Free The Ninth Day by Jamie Freveletti Page B

thrilled at the smell of armadillos. Not overwhelming, but not familiar either. She walked up and down the center aisle, peering into each enclosure, and glancing upward whenever she could to peer at the ceiling. The dark rafters were bare of any surveillance technology.
    The best place for her escape was right there. While there were cameras inside the house, they did not extend to the barn, and the nearest exterior camera focused on the perimeter. By Emma’s estimation, she could take out the one functioning camera, and the others on the barn were fakes.
    She removed her rubber bracelets and peeled apart one. It ripped in half easily, and had striations running the length of it. She pulled on the striated section and was left with a long piece of rubber the thickness of an ordinary rubber band. She strolled out of the barn and over to the pole that held the one camera that she thought was functioning. Its red eye glowed at her.
    Pretending nonchalance, she leaned against the pole with her hands behind her. As she did, she took the thick part of the rubber bracelet and pressed it onto the wood, flattening it like clay. The remaining thin band she slid into her pocket. She removed her compass from the other pocket and spotted due west.
    With her weapon in place, she was free to stroll back to the main house. She’d eat and rest. When the darkness came, she’d make her move.

Chapter 12
    H alfway to the hacienda, Emma heard the sound of pulsing dance music and murmuring voices punctuated with the occasional high-pitched laughter of a woman who sounded well on her way to being smashed. As she neared the pool, Emma spotted the source of all the merriment. At least fifty people were scattered across the yard and Emma could see more inside the hacienda’s family room. The french doors were thrown wide to allow the guests to move freely between the house and the pool.
    Flaming torches placed in the ground about ten feet apart smelled of citronella oil and smoke, the tangy scent floating on the air. Several people sat on the chaise longues arranged poolside. Two thickset men smoked cigars and conversed, while others smoked rolled joints. The pot smokers handed theirs off to a group of nearby women. A rolling cart loaded with liquor bottles sat at the pool’s edge. The containers glowed amber in the yellow light thrown by the torches. Someone cranked up the music and the milling crowd started dancing, moving in the evening air. Emma changed direction to walk in a large semicircle, skirting the pool area. She was halfway past the hacienda when Raoul rounded the corner. The skinny coyote walked next to him.
    “You go back to the stable. Carlos will take you there.”
    Emma hadn’t planned on spending any more time locked in the stall. “I need to eat and get back to the farm. I should keep working.” She improvised her answer.
    Raoul fixed her with a frown. “No more working tonight. The others are here. I don’t want you to be seen. Carlos will bring you dinner. Get moving.” He waved a hand at Carlos as he said this.
    “I can go the long way around the house to the stables. No one will see me. I need every available minute to try and solve this problem.” Emma put some steel into her voice.
    “Enough!” Raoul said. He gave Carlos a curt nod and cut away, heading toward the pool and the lights.
    “La Valle won’t like this!” Emma called to Raoul. He turned and smirked at her.
    “La Valle is having a party. While he does, he won’t give a damn about anything.”
    Carlos grabbed her arm and started dragging her away from the hacienda, back to the stall. He pulled a pistol out of his waistband and held it in his free hand, making sure she saw it. They reached the stable where she’d been that morning. A quick glance at the cameras placed on the outside confirmed that they were live. Red lights glowed. Carlos dragged her into the stable’s breezeway. She spotted two more cameras at either end, but neither had a red