By Joshua Ryan

Chapter 24: Room at the Top

Each of them took an arm and moved me out of the building.  At the end of the little street there was a stone wall with a barred gate, big enough for a truck.  Next to it was a little barred gate, big enough for slappies on foot.  They had the key to that gate, of course.

The gate led to another world.  Ahead was a gracefully curving drive lined with dark old trees, and a pathway bordered by tropical flowers and bushes.  Beyond, a great sweep of lawn and a cream-colored mansion spreading lazily across a hill.  When I turned my head, I could barely see the wall behind me.  It was almost invisible behind the lush flowering plants.  “Eyes front!” I was told.

I saw wide glass doors from the house onto a terrace–but I wasn’t going toward the terrace.  I was turning off onto a narrow trail that led through the bushes to a set of bare concrete steps going down to a basement.  There was a blank steel door at the bottom, and my guards had a key to that too.

Continue reading Island Paradise – Part 1: Chapter 24 →