My apologies. Somehow Chapter 3 got inserted in Chapter 2's place. This should make more sense.

Chapter 2

At the back of the house, Goniff managed to open the window and bypass the alarm system. Garrison went through the window first, followed by Casino and the pickpocket. The man's study was larger than the common room at the mansion and richly decorated with tapestries and oil paintings hanging on dark paneled walls. Craig moved to the double wooden doors and opened one silently just a crack. The hall was empty. Casino was already working on the safe. Goniff took Garrison's place and Craig looked at the papers on the table while waiting for Casino to get the safe open. He chewed on his cheek at what he found. There were blueprints and a small wooden mock up of the new engine. The engineer had obviously been working when Actor and Terry had arrived. There was too much to carry and they could not afford to leave any behind..

Casino opened the safe and stepped back. He took over the watch at the door, while the lieutenant went through the contents of the safe. He took the notebooks and turned back to the table. Casino shut the safe and wiped it down. He watched Garrison warily. The man had that 'aha' look on his face that boded no good.

Craig worked quickly, folding up blueprints and shoving them inside his shirt and handing more to Goniff to do the same. He shot a glance at the safecracker. "Casino," he whispered. "Can you torch this place?"

He knew it! The Warden just couldn't do anything simple. Casino looked around and spotted a heavilyl stocked liquor cabinet. "Yeah, I can do it."

"Good," said Garrison, "get started."

Goniff was busy stuffing papers in his shirt. He looked at the lieutenant with concern. "Warden, wot about Actor and Terry?"

"Actor will get them out of there."

Casino muttered to himself in his mind. Rotten waste of good alcohol if you asked him, but of course, nobody was askin' him. And the Warden was somethin' else. If it was his sister in the house he was about to burn up, he wouldn't be so unconcerned about it. The demolitions expert started opening bottles and spraying whiskey, vodka, brandy, cognac and rum around the room and on anything wood. A built in bookcase full of books got the treatment too. Casino kept one bottle back and stuffed his pocket handkerchief down into the neck. He loved Molotov cocktails.

Garrison grabbed the wooden mockup and stuffed it in Casino's shirt, to the man's sour look. The three men climbed back out the window. Casino held the bottle away from him and lit the cloth with his lighter. With a shake of his head, he tossed it into the room. Flames immediately started spreading through the trails of alcohol. The men, watching for guards, sprinted for the woods.

In the sitting room, Actor and the doctor heard the sound of breaking glass from somewhere toward the back of the house. Terry pretended to be asleep, but she was wondering what was going on.

The engineer called for one of the man servants to check it out. It didn't take long for them to know what was happening. Casino was just as expert with arson as he was with cracking safes. Smoke began rolling down the halls.

"Merde," said Actor in angry surprise. The Warden was improvising again.

Terry's eyes flew open at the first whiff of smoke. "What is happening?" she asked in fear, maintaining the French language.

"Fire!" exclaimed the engineer. "My work!" he exclaimed in horror, starting toward the hallway.

Gunshots rang out from the grounds. Terry was on her feet, to the side and a little behind the big Italian. Vangriekken spun around seeing how quickly the sick woman had moved and pointed at Actor. "You! You are saboteurs!" The Belgian lunged toward his desk, yanking open the top drawer and pulling out a pistol. Actor's gun was already in his hand. He never hesitated as he shot the man, killing him.

Actor whirled and grabbed Teresa by the arm. He propelled them out the French doors to the garden. Terry pulled her arm away from him and lifted her skirts to run behind him. They headed for the woods. There was much confusion as the estate staff ran, trying to get water buckets and anything to put the fire out. They might not have paid much attention if the man had been alone, but the woman with him was a dead giveaway. Two men gave chase, certain they would catch them as they could not hide their footprints in the snow.

Chief looked up at the first sound of gunfire. Something was going wrong. He spotted Actor and Terry running for the woods. Slamming the hood down on the car, he jumped behind the wheel and started up the big engine. The Indian drove down the road in the direction that the con man and woman were fleeing.

Reaching the woods, Actor plunged into the underbrush with Terry on his heels. He looked around and led her crashing through tree branches and brush in the direction of the road. The sound of pursuit caught up with them. Actor slid behind a tree, grabbing Teresa's arm and swinging her behind him. She leaned back against the tree as Actor watched around the side for their pursuers. A few seconds later two of the estate guards emerged with guns ready. They spotted the tall man, stopping to aim.