The inside of the house was a mess. There was dust and cobwebs everywhere. Some of the furniture was broken but there were also tables and chairs that were intact. A painting hung crookedly on the wall. There were a few vases, one of them broken, on tables. The remains of a small clock, which had a gaping hole on its face, sat on a shelf. The fluorescent lights on the ceiling looked fine.
"This place's going to need a good cleaning up," Nick commented as he surveyed the dirt. He started to brush the rain from his jacket.
"That's a lot of work for just you," Ariel said, "What are you going to do once it's done?"
"Sell it." Nick grinned. "It'd be worth a lot after the work's done. Here, let me show you something. Oh, you can leave your wet stuff by the door." He entered the kitchen at the back.
Sandy took off her raincoat and draped it over a dusty table while Ariel carefully propped her umbrella against the wall. Then the girls followed after the man.
The stove in the kitchen was rusty and a layer of dust covered all the furniture and appliances. One of the windows was broken and part of the overgrown backyard could be seen through it. The other windows were smudged so badly with dirt that nothing could be seen through them, though they allowed in some light - not much, since it was still raining.
"This place has a basement." Nick took a kerosene lamp from the kitchen counter and started to light it. "If anything's still hidden here, it's got to be there."
"Wait, a basement?" Ariel asked.
Nick nudged open a broken door within the kitchen with the tip of his boot. "Down there." He lifted the lamp. "Got to bring our own light since the power's out."
Sandy stepped up to the doorway but Ariel held back. "Maybe we shouldn't," the blond girl said.
Nick shrugged. "We can look upstairs if you like."
"Come on, Ariel," Sandy urged her, "You're not afraid of a little dark, are you?"
"I don't know..."
"It's not like there's ghosts here. Anyway, we're here too. Just a quick look and that's it."
"Well... okay," Ariel agreed reluctantly, "Just a quick look."
Nick led the way down into the dark basement. On one side of the basement was an old boiler. There was a table with a few tools and a box on them. There were narrow windows near the ceiling but no light came through them - they appeared to have been blocked on the outside. On the other end of the basement, steel bars and a barred door formed a little lockup.
Ariel stepped forward and examined the lockup. "Hey, this looks recent."
Sandy moved beside her for a look.
"It is," Nick confirmed menacingly, "Both of you, get in there."
The girls turned around to see by the light of the lamp that Nick held a pistol in his other hand. There was a silencer attached to the tip of the pistol.
"What's going on?" Ariel blurted. Her eyes were wide.
"Move!" Nick ordered as he waved a threat with the pistol.
Once the girls were in the lockup, Nick locked the door.
"Are you kidnapping us?" Ariel asked.
"Yup." Nick laid the lamp and his gun on the table. He pocketed the key to the lockup. From the box on the table, he took out a small electronic gadget. He walked back to the lockup. "Now, Ariel, was it? Step up please."
"What's that?" Ariel asked. However, she obeyed.
Nick said nothing as he waved the gadget up and down the girl. It beeped when it was close to Ariel's handbag. "Give me the handbag," the man ordered.
Once he had the bag, he looked through it and took out Ariel's handphone. He checked the bag with the gadget once more before he tossed it back into the lockup. Then he waved the gadget up and down the blond girl again. The plastic box in his hand did not complain that time.
"Your turn," Nick said to Sandy.
There was a beep immediately at her foot.
"Shoes," Nick uttered.
When he had Sandy's yellow shoes, Nick unfolded a knife he pulled out of his pocket. After examining a shoe, he cut open the insole and pulled out a flat disk with a pair of wires sticking out of it. "A tracer," he muttered.
Both girls stared at the device Nick had found.
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