Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while :)
"Zach, he's going to give us away." I whispered. Zach stiffened beside me. We were not lucky; two other Circle members were also walking towards us. Sam and the other two people reached us at the same time. The other people were a woman with short and glossy black hair wearing a silver mask that covered her eyes, and a man with curly dark blonde hair who wasn't wearing a mask.
"Sam!" The Circle woman exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't know you were here, I thought you were helping Stephen at Gallagher?"
"You know me, Sara; I can't miss a good party. Especially when you can meet such lovely people, like Angela Ramsey and Fabian Masters, am I right?" Sam turned his attention to me and Zach.
"Yes, have we met before?" Zach asked tersely.
"No. You were a last-minute addition to the list and the only people in this room I couldn't recognise." Sam explained. "Angela, Fabian, may I introduce you to one of the Cavan Charity's original sponsors, Sara and Eli Ford."
"Please, call me Angie." I said, trying to sound confident, but seeing Sam here had shaken me up a lot. Eli raised an eyebrow.
"This charity event is usually too full to let in last minute sponsors, so I'm curious, how did you get in?" He asked suspiciously, speaking with a Southern accent.
"I'm persistent, Mr Ford and sponsoring some of the less known charities is quite important, you see." I replied coolly, reciting the information Mr Solomon gave me. "You see, my father just passed away a few months ago, and I couldn't think of any way better to use the money he left me than to give it away to a charity." That should make him back off. I looked around and smiled. "This is such a lovely old house, isn't it Fabian?"
"You know, people are going on tours around the mansion," Sara said, quickly changing the subject. "Usually, you have to book in advance to take the tours but the groups are so big no-one would notice if you just slipped in. Actually, Eli's brother knows one of the tour guides; he could just set you up couldn't he?"
"That would be amazing, thank you." Zach smiled graciously, but I could tell he was excited- this was our chance to look for the artefact.
"Yes, well, speak of the devil, here he is now." Eli said, tapping someone on the shoulder. A man with sandy blonde hair turned around. "Sylvan, can you do me a favour?"
Shock drummed through me. This was the Sylvan Ford who helped kidnap me. Of course! I shouldn't have been so stupid- the hair, the accent, the name, Ford. Eli Ford and Sylvan Ford were brothers. I waited, heart pounding to see if Sylvan Ford would recognise us.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." Sylvan smiled. We were done for. "I haven't seen my baby brother for a month and the first thing he says to me is 'can you do me a favour'" Sylvan winked and slapped his brother playfully on the back. "Sure, what can I do for you?"
I silently thanked God for Macey's amazing talents with a curling iron and blusher. "Can you get Angela and Fabian into the next tour group?" Eli asked, gesturing in my direction. Sylvan shrugged.
"Consider it done," He then turned to face me and Zach with a smile. "The next group should leave in three minutes,"
I silently breathed out in relief. This was our chance. Zach exchanged small talk with Sara and Eli while I counted down the seconds until we could go and join the tour group. After 149 seconds I couldn't stand the tension anymore and said we should probably leave, after all I couldn't resist looking around such a beautiful mansion, and then practically towed Zach towards the large tour group. Sara wasn't lying- there were at least 70 people in one group. We silently slipped in and talked in hushed whispers while we waited for the tour to start.
Maybe it was just me, but it seemed to take ages. We were only about an eighth of a way around the tour when Zach tugged on my hand and we slipped into the shadows. Nobody noticed us while we hid inside a dark room behind a red velvet rope. While my eyes adjusted to the dark I noticed a lot of paintings and portraits of men and women in posh clothes. My eyes caught on one in particular painting of a beautiful woman with a sword standing alongside a man lying dead on the floor- it stood out from all the other paintings, partly because it was the only one that had blood in it and partly because it was the only one that had a wooden frame.
I knew instantly what it was- Gillian Gallagher killing Ioseph Cavan. Zach was looking at the painting too. He took my hand and squeezed it to comfort me. Then my transceiver crackled to life.
"Cammie, Zach, try to find something called Redtrent House- the message your father left is an anagram for it." Mr Solomon's voice said in my ear. Of course, Joe Solomon, my father's best friend would figure out how my father would embed a clue in his messages.
Zach nodded once, and then we began our search for Redtrent House. We had been searching for about 50 minutes when we saw a small door decorated with golden leaves. We had to crouch to get through it, but once we were inside we could stand up straight again. It was a child's room.
"Cammie… look." Zach whispered, pointing to something above the bed. It was a big picture of a woman… and Stephen and a baby. Was this Lenny's room?
"Sophia." I said softly, remembering the name of Stephen's wife- the one who had been kidnapped. At that moment I was more certain than ever that my dad had nothing to do with Sophia Cavan's disappearance. He would never do anything that would mean a small baby would grow up without a mother. My eyes scanned the room, and stopped when I saw something. I ran forward and my fingers traced the gold lettering that spelled 'Redtrent House'. It was a model of a house that was as tall as my waist. It was a beautiful mansion with gold edges and small models of horses and men in top hats and tailcoats, and women with big hoop skirts and petite umbrellas.
It was also dusty, meaning no-one had touched it in years. My heart started pounding madly. This was it. I was going to get my mom back.
Hands shaking, I opened the mansion up and found a small silver box etched with flowers. My hand reached forward to touch the cool metal.
"I knew it." A cruel, cold voice sneered behind me. I turned around to find Sara there, pointing a gun towards me, and a gun towards Zach. "The tour ended ten minutes ago, and when you weren't there that just confirmed what I already thought. Now you're going to come with me quietly and without struggling."
"And if we don't?" Zach asked mildly. Sara smiled cruelly.
"If you don't, she's going to have a bullet in her head." She narrowed her eyes at me. I glanced at Zach who was looking at me, then to the artefact, then back at me. I stood up and picked up the box and hid it behind my back. I would have to put it somewhere else. I crouched and went back out the small doorway. There was nowhere to hide the box, but I couldn't just leave it in the room. Sara followed Zach out the doorway and gestured with her head which way we should go. Zach was looking at the end of the corridor, eyes wide with shock and anger. Just as Sara took the artefact out of my hands I saw what Zach was looking at.
At the other end of the hallway, Sam was hidden in the shadows, watching us.