In the Secret Garden

Killian

“Found something!” Tommaso had called.

The search party ran to where Tommaso pointed at the ground. It had been snowing on and off for a while, but they were there.

Footprints.

Someone did break into the house.

I walked in a slow circle to scan the area. We were near the backyard, the wall only a dozen feet away. There were footprints there, too. I knew none of my men had been in this area until now, and they weren’t Tommaso’s footprints. I gestured for the guys to follow me to it.

“Dustin, get on my shoulders. We need to see over the wall if there was a way for the intruder to climb up to get over.”

Though he looked unsure, Dustin obeyed. With Tommaso’s help, he climbed up to stand on my shoulders and pulled himself up a bit. He was able to peer over the wall that was at least a foot thick.

He gasped. “There’s a fallen tree!”

Fuck.

I set Dustin down and began barking orders. “Reggie, you go check it out. Alonzo, call Adrian and tell him to check the cameras on the eastern sec