Derrek walked through the heavy double door, making sure not to open it any further. He'd already been obvious enough. He saw the left side of the room first. There were two windows on the front, where the porch was. Both were draped with see-through curtains. There wasn't a lot of special things there. The back of the room however.
Seriously? Bookshelf with a ladder? Who has that? Derrek was in awe of the bookshelf that lined the entire wall at the end of the room. The ceiling was about three and a half meters high and the shelf took full advantage of all the space available. A railing at about two and a half meters, provided a railway for the ladder to travel the entire width of the shelf. The light he saw from outside came from his right though. As he passed past the door, he saw couches spread over the right side of the room. A small mini-bar at the right end side of the room.
Behind the door, against the wall with the stairs was a hearth. It wasn't on but a light on a table in front of the hearth was. All couches were empty. They looked comfy.
The sliding door was open. Derrek checked his surroundings, but couldn't see anyone. He escaped through the terrace then. Would the weird thing in the chairs still be sitting there?
As he stood thinking there, someone came through the sliding door. Two someones, even. Derrek pulled his rubber gun in a swift motion. The first pair of hands went up, the second's already were up, holding a sack of frozen ice cubes against his forehead. He walked straight into the first one and gave a grunt.
"Don't shoot, please." Peter's voice came. Yves behind him peeked past the ice and raised one of his hands too. Derrek thought he'd say something, but only a sniff came.
"How are you free?" Derrek asked.
"Warren. He came some time ago, told me to help him scare you, but I.. Refused. I stayed inside the shed until I heard Yves struggling outside just now and came over to help."
"It hurts like a bitch, you know." Yves said.
"Trust me, you're better off. Dina got a full load." Her coughs still came from time to time, now was one of them and both boys looked at the door in hesitation.
"Take a seat, both of you." Derrek said, nudging his gun toward one of the couches. Both boys moved toward it, Peter helping Yves to find the way. They both sat down.
"Don't worry, we've had enough." Peter started saying.
"You sure of that?" Derrek asked. Yves looked past the ice again and saw Derrek's eyes foccussed on him. Yves nodded.
"Where's Warren?"
Derrek saw some hesitation, but Yves replied. "He went upstairs. He wants to get out, came to me for his bike key, but I left them upstairs. Could only have been a few minutes." Derrek looked toward the door. I only missed him by a breath then, he could already be gone. Derrek turned back and saw the form on the terrace again.
"And that?" He said, nudging his head.
"Dupe." Yves said.
"Just some straw bound together." Peter added.
"No other surprises?"
"Dina had something in the basement… but no, nothing beyond that. Upstairs is empty."
"Ok, my colleague, Chip, arrived just now. He's collecting Ashley from the barn and will be coming in next. Go to Dina and help her out, I'll notify Chip you're not a threat. Try not be. He doesn't have a lot of patience. And frankly, mine has run out as well. We'll talk more later, especially about your contacts. Understood?"
Both of them nodded. He beckoned them to follow. Smart lads. Now to get the last one and get this over with.