ice pack against the side of his head. His hair was slightly wet from washing off the blood earlier.

Apparently, the man Mr. Chipping had hit was actually the security he had hired. The man, Robert, had knocked and rang the doorbell many times, and Mr. Chipping hadn't answered, because he was in the backyard. Robert was troubled and thought that Mr. Chipping was in danger, and broken down the door with the garden shovel lying nearby. Mr. Chipping hadn't known that, of course and had attacked him.

He had woken up in the library, and had heard the commotion outside. He had taken the chance when he heard one of the men climbing down the stairs, and surprised the guy outside and taken him down, and same with the second man.

"Well, you definitely are strong for your age, Mr. Chipping." Robert commented with slight soreness.

"You can't blame me! It's been a wild day. I should recommend it to Belanti, he might use it some show!" Mr. Chipping said with a chuckle.

"You mean, like Fred Belanti? The producer?! You know him?" Frank was stunned.

"Yes, of course. He went to the same university as me, we are really good friends." Mr. Chipping replied airily. Then he seemed to have a thought suddenly.

"You seem to like writing such stuff don't you Frank? I might arrange a meeting with him, will you be interested?"

"Yes!" That came out way louder than expected, and everyone around the table laughed slightly.

Frank couldn't help but keep smiling as he headed out with Casey. He took another long look at the mansion. He had maybe had the biggest break of his life today.

"What are you looking at?" Casey asked, looking at Frank. "Come on, let's get back."

"Nothing, just..." He stopped mid-sentence.

"What"?

"Nothing, just looking for sunworms." He smiled, and before Casey could question him further, he sped down the street to his house, Casey trailing behind him.