Ling was en route to the cellar when the alarms sounded. In his hand he carried an industrial grade Taser and on his face was the faintest semblance of a smile.
He was going to have fun.
When Gold gave the go ahead to dispatch of the girl, Ling thought hard on the best way to do it. A simple shooting would be lazy and strangulation would be too easy for a victim as worn down and helpless as she was.
It was then it occurred to him that she was trapped in a pool of water, metal shackles attaching her to the wall. He wouldn’t even have to enter the room. He could simply open the door, fire the electrodes, and watch as she slowly writhed in agony to her death.
Once it was over and the smell of singed meat hung in the air, he’d toss the Taser inside and bar the door forever, locking her inside as he had so many others over the years. The cellar had been designed with dozens of rooms originally meant as servant quarters and storage, though Ling had found a far more functional use for them.
Filling one more would be of no consequence.
He had just pushed through the door to the lower levels, his foot inches above the first stair, when the sirens erupted through the house. Another fifteen seconds and he would have been entombed in concrete, no sound penetrating it. For just a moment that very thought entered his mind as he stared with borderline longing at the black maw below before turning and sprinting for Gold’s office.
Bypassing pausing for acknowledgement, he swung through the heavy tapestry to find Gold’s bank of monitors displaying various camera views of the grounds. “What have we got?”
Without turning around, Gold stared at the monitors, his fingers laced before him. “I’m afraid this time it looks like the real deal.”
Ling walked forward until the front of his legs pressed against the desk and took inventory of the images before him. “Military?”
“I don’t think so,” Gold said. “We’ve done nothing to earn their wrath.”
Using a few controls on his desk, he pulled up a particular camera feed, zooming in on the last of the intruders struggling to make it over the wall. “Besides, these men are far from professionals.”
Ling snorted, ire rising within him as he watched the bloated men wrestle themselves over the exterior fence. “You want me to take care of it?”
Gold returned the image to its normal size and motioned toward the bank of monitors. “Right now they’ve got teams sweeping in from the north, west, and south. Boats are circling outside our dock. I think the prudent choice would be for us to run and fight another day.”
A flash of heat rose to Ling’s face as he stared at the back of Gold’s head. “Are you sure?”
Clicking through more camera views, Gold said, “They may not be military, but they are certainly armed like it. Our plans are too important and too eminent to do something foolish.”
Halfway through the slide show an image caught Ling’s attention, his eyes narrowing. “Go back. Zoom in.”
Ignoring the tone, Gold did as Ling asked, inflating the previous image. Before them were two young men, neither seeming overly interested in the fighting as they tore up the driveway and headed for the door.
“That son of a bitch,” Ling said, malevolence heavy in his voice.
“I take it that is who’s been causing you so much trouble?” Gold asked.
“I am going to kill him,” Ling hissed, his voice no more than a whisper.
“He’s barely old enough to shave,” Gold quipped.
Ling’s eyes shined with fury beneath his fedora, his fists clinched in balls by his side. “Stay here, I’ll be back.”
The entire bank of monitors cut to black as Gold wheeled around to face Ling. “No unnecessary risks. Right now we must go.”