Page 89 of Coordinates of Death

Inside a creepy mansion, reminding them both of a past they wanted to forget.

Chapter Sixteen

“Let’s try the door together.” Aurora stuffed her weapon back into its holster. “Ready?” She pushed with all her might, but even with Kordell’s added weight thrust at the heavy oak, the door wouldn’t budge.

They were trapped.

Aurora retrieved her sat phone and clicked the button. “No signal. Try yours.”

Kordell fished his out of his pack, checking it. “Same.” He withdrew his cell phone from his jacket pocket. “No bars.”

Aurora tapped hers to bring it to life. “Nothing. I’m guessing there’s a signal jammer somewhere. The sat phones should work, but they’re not always reliable. We’re stuck here for now. This is probably all part of his sick game.”

Mildew overpowered her and something potent soured her stomach, her imagination raging. She unhooked her flashlight from her duty belt and shone it around the room, scoping out the run-down building. Dust danced in the light’s beam. Cobwebs draped the wooden staircase. Old Victorian wallpaper peeled in various spots, curling like skeletal fingers reaching for its prey.

Aurora shuddered not only from the memories of being in the house in her hometown, but from the possibilities of traps SBK might have set for them. She shone the light into the living room.

Furniture sat hidden under dusty white sheets, like in horror movies and television shows. She didn’t want to see what lay beneath, so she left the coverings intact. A grandfather clock sat in the corner, one hand approaching the six, the longer one on the nine.

The exact time her rape had occurred. She remembered seeing six forty-five on her rapist’s digital watch.

Coincidence?

Her hand shook, the beam fluttering.

“Let’s check the doors.” Kordell’s voice brought her back into the room.

“Good idea.” Aurora hustled to the door on the left and the right. Both locked.

Kordell tried another. Locked.

“Great.” She shone the light up the staircase. “Not sure I want to venture to the second level.”

“Wait. What’s on the table?” He pointed.

She shone her beam onto the rectangular table at the base of the staircase.

Two envelopes lay on the only piece of furniture not covered in a dust sheet.

They approached, and her flashlight caught the typed name on one.

Aurora Hunt — Next Clue

She shifted the beam to the other.

Kordell Novy Greene

Both surnames.

Aurora reached into her bag and brought out latex gloves. “Put these on before you open it. I’m guessing there are no prints, but we have to be sure.”

“Understood.” Kordell put them on, then opened the envelope with his name and brought out a single white card, blanching at the message.

“What does it say?”

Kordell raised it.

She shone the flashlight, the message yelling at her in bold block letters.