Chapter 5 - The Snake in the Grass
Despite Marcus’s arrest, the atmosphere inside the Anderson estate remained tense over the next forty-eight hours.
Sarah spent her days hovering near Tommy, barely letting the six-year-old out of her sight. Though Richard assured her that the security system was impenetrable, Sarah’s life experience had taught her that locks were only as good as the people standing behind them.
On Thursday afternoon, a white commercial van marked Apex Landscaping & Tree Care pulled up to the rear service gate of the estate.
The driver, a tall man wearing a high-visibility vest and a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes, held up a work order to the security guard at the gate.
"Scheduled oak trimming for the west garden," the driver said casually.
The guard checked the digital log on his tablet. "I don't have a service call listed for today, buddy."
"Call was placed yesterday by Mrs. Reynolds," the driver lied smoothly, pointing to a signature on the paper. "Dead branch hanging over the power lines near the east wing. Supposed to clear it before the storm hits tonight."
The guard looked at the paper, then looked at the van. Inside sat three men holding chainsaw cases and ladders.
"Hold on, let me verify with the main house," the guard said, reaching for his desk phone.
Before the guard could lift the receiver, the driver pulled a heavy iron pipe from beside his seat, reached through the security booth window, and struck the guard across the temple with brutal force.
The guard collapsed onto the floor of the booth, unconscious.
The driver quickly jumped out of the van, grabbed the keys from the guard's belt, unlocked the service gate, and waved the vehicle through.
The van rolled quietly along the perimeter tree line, parking out of sight behind the stone guest house.
The driver removed his baseball cap, revealing the scarred, stubbled face of Marcus Vance.
He had posted bail three hours ago—financed by a shady loan shark who agreed to fund the bail in exchange for a fifty-percent cut of the twenty-thousand-dollar insurance trust Marcus promised to extract from Richard Anderson.
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Marcus pulled a heavy crowbar and a steel hunting knife from the back of the van, his yellow eyes burning with manic, desperate fury.
"You two keep the engines running," Marcus ordered his two hired thugs. "If anyone comes down this driveway, ram 'em. I'm going inside to get those kids."
