Caomhnóir - 16

Keegan carefully studied the residence of his target from his perch on a rooftop a few hundred yards away. It looked like all the others houses in the area, two-storied with pinkish stucco walls and a brick-colored tiled roof. One car sat in the carport, another in the drive leading up to it. Keegan was quite certain that none of the neighbors had any concept about the depths of depravity and evil in the beast that lived there. To them he was just a middle-aged family man with a wife and daughter who, at the moment, were living in their primary home in another city.

Tapping a thumb against his lips, Keegan searched for a way to enter the house safely. The last thing he wanted was any outside interference. He already knew there were two humans inside, bodyguards for the terrorist. Not that they were needed, but no one knew that other than Keegan and those of his order.

In the darkness of the moonless night Keegan moved from one rooftop to another, landing so softly the homeowners would be completely unaware that he was above them. Finally he finished circling the terrorist’s house and had the answer he’d been seeking.

Dropping to the ground, he moved silently to the rear of the house. There he paused to give the window that had interested him one more careful look. Instantly he was on the balcony, hunkered down so that the light from another window wouldn’t reveal his presence. He inched his way to the one he wanted, pausing, opening his mind to make certain the room it led to was empty.

Moments later he slipped his fingers into the narrow crack between the window and the sill. Someone had been careless not to have closed it all the way and that was what had drawn him to it. With it not fully shut any alarms on it would be rendered null and void. He eased it open just enough to slip inside, finding himself in a bedroom that obviously belonged to the terrorist’s daughter from the way it was furnished. Crossing to the door, Keegan pressed one ear to the paneling, listening for any sounds even as he sought for thoughts that would indicate someone was in the hallway.

Deciding it was safe, Keegan inched the door open just enough to make a visual check. The hallway was dimly lit, unsurprising considering the late hour. A thin sliver of light escaped from under a door at the far end of the hall. Inching step by careful step down to it, Keegan paused, again attempting to pick up any stray thoughts, both from the person or persons inside the room, and anyone else in the house.

A tight smile crossed his lips when he found one of the bodyguards was still on the lower floor. It took two minutes to make his way down the stairs, and another one to locate the bodyguard’s exact position relative to where he was standing. Keegan was in the office, his flail connecting with the man’s skull, before his victim was even aware that he was not alone. The crack of spiked metal on bone was sharp and quick. Keegan caught the body before it could hit the floor, and with one quick slash of his kahnjarli across the man’s throat he finished the job the flail had begun. After depositing the body behind a sofa at the far end of the room, Keegan went back upstairs.