Chapter 6

That night, Stone was sound asleep when the alarm control panel on his bedroom wall began beeping.

His house was equipped with a state-of-the-art security system that included bulletproof windows, steel-reinforced doors, motion sensors, cameras, and the most advanced door locks available. Beeping in the night wasn't common, but with such an advanced system, small glitches weren't unheard of.

He went to the panel. On the screen was the message INPUT CODE, and below this a countdown that had just changed from 17 to 16. This particular message only appeared when the security system was armed and an exterior door had been opened, giving a person thirty seconds to turn it off after entering the house.

Stone switched on the camera feed that covered the area around the downstairs control panel.

A dark shape huddled in front of the panel, with three other figures standing a few feet away, shining flashlights on the keypad.

Stone jammed the button that would immediately set off the alarm, then retrieved his pistol from the nightstand and rushed out of the room to the top of the stairs.

The whoop-whoop-whoop of the alarm filled the house, and from below he heard someone swear.

He hurried down until he was on the landing above the floor the intruders were on.

"We should split," one of them said.

"If we do, none of us makes a dime," another argued.

"Look," a more authoritative voice said. "We have at least three minutes until the police show up. Let's do as much as we can before we go."

"You go ahead," the first voice said. "I'm out."

"Me, too," a new voice said.

Stone heard the front door fly open and then slam shut again, and for a beat thought all four men had left.

But then the authoritative voice said, "Come on. What we're looking for is upstairs."

Stone pointed his gun at the lower landing, hoping the sight of it would be enough to scare the remaining intruders into giving up.

The beam of a flashlight hit the bottom step, then one of the remaining black-clad men stepped into view, followed immediately by the other.

"Freeze," Stone barked, channeling his NYPD days.

Both men's heads snapped up. One of their flashlights mirrored the motion, and its beam hit Stone in the eyes.

"Gun!" one of them yelled.

"Oh, shit," the other said.

Nearly half blind, Stone almost missed the guy closest to him starting to raise his own weapon. Stone pulled his trigger.

The shot thundered down the stairs, and the light jerked sideways. Stone couldn't see much, but he could hear steps running, followed by the front door opening again, and then more steps that soon faded to nothing.

He slapped the wall until he found the switch and flipped on the light.

A body lay on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, a gun on the floor nearby.

Stone crept down to him, alert for anything that would signal that the other intruder was still around, but the house was silent.

There was another light switch near the bottom of the stairs. He flipped it on and lit up the area beyond. Carefully, he peeked around the corner.

He could see all the way to the open front door, and there wasn't a soul in sight.

He crouched next to the body. The man's shirt was drenched in blood. Though he was sure it was too late, Stone checked the man for a pulse. There was none.

Stepping lightly, he moved toward the entrance, clearing each space he passed to ensure no one was lying in wait. When he reached the door, he peered outside and confirmed that the immediate area was clear.

From a few blocks away, he could hear a siren heading in his direction. He ducked back inside, shut the door, and went to the nearest phone.

"Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?" Dino answered. "Did someone die?"

"So says the corpse in my hallway."

"No joke?"

"No joke."

"How did he die?"

"Painfully, I would think." As briefly as possible, Stone told him what happened.

"You actually hit him?"

Stone was deadly with a rifle, not so much with handguns.

"I've been practicing."

"Have you called nine-one-one?"

"There's a siren pulling up out front, so I'd say the NYPD has responded to my alarm."

"Try not to kill anyone else before I get there."