"Caitlin!" Carlton snapped out of worry when he answered his phone. "Where are you? What?" The color drained from his face as his gaze swept out over the backyard. He had no clue where to start looking. "Do you know what this yard looks like? Did you notice anything near where you were that would give me a clue to where to start looking?" He waited for a beat or two while she thought. "A clump of white flowers to the left? Got it." He hung up and grabbed a shovel before casting the beam from the flashlight over the yard.
"Aha!" he said, spotting the flowers. As Carlton approached the spot, he glanced toward the house and saw someone watching him from one of the upstairs windows. He was tired of playing games with whoever it was and pulled out his phone, requesting back up. After pocketing his phone, he started digging.
On the road to the mansionHenry turned on to the private lane that led up to the mansion. Of all of the creepy places to have a case, Shawn had to find this one. He pressed on the brakes of his pick up, skidding to a stop. Not only were the iron gates closed and presumably locked, there were two down trees across them. Someone didn't want anyone leaving or getting in. "Damn it!" he roared, fear for his two children and their friends twisting his heart.
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Karen Vick's number, only to discover officers were already en-route and she would send road crew workers out to clear the way in. After hanging up, Henry parked the truck and walked over to the fence. He wondered if he could climb over.
For a few moments, Henry stared at the fence. He picked up a small stone and through it against the bars, deciding he should see if it was electrified. Sparks shot out in every direction. His body jerked with frustration.
In one of the secret roomsJuliet handed Gus the flashlight. "Here, you hold this, I'm going to look for the handhold."
"What handhold?"
"I found the passageway that led me here when I pulled on a small, carved in handhold hidden in the edge of a wall. There's got to be one here."
"Okay," Gus agreed, taking the flashlight. He held it steady as Juliet examined the first wall. The distraction made it easier for him to ignore the sound of the heartbeat. Other strange sounds were entering his consciousness though; but he couldn't tell where they were coming from or what they were.
"Gus, let's go to the next wall, there's nothing on this one," Juliet said. While she searched, she tried Shawn's phone. "Damn."
"What?"
"It went to voice mail."
Gus was perplexed. In a situation like this, Shawn would never break contact. "That can only mean something has happened to Shawn too."
The duo redoubled their efforts to find a way out of the room. After what seemed like an eternity, Juliet jumped up and down as she pulled on the wall. Gus's eyes widened as the kitchen appeared in front of them.
In another hidden roomShawn lay on his back, watching the pendulum with horror. Of all of the lessons his father had given him, he had never taught him how to get himself out of a situation even remotely close to this. His pocket buzzed and he jerked frantically on the rope binding his hands, trying to get free. He growled with frustration when the ropes seemed only to tighten.
A quick glance at the swinging blade made Shawn's blood run cold. While he knew logically that it was descending slowly, dragging out the torture of knowing his outcome, it seemed to be coming down lightning fast. "LASSIE!" he shouted, "CARLTON! JULIET! GUUUUUSSSSS!"
In the kitchen, Juliet was staring out of the window at her partner, who seemed to be digging. "What is he doing?"
"Did you hear that?" Gus said, holding his entire body still. "Shawn!" he yelled back. "Where are you?"
Tilting her head, Juliet listened. After a moment, she heard it: a muffled distorted cry from somewhere in the house. She frowned, trying to determine where Shawn's voice was coming from. Considering the labyrinth of secret passageways, she wasn't even certain if he was upstairs or downstairs. "Shawn! Keep talking!" Juliet called out.
"Jules! Hurry!" His voice was filled with a panic that was not like Shawn.
"Shawn!" Gus yelled. "Are you upstairs or downstairs?"
"Can't say for certain. But since I'm in a pit of some sort, I'm going with basement."
Juliet cast a glance out the window, but Carlton was too far away and intent on what he was doing. From the urgency in Shawn's voice, she had no time to go get him. "Come on, Gus." She led the way down the stairs.
"Shawn! Let us know when our voices are close to you!" Gus called out as he and Juliet listened closely at each door and then entered the rooms.
"Just hurry!" Shawn grunted softly. If only…no…physically impossible. Is it my imagination or is that blade coming closer faster?
"Shawn?" Juliet said and he lifted his head. She was just on the other side of the door.
"Jules! Yes! I'm in here, but there's about to be two of me. Hurry."
"Don't worry, Shawn, you'll be fine," Gus tried to reassure him as Juliet worked on the door.
"It's locked, Gus." Juliet knelt down and started trying to pick at the lock.
"Shoot the damn lock, Juliet," Gus growled.
Juliet went for her gun only to brush nothing but air and fabric with her fingers. "I must have lost my gun when I fell."
"Shawn! What's going on in there?"
"Buddy, you remember the story about the pit and the pendulum? Well, the story doesn't do it justice."
Juliet paled. "Gus, help me bang against the door." After she made several attempts, her eyes rounded. "We're not going to get in there in time, Gus."
"Yes, we are. Step back, Juliet." Gus turned his shoulder to the door and began to apply force. He felt a drop in temperature and the door unlocked and swung open, dumping him in to the room. "Find a power switch, Juliet," Gus shouted before lowering the ladder into the pit and climbing down.
"GUUUUSSSS!" Shawn cried out as the blade passed barely a fourth of an inch from his stomach.
Gus grabbed an axe he spotted setting in one corner and quickly cut the rope binding Shawn's ankles to the slab then ran up to Shawn's wrists and did the same thing.
"Aggghhh!" Shawn cried out as the blade grazed his flesh, pain burning through him. Gus pulled him from the rock before it could make another pass.
"You all right, Shawn?" he asked, handing Shawn his handkerchief to press over the cut.
"I will be. Thanks, buddy," Shawn smiled at his best friend. He hissed as he pressed the cloth against the cut. "Let's find Lassie and Caitlin and round up our villains. You won't believe who is behind all of this."
"At this point, I'd believe anything. You know that door was locked, right? And suddenly it wasn't. There's definitely a ghost here."
"Gus, don't be a hairless werewolf," Shawn scoffed as he struggled up the ladder. "You know I've told you time and again there are no such things as…" His voice trailed off as Shawn caught sight of a man over by the door. The man smiled at him and then was gone in a flash. Shawn blinked and then shook his head before taking another look.
Upstairs in the kitchen
"This needs stitches, Shawn," Juliet informed him as she taped gauze over the freshly cleaned wound.
"First things fi…" Shawn stopped speaking when the kitchen door opened and a bedraggled Lassiter accompanied a filthy Caitlin inside. "What in the world?"
"They buried her in the backyard," Carlton hissed. He jerked his head toward Shawn. "What happened to you?"
"Their version of The Pit and the Pendulum." Shawn's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Nothing had ever frightened him like that experience. "I just want to find our villains, wrap this up and never step foot in this place again."
Shawn led everyone from the living room and up the stairs again, heading for where he had spotted the computer room. As expected, the man and woman were still in there, having a heated discussion, more than likely on how to get rid of them.
"I present to you, Winnie Phillips and her brother, CFO Joseph Adams," Shawn said, indicating the pair inside with a swoop of his hand.
"Spencer, Winnie Phillips is dead," Lassiter sighed.
"No. No she isn't. The dead woman is a relation, a close cousin if not a sister. Winnie Phillips married David Phillips for his money. She thought she would be living the high life, traveling, buying expensive clothing and jewelry. But David Phillips isn't like most rich men. He doesn't flaunt his wealth and he doesn't hoard it. He prefers to give back and do good works. Trapped in a loveless marriage that wasn't giving her the benefits that she wanted, Winnie and her brother hatched a scheme, using the orphanage to bring them money. They and their minions went around the country, kidnapping children, changing their identities and then selling them in illegal adoptions.
"But then things went wrong when David actually checked the books and realized the orphanage was making way more money than it should, even after they skimmed off their funds. David made the mistake of trusting his brother-in-law and CFO, and went to him with questions. But he never suspected his involvement or that of his wife. You see Winnie came to the marriage with her own money that was why he never had her investigated. Winnie was also known as Barbara Bowers, the Black Widow killer. Also known as Aunt Barbara, who hired us to find her niece, Denise."
"That is preposterous," the woman hissed, glancing at Joseph. "I'm Julia Adams, Winnie's sister. What sort of horrible joke are you playing?"
"Oh, I've never been more serious. Winnie Phillips had a small scar above her left ear. So do you. Unlikely you would have identical scars in the same place."
"Shawn," Gus said, "If Winnie is behind this, why did she hire us to protect her husband?"
"To make her appear innocent. She wasn't expecting us to check out the house before the day before the party. The threat said David wouldn't live through the party, so she meant to kill him before that."
"Gun!" Juliet shouted when Joseph Adams pulled one and aimed at Shawn. Shawn stepped in front of the entire group except Carlton who had his own gun out.
"Drop the weapon, Adams," Carlton ordered.
"You drop your weapon," Adams demanded, preparing to fire. He shifted his aim from Shawn to Lassiter to Juliet. "We're leaving here and you won't be following. Any of you."
Shawn stiffened when Winnie produced a gun of her own, aiming in his direction. He automatically lifted his hands. He could hear movement behind him. Shawn wasn't certain if it was Gus or Caitlin but he didn't want either of them up there. "Just stay back there," he hissed quietly.
Lassiter's gun came up when Adams grabbed Juliet and pulled her against him. "Drop your gun or I drop her. Right here, right now."
