The Dante Conspiracy by Tom Kasey

suppressors greatly increased the overall size and bulk of
the weapons, making them clumsy to manoeuvre, but the ability to fire them without
immediately alerting everybody in the neighbourhood was far more important a consideration.
They each knew that their magazines were fully loaded, not only because they’d prepared
the weapons themselves, but also simply by the feel of the pistols, fully-loaded
magazine greatly increasing the overall weight. Working purely by feel, each man
pulled back on the slide of his weapon to chamber a round and then set the safety
catch. Gentle pressure with the thumb would release the safety catch and the weapon
could then be fired immediately.
    They both hoped that they wouldn’t need to use the pistols, but
they had no idea who or what might be waiting for them inside the property, and
they weren’t prepared to take the risk that the occupants might be armed without
being able to shoot back.
    They tucked their weapons out of sight, again checked that nobody
was visible on the street, then walked slowly and cautiously
down the right-hand side of the street towards their objective, the unlit bulk of
the old house beginning to loom above them. When they reached the property, they
made a final check of the street and then, completely soundlessly, walked down the
alley. While Bruno stood with his back to the wall of the courtyard, his hand resting
on the butt of his pistol, ready to react immediately should anybody approach, Arrigo
pulled a crowbar out of a long pocket sewn into the right-hand leg of his jeans.
He inserted the point of the tool between the old door and the frame and gave a
single firm push. There was a sharp crack as the wood splintered and gave way, and
then the door swung open.
    Seconds later, both men stepped into the courtyard, pushed the
door firmly closed behind them, and crossed over to the side door of the house.
    This was obviously old and solid, but unlike the door which had
given access to the small courtyard, the lock was new, and that was good news because
modern lock-picking tools are designed to pick modern locks. Sometimes, getting
the tumblers to turn in a lock dating back a century or two, using a modern twirl
or L-wrench could be extremely difficult. In fact, this door was secured only by
a Yale-type lock, the easiest of all to get through, and which surrendered in a
matter of moments to a lock pick gun wielded by Arrigo. Getting to the other side
of locked doors was one of his specialities.
    Almost immediately, the door swung open with the faintest of
creaks from the hinges.
    ‘So far, so good. Let’s hope our man
is right, and the place is deserted,’ Arrigo muttered.
    ‘We’ll find out soon enough, I guess,’ Bruno replied, and led
the way into the musty and echoing darkness which lay beyond the door.
    Both men were carrying small but powerful torches in their pockets,
the size of the lenses reduced to little more than a pinhole by the application
of layers of insulating tape to reduce the amount of light that they would emit.
But before they turned them on, both men stood for a few moments just inside the
room, the door closed and locked behind them, listening for any sounds that would
indicate the presence of somebody inside the building. They also glanced all around
them to see if any light was entering the room from the outside, which could mean
it would be too risky for them to use their torches at all. They saw and heard nothing,
and after a few moments Bruno clicked on his torch, but kept the beam pointing straight
downwards, towards the floor.
    The dim light revealed that they were standing in an old-fashioned
kitchen, which was not entirely a surprise in a house of that age, and confirmed
that although the room had two windows, heavy curtains were draped over both, meaning
there was no danger of the torchlight being seen outside the house.
    There was an odd odour about the place, but not an unpleasant
smell. In fact, it reminded Bruno of a