Hold On! - Season 1 Read Online Free Page A

betray him. But why would she?
    Ultimately, he had to face a cold, hard truth about himself that made him extremely vulnerable.
    He was lonely.

Four
     
    Exile
     
    Brandon awoke with a start at 4:12 a.m. coated with perspiration . Every time he slipped into sleep, he awoke again, his mind preoccupied with his failure to get to Carringby Tower before the attack. Yet he’d acted precisely according to the information he had. It was the second time in a month he’d screwed up and it was weighing heavily on his mind.
    And then there was the matter of his guest in the next room. My God. What was I thinking?
    He leaped off the sofa and took a t-shirt and jeans that were resting on the back of the leather recliner. Quickly, he dressed himself.
    He slipped his sneakers on, made his way over to the corner of the living room, and stopped at a break in the carpet. At first glance it appeared to be nothing more than lackluster workmanship by the carpet installer. He knelt down and scurried around until he found a hook buried in the carpet bed. Pulling on it, he brought up a trap door leading to a wooden basement stairwell. Just underneath the doorframe he found the light switch and flipped it on. With one hand holding the trap door, he descended the steps and closed himself in.
    Arriving at the bottom, he looked around the well-insulated basement. There was a door to the outside in the far right hand corner, a boiler, and an electrical generator to his immediate left. A sizeable leather sack rested beneath the generator. He crouched down, unzipped it, and briefly checked a bulging collection of cash.
    Satisfied, he zipped it up again, and with considerable effort, hooked the strap across his shoulder. The one-hundred-pound weight of more than one-million dollars in old twenty-dollar bills, was taxing.
    He scaled the steps and pushed open the trap door with his back. With difficulty, he managed to rest the sack on the top step and gradually eased it onto the living room carpet. His breathing was labored, his toil enhanced by a gnawing sense of loss brought on by his own weakness and stupidity. Why did I bring her here?
    After climbing up, he pushed the sack farther into the living room. As he did so, the trap door slipped from his back and closed again with an almighty crash. His heart almost stopped with the fear it may have woken his guest.
    He headed for the front door with the sack and dropped it on the porch, exhaling with the relief of dead weight falling from him.
    He reached out and touched his fingers to the door handle of the test aircraft. The door instantly unlocked and rose upwards as the internal electronics display illuminated the porch.
    Leaning inside the craft, he touched a sensor and the seats folded forward with almost-silent motion. Once they were flattened forward, he pushed the sack across the porch and it slid into the back of the craft beside two sophisticated-looking chrome attaché cases. Satisfied everything was in place, he activated the seats again, and closed the door.
    The incredible spectacle of the snow canyon caught his attention, and a stab of sadness pierced his heart. The cabin was so perfect. It was isolated and safe. But now he was going to have to abandon it and brave the outside world where danger awaited him around every corner. It was as much as he could do not to weep. Why did I have to be so stupid? If only I hadn’t brought her back.
    The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end with the eerie sense that someone was behind him. He turned with a start to see Belinda standing in the living room wearing one of his t-shirts that ended at her knees. Even slightly hung-over and having just awoken in the middle of the night, her appeal hadn’t faded. He gazed upon her flowing, soft auburn hair, fulsome lips, and soulful brown eyes. Her lightly tanned skin had a flawless complexion, and he couldn’t deny how captivating he found her.
    “Hi,” she said.
    “I thought you were asleep. How