Read Shelley Freydont - Celebration Bay 03 - Independence Slay for Free Online

head.
    “Then follow me.” He led her around the side of the house to the front door, where two security people were posted to prevent tourists from bothering the inhabitants.
    They stopped Liv as she ran toward them. “Sorry. The house is off-limits to visitors. If you’re looking for a bath—”
    “I’m the event coordinator,” Liv said, reaching for her ID card. She had to yell over the exploding fireworks. The sky was lit up in reds, greens, yellows, blues. “There’s a problem with the production.”
    The guard looked at the card, looked at her.
    “Please hurry,” Liv said, then caught a glimpse of a very large man striding down the street. He passed beneath the light of the street lamp, and Liv recognized the shaved head and wide shoulders of A.K. Pierce, head of Bayside Security, whom Liv had hired as additional event security. “Mr. Pierce. A.K.! Over here!”
    A.K. looked up, zeroed in on her, and strode through the wrought-iron gates to meet her.
    “Ms. Montgomery? Is there a problem?”
    “There might be. Ted saw an SOS signal coming from the parapet where the ghost signals the patriots to attack.”
    “Isn’t that a part of the show?”
    “The first signal, but the second SOS signal didn’t start until after the fireworks began,” she explained, then looked to Ted for confirmation.
    “That’s right, someone is up there flashing an SOS. I think we should see what the situation is.”
    “Absolutely.” A.K. strode past them and up the front steps and pounded on the heavy wooden door. When it didn’t open immediately, he pounded again. “Security,” he boomed.
    He waited a few seconds while he looked around the outside of the house, possibly considering the efficacy of breaking one of the windows. He raised his hand to pound again when the door opened several inches and Hildy Ingersoll peered out.
    “This house… is… off-limits,” she huffed out.
    Liv was reaching for her ID but Pierce already had his open.
    Hildy looked at it. “What’s this?”
    “Are you the lady of the house?”
    “The housekeeper,” Ted said. “Hildy. It’s Ted Driscoll. There’s trouble up on the roof.”
    “What kind of trouble, to get me running to the door with all that banging?” She sucked in a deep breath. “Those kids up to their tricks? I told Mr. G not to let them in the house. Nothing but trouble. We’re not responsible, I told him. But he don’t listen. Got a soft spot for them rascals. The more fool he.” She had to stop to suck in air. “But you can believe those bleeding-heart do-gooders will make trouble if one of us so much as sneezes at them. I say spare the rod—”
    “Are there children in the house now?” Ted asked.
    “Well, no, not now. But Mr. G—is something wrong with Mr. G?”
    “Excuse us.” A.K. moved her aside and went through the door.
    While she stared in surprise, Ted and Liv slipped in after him.
    “You can’t just…” the housekeeper began.
    “How do you access the roof?”
    “Well, I—”
    A look from A.K. and she clamped down on the words. “Upstairs. There’s pull-down stairs on the third floor.”
    A.K. was already bounding up the wide staircase.
    “You can’t go—” The housekeeper hiked up her skirts as if she meant to run after him.
    Ted mumbled, “Sorry, Hildy, an emergency.” He ran past her to the stairs, Liv following.
    Liv took the wide staircase two steps at a time and quickly passed Ted, but when she reached the second floor, she could hear A.K. running overhead. She sprinted down the hall and hauled up the next flight to the third floor.
    She found A.K. pulling a folding stair down from the ceiling. He immediately began climbing toward a rectangular opening in the ceiling. As soon as he’d disappeared through the opening, Liv climbed after him. Ted stopped to catch his breath, then followed her.
    The stairs led right to the roof and Liv reached the top just as another spray of fireworks lit the night.
    A.K. had stopped a mere two