"You ready?" Sam asked, her eyes scanning the horizon.

"How did you get this spot?" Stan asked, looking around the small clearing covered by foilage and trees, "it's perfect to spy on that compound."

"I didn't get it," Sam sighed, "I found it...now would you please get over here and help me mark the chart for any routines and anomalies."

"Sure," Stan said, crouching next to Sam, "what have you gotten so far?"

"Here, read that," Sam said, setting up an equipment tripod, "the place is swarming with security. Looks like the added numbers are pretty recent."

"How would you know?" Stan asked. Sam stopped working and stared at him; the silence drew his attention, "What? It's a valid question."

"The newer security don't look bored," she said, continuing to work, "they are more alert and cautious."

"Which means what?" Stan asked.

"For some reason, there are a lot more people, but they are not to keep Cherry's parents in," Sam said, sighing, "they are there to keep anyone out. It'll make our getting Cherry's parents out a lot harder."

"Do you think they know we're coming?" Stan asked, frowning.

"I doubt it," Sam said, shaking her head, "something has them spooked. I doubt that it's us."

"What is this on the map?" Stan asked, pointing to an area to the right of the compound schematics.

Sam squinted at the area, "Don't know," she said quietly, "could be another way in ... or it could be a storage area. Why?"

"Look here," Stan said, dragging his finger along the map toward the compound layout, "I think it may be both. Reports say they never see the Tenderhook brothers come or go; they appear in the compound. What if this is the way they get in and out?""

"You think there is another way in," Sam said, nodding as a slow smile raised her lips, "I think you may be right. Let's see what else we can find out."

Lifting a heavy telescope, Sam placed it carefully on the tripod and locked it to the tripod. Stan stared as she began to focus on the compound below them in the valley.

"What are you going to do with that thing?" Stan asked, "count the hairs on their heads."

"If you want to, but that could be a waste of time," Sam said, panning across the compound in the direction Stan had pointed out. "You may be onto something," she said, moving out of the way and indicating Stan to look, "I see a structure near the woods on the far side. It looks as though it's outside the compound walls and definitely outside of its perimeter."

"There would be a dirt road that leads to the vicinity of the structure," Stan said, "it doesn't show on the map, but I'm betting that it's there."

"Perhaps we should take a look when we finish with our recon," Sam said, "if we get ourselves caught and they take us through there, perhaps we'll be able to get to the hostages and get them out."

"Get ourselves caught?" Stan asked, astonishment heavy on every word, "I don't like what I'm hearing."

"They may take us through the passageways," Sam said, "you know ... like a trogon horse type attack."

"We're not in something that they will happily take into their camp, Sam," Stan said, "if these people catch us, they will kill us without a thought ... on the spot."

"How do you know?" Sam asked, "I don't see any sign of that."

"No, they are not lining people up and executing them," Stan sighed, "but look who is employing them."

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"Syndication Corporation," Sam said, nodding as she realised his train of thought, "which means the Tenderhook brothers hired them ..." Sam sank to the ground. "Meaning there will be no hostage situations ..." she rubbed her hands over her face, "okay ... you have a point. We could get them to come out and follow them in."

"How do you mean?" Stan asked, glancing at Sam.

"We find that structure, see if it's viable and then make a disturbance," Sam said, "something that will require them to come out and see what it could be."

"Something that wouldn't cause them to be cautious, but they will need to ensure it's nothing serious," Stan said, nodding, "I see what you mean."

"Let's get all the info we can from this side and then make our way there," Sam said, "we may need to move at night."

"That is a given," Stan grinned, "we are a little conspicuous to be moving around on private property during the day. Unless that was your first plan ... get caught and executed."

"The part about being caught, perhaps, smarty pants, not the execution part," Sam quipped, grinning and shaking her head, "let's get to work."

The spacious room was decorated in soft creams and browns. It held an opulent lounge suite, a dining table and chairs that would rival any king and floor-to-ceiling windows with no curtains. The latter was to display the magnificent view around the compound.

"Why the increase in security, brother?" the youngest Tenderhook brother asked, "it's not like they have been able to get off the compound in the last few years."

"It's not to keep them in," his brother said, "it's to keep whoever is coming out."

"No one knows about this place," the younger said, "if they do, they don't even know how we get in or out or if we're here at all."

"Perhaps, but our cousins have not checked in, the checkpoint has been shut down, and the last communication told of Cherry arriving at the cabin," the elder said, turning from the window. "Someone will arrive when the photos of the parents surface. We are very close to getting what we want; we cannot give up now."

The younger nodded, "What is that exactly?"

Anger flared in the older man's eyes, "How many times must I tell you? You ask every time I update you on how close we are to our objective."

"I have to," said the younger man, "we have been doing something for years, but I've lost track of what we intended to do in the first place."

"Own the world," the elder said, "it's that simple."

"If it were," the younger smirked, "we wouldn't be sitting here at the moment trying to figure out how someone got so close to shutting us down."

"Don't get smart," the elder snarled, "I need to be violent to put people in their place."

"You've been doing that for years," the younger smiled, "it has worked. In fact, it's just drawn unnecessary attention to ourselves. Now, if you have allowed me to handle matters with a little more ... delicacy ... we wouldn't have so much attention ... or a stake of bodies and disappearances against our record."

"Bah," the elder flung his hand in the air, dismissing his brother's words, "all speculation and nothing that can be proven."

"According to the newspaper, someone has requested the graves of Cherry and her parents to be dug up. Yes, brother dear, they have been exhumed," the younger said, tossing the newspaper across its surface. "The discovery of no bodies or the wrong bodies will soon be found."

"Why now?" the elder hissed, picking up the newspaper and reading the article; he looked at his brother, "Carl."

The single word brought his brother from the chair, "It can't be. I know I blew up Carl's car himself when he got in years ago."

"Everything I'm seeing points to his style of doing things," the elder said, dumping the newspaper on the table, "he must have survived somehow."

The brothers looked at each other, their thoughts flickering across their expressions and in their eyes.

"Do you think ..." the younger began but shook his head.

"The girl ..." the elder said but also shook his head.

"It could be possible they both survived," the elder said, inhaling, "if that is so, Carl will have us at a disadvantage."

"Why?" the younger asked, frowning.

"We don't know what the girl looks like now," the elder sighed, "she would have grown up and would want revenge."

"No, she won't," the younger brother scoffed, "you have to realise she probably doesn't know who we are."

"If she has been hidden and trained by Carl," the elder snarled, "she will be on us in a heartbeat when she finds out who we are."

"Then we stop her," the younger said, "the net is tight over the complex. There is no way she can get in or out; besides, she is one woman."

"Right, and what could one woman do?" the elder brother scoffed.

The cold, calculated evil grins spreading over their lips drew a shudder from the security guard in the room. Glancing at his watch, he sighed. Another twenty minutes, and then he was off duty and away from their ruthless, arrogant men who paid his salary. A smile twitched at the thought of getting away from the compound, the wooden storage unit in the raven would help him to get out. He needed a bit of life and sound, along with the luxuries and pleasures of the city. Looking out the window, he noted the sinking sun. Twenty minutes of the Tenderhook madness, as everyone called it, and he would be free for another two days.