Veil of Civility

Chapter Fifty-Eight

"I repeat, Celt 2. This is Celt 1. Do we have an all clear?"

"Give 'em the all clear!" Shane said, as he leveled the passenger guard's sidearm at the man Declan had shoved against the side of the SUV.

"No," Declan said, raising his hands between Shane and the guard. "We can't risk it. He could give them an emergency code and we'd never know. You do it."

"Are you having a laugh?" Shane asked.

"Do it, in your best London accent. You've lived there long enough, haven't you?"

Shane lowered the weapon and stepped towards the driver's door of the SUV. "We could just as easily give them the wrong code," he said, as he lifted an eyebrow and looked at Declan.

"Well we've gotta give them something. From the way these guys have operated so far I'm guessing the security isn't exactly top of the line. I'm rather surprised, really."

Shane nodded with a slight grimace and slid into the driver's seat, picking up the mic on the front of the radio unit. "Celt 1, this is Celt 2. All's clear down here, just a lost tourist. We've got him sorted and on his way, his encounter with the famed British SAS coming soon to an American travel blog near you." He spoke the last sentence with more than a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

Several seconds passed after Shane clicked off the mic. He sat still in the driver's seat, waiting. Declan watched the eyes of the guard against the Range Rover for even the smallest sign of delight. Instead the man's eyes darted between him and Shane with worry.

"Roger that, Celt 2," the radio crackled. The voice sounded almost elderly now that it had relaxed. "God only knows what that poor bugger will think is over these hills."

Shane smiled broadly. "Werewolves or something, no doubt, Celt 2 over."

Silence followed and Shane hung the mic back on the front of the unit.

"Well, that's that," he said with a nod as he stepped out of the vehicle. "Now we just need to find the manor. I'm sure his lordship has a fire on in the hearth for us."

After Declan had cleared the stone house around the bend of any other inhabitants, he and Shane secured the guards in the barn with their own flexi-cuffs and took their keys. Locking the black Range Rover's keys inside it and leaving it parked outside the house, they drove back to the gate and unlocked it, pulling through onto the worn dirt road beyond.

As the SUV bounced over more potholes, Declan kept an eye out for more security measures, especially roadside sensors that might give away their approach. Twenty minutes and seven rough miles later he hadn't seen any. "Where in the bloody hell is this place?"

"Just over this next hill if the map my agent provided is correct."

"Then let's stop here. From the looks of the inside of that farmhouse down there, his lordship isn't expecting those two guards to come and visit him."

Shane nodded and stopped the SUV just before the base of a steep hill. "So what's our approach?"

"Let's get a look at this place first. Then I'll figure something out."

They exited the vehicle and climbed the hill, the inky black of the Scottish night and the low cloud cover making it nearly impossible to see more than twenty yards in any direction.

"Supposedly this place sits at the southern end of Loch Builg," Shane said, as they crested the hill and looked over into the valley below. Through the fog it was hard to see anything very clearly, but there was definitely a loch judging from the mist settled over it. Declan scanned the area and through the mist could just make out the dim lights in the windows of a building. "There," he said pointing.

"Aye, I see it."

Partially buried in a thick fog was a stone building with a round spire on its front right corner, its roof invisible in a white wisp of frozen air. Declan started down the hill and Shane followed. More of the building became visible as they came closer. Greumach Manor appeared to be three stories tall and was small by castle standards. It was clear from the style of the architecture that the castle had been built during the Perpendicular Gothic period, and in places its outer walls were covered in thick ivy. A small motor court stood on the left directly opposite the spire they'd seen from the hill above, a stone archway stretching over it to allow a vehicle to drop its passengers without them getting wet from the frequent rainfall. A black late-model Bentley was parked under the archway along with another black Range Rover, a twin of the vehicle the security guards had been driving.

"Jesus, Dec. We could have a full team of night vision wearing snipers looking at us from the roof and we wouldn't know it in this fog."

"If they're wearing night vision in this weather they're in more trouble than we are."

"Oh, right," Shane said, as he remembered that night vision goggles were useless in the fog. "Well, we still can't walk up and ring the bell. What're you planning?"

Declan noticed a flickering light in a large second floor window and watched as a shadow moved past. "There," he said pointing to the window. "It looks like you were right. His lordship has a fire on for us."

Shane followed his hand to the arched picture window.

"The windows in this place are rather old," Declan said. "I bet with the right motivation they'll open right up."

"Yeah, but we have to get to them first."

Declan ignored the objection and walked quickly towards the archway over the motor court where a rusted metal pipe ran down the side to drain water away from the roof. Grabbing ahold of it, he shook it to see if it was secure. It would hold. He grabbed onto the metal bracket that secured it to the stone archway and pulled himself up, using his feet to push from the bottom. His boots slid slightly against the pipe, but the rust gave him all the traction he needed. Water began to immediately soak through his clothes as he pulled himself up onto the archway's roof and leaned over the edge. "Here," he said sticking out his hand for Shane.

He looked up towards the windows making sure, as best he could through the fog, that no one was watching them. Feeling Shane grip his hand, he braced his arm and pulled upwards. He could hear Shane's shoes slide against the rusted metal and reached out with his other hand to help him along. He didn't want anyone inside to hear them. The element of surprise was critical to gaining entrance. He pulled Shane onto the roof and stood, doing his best to brush the water off his clothes, though it had already soaked through in multiple spots. He could feel the cold air sharply against the wet material and wished for a moment that he was back in the United States where the temperatures were far milder.

"Now what?" Shane asked.

Declan didn't respond. Instead he pushed the thoughts of his adopted home away and moved towards the end of the archway that was attached to the building. A few feet above the end of the archway an architectural ledge was built into the side between the first and second floors.

"Ah," said Shane, as he spotted it, "now I'm with you."

The sound of a door squealing on its hinges as it was pulled open came from below them. Declan placed his back against the wall and waved his hand at Shane, who responded by crouching down out of view. They waited silently as the sound of heavy boots descending a set of stone steps followed the closing of the door. Soon a heavy sigh and the unmistakable sound of a cigarette lighter came from below and Declan smiled. He moved forward, taking care not to make any noise as he did so. Shane flashed him a panicked look and mouthed the words, "What're you doing?"

Declan held a finger to his lips and moved towards the other end of the archway. Crouching down at the end of it, he looked over the side as a puff of bluish smoke rose into the air from below him. He waited for several minutes as puff after puff of smoke rose from the same spot. When he saw a cigarette butt fly out from under the archway and disappear into the dark, he prepared to make his move. He placed his hands against the edge of the archway and as he heard the sound of boots walking back towards the door, he leapt over the side and twisted as he landed onto the gravel drive, absorbing the impact. The sound of his landing was enough to draw the attention of the man who had been smoking and, as he started to turn around, Declan rushed forward and delivered a knife-edged chop to the side of his neck where the carotid artery was located. It was a gutsy move and it paid off, as the man collapsed onto the pea gravel drive underneath the archway, the blood flow to his brain temporarily interrupted by the forceful strike.

"Change of plans," Declan whispered upwards to Shane. "Get down from there. We're going in the front door." He pulled the downed security guard out of the line of sight of the front door and ran up a set of stone steps that led to a porch and an oak door. He depressed the thumb latch on the door as he heard Shane land on the gravel drive with a thud. Looking over his shoulder to be sure Shane was on his way, he pushed the door open.

A rush of warm air flowed through the open doorway and Declan cautiously stepped inside, his eyes moving around the castle's large foyer. The floor was black and white parquet and directly ahead of him, along the left side of the mahogany-paneled walls, was a grand staircase leading to a second floor balcony that overlooked both the foyer and whatever room was beyond the closed wooden door on the right side of the staircase. The lighting was dim, but he could see an open-arched doorway to his right and a dining room beyond it containing a long wooden dining table. To his left, a small parlor with a writing desk and a chair stood surrounded by floor to ceiling windows.

Shane stepped in behind him and gently pushed the door closed. Declan started to reach for the pistol in his belt, but thought better of it. He had no desire to shoot anyone inside and if someone shot at him, he'd just have to duck away. Killing innocent people simply wasn't an option.

"Wait here," he whispered to Shane, as he pointed to the small parlor.

Shane nodded and walked into the room, taking a position just inside the door where he couldn't be seen if someone were to approach from inside the house.

Declan cleared the dining room with a few quick glances and moved onto the red carpeted stairway. Looking up towards the balcony, he climbed the stairs, watching carefully for any signs of more security guards. The flickering light he had seen through the second story window had to be from a fireplace. Hopefully it was some kind of den or study where Lord Allardyce was located. He had no desire to traipse throughout the entire castle trying to find the man, even if the castle was on the smallish side.

Declan reached the top of the stairs and turned right after clearing the hallway to his left. It contained only another closed wooden door, no sign of any lights on inside the room beyond showing around the edges. He approached the other side of the balcony where another staircase lead to the third floor and looked over into the room below. It was a large den with a fireplace along the right wall and a set of circular picture windows that presumably looked out over the loch when the weather was clear enough to see it. Knowing he was exposed on top of the balcony, he moved past the staircase, where a long hallway led to a closed wooden door. Four other doors stood closed along the hallway. With his back pressed to the wall, he moved past each of the doors.

From underneath a doorway halfway down the hall he saw what he was looking for; a faint flicker of light from a fireplace. He moved across the hallway towards the door and listened. From inside the room beyond, he could hear a low key conversation. He reached out and gripped the wrought iron door handle and depressed the latch, pushing the door open and bathing the hallway in orange light.