“We need to check out the estate we passed last. It belongs to the Castain family, and my hunch says we’re going to find something there. As you know, I can’t back my hunches up by anything solid, which means we have to sneak in there, see what we find, and then call the cavalry.”
“You say you can’t back up your hunch, but you seem awfully convinced we’re going to find something that’ll require calling our forces. What is it, Andi? You either know or you don’t.”
George was getting more aggressive by the minute, and if Andi hadn’t seen the frustration about the entire situation shining in his eyes, he would have simply knocked him out, sneaked onto the property, checked it out, and then called it in. As things were, he felt weirdly obligated to placate his partner, and not just because George had made him tea this very morning. This partnership thing was quickly spiraling out of control, and Andi vowed then and there to end it as soon as they busted that trafficking ring.
“Listen to me, George. I know partly what we’re going to find in there. And believe me, it’s not pretty. But I need visuals before I can call it in because I have to come up with a plausible reason why I want the private estate of a long-established family raided. It’s going to be hard enough to explain what we were doing out here, so far from any leads we’ve gotten until now. So please, work with me on this. We need to get onto the property, check out the house, and then act. Please.”
George’s shoulders tensed and Andi feared he had lost him. The grim set of his lips wasn’t promising either. “Just so we’re clear. You want me to follow you onto private property claiming you know we’re going to find something there and then fabricate a reason why we were on said property to begin with so we can work with whatever it is you’re so sure we’re going to get.”
“Yes.” There wasn’t more to say.
“You want me to risk my entire career based on something you can tell me nothing about.”
Andi closed his eyes, frustrated. “Yes. Look, if you don’t want to do this, fine. I understand. I can see how your precious career is more important to you than solving the case and rescuing potential victims. I know your type, I’ve seen how you operate, and I’m willing to give you a way out, a chance to have plausible deniability. You can turn around right now, drive back to Charleston where we can split up, you go interviewing some more pimps while I take my own car out here and do what I always do.” Andi knew he sounded more aggressive than strictly necessary, but the night he just had was taking its toll on him, leaving his nerves in thin threads easily snapped and his temper building up unchecked. He never wanted a partner to begin with, and no matter how nice George had been the past days, this,thishere was exactly why having a partner was the worst idea possible for him.
George was grinding his teeth so hard Andi could hear the molars clicking. “Yes, my career is precious to me, Mr. Self-Righteous. There are people in this world who aspire to more than just simple detective, and I’m not ashamed of my ambition. I’m also not willing to risk everything I’ve worked so hard for because a man I’ve known for a week claims to have some special insights he can’t explain.” He sighed, slamming his palm against the steering wheel. “I’m also not going to let mytemporarypartner walk into a potentially dangerous situation without backup. Which leaves us at an impasse. You can’t or don’t want to tell me more about what is going on and how you know about it, and I’m not going in blind. Not this time. Not when you’re so unsure yourself. Give me something to work with.”
Andi felt his mental hackles rise. He hated being pressured; he abhorred being blackmailed. George was doing both, adding to the stress of the situation, forcing his hand. George was also right in one point—going in there alone was a bad, bad idea. “I’m sorry about what I said about your career aspirations. That was a low blow.” Andi wasn’t sure if he really meant it, but he needed to mend some fences and an apology was a good way of doing it. George’s features softened a bit, so it might have helped.
“Apology accepted. I’m sorry for implying you don’t have enough ambition. Not everybody is wired the same, and you’re obviously doing great work where you are.”
Andi felt the tension in his own body lessening a smidgeon. “Accepted. As for what I think we’re going to find—I hope it’s not as bad as the vans, but I fear it’s in the same vein.”
He was being evasive as fuck and he knew it. Judging from the way George’s hands were gripping the wheel, he knew it as well. “How sure are you?”
Andi closed his eyes. “On a scale from one to ten, a solid eight. Time is… difficult for me.”
George murmured something Andi was glad he couldn’t understand, otherwise he would have surely started another argument. Aloud his partner said, “If we get caught, I’m going to blame it all on you.”
“Only fair.” Andi wasn’t too worried about that. He was used to taking the blame. Had been since he was a child and his father led everything that went wrong in his life back to Andi being an abomination.
George sighed; then he put the car into gear again, turned the blinker on, and drove back onto the street with his face set into a determined mask. “We’ll need to find a place to hide the car. Just parking next to the street is probably not the best idea, even if there doesn’t seem to be too much traffic here.”
Andi felt part of the tension in his body draining. They were far from being happy, functioning partners, but at least the current crisis seemed to be averted, or at least shelved for another time. He drew up a map of the area on his cell in search for a place where they could leave the car. There was a small rest area close by, from where several hiking paths started. It was ideal because nobody would suspect an empty car parking there and they could use one of the paths to get closer to the estate.
Once they had parked the car, they started off in the direction of their destination. The path they followed led them through a small forest of oak trees teeming with insect life. Andi had a harder time than usual shutting the images out, and he stumbled several times. By the fifth time, when he almost fell over a pretty visible root protruding from the ground, George, who had followed him, mumbled something about idiots with their heads in the clouds before he stepped next to him and took his arm to steady him. A wave of gratitude washed over Andi, followed by annoyance about needing help at all, and if that weren’t enough, he also felt torn about his decision to not tell George about hisgeschenk.
This emotional roller coaster had to end, the sooner the better. He was getting so far off his center, it wasn’t funny anymore, especially not when he had other things to focus on—like ignoring the fact that there was a deer carcass only a few feet to their right, hidden in the underbrush and chewed on by countless maggots and other scavenger insects. Andi hoped the wind wouldn’t blow in their direction before they had left it far behind. With George’s help, Andi managed to get to the fence surrounding the estate without planting face-first into the soft ground smelling of wet earth and the beginning of a new cycle.
The fence wasn’t too impressive, not designed to seriously keep people out. It was more like a statement, a warning to not trespass. Andi and George ignored that implied warning and climbed the six-foot chain link fence with ease. Luckily, the estate had lots of big old trees growing on the premises, which offered them perfect cover. Once they had the main building in their sight, they slowed down even more. A hedge surrounding the kitchen garden offered the ideal place to watch while not being seen.
“Why are we doing this in broad daylight?” George demanded to know in hushed tones. “This would be a lot easier if it were dark.”
“I know. I’d prefer darkness as well, but I don’t know how long my hunch is going to be valid, and I don’t want to risk the lead getting cold,” Andi whispered back.
“If we’re caught, I hope you have a good explanation as to why we’re here. Chief Norris is going to blow a gasket if she has to bail us out.”
“That would be a bonus, in my opinion.” Andi couldn’t stop the words from coming out. So far, his new chief hadn’t done anything to endear her to him. As far as he was concerned, she could leave and never come back.
“You do realize her successor might be even worse?” George seemed to be reading Andi’s mind.
“Or he or she could be indifferent enough to just leave me alone. We’ll never know because we won’t be caught. Now shut up. I need to concentrate.” Andi got his binoculars from the back pocket of his jeans. They weren’t high quality, but perfect for staking out from so close. Unfortunately, all he could see from their point behind the hedge was a part of the west wing, which seemed to be empty, if the linen thrown over the furniture was any indication.
Just dust and millions of mites, living in the linen, the upholstery, everywhere, this place their own exclusively, nobody there to disturb them, to hinder their explosive reproduction.
“Let’s move to that shed over there.” Andi pointed to his right, where a small wooden structure was huddled between two oak trees that looked a bit younger than the ones at the outer reaches of the estate. They hurried over and found the rickety door open, which allowed them to slip into the small space that was filled with old garden tools and cobwebs. It didn’t give the impression of being used frequently, an assumption the spiders living there confirmed. They were less than happy about the two intruders. Andi didn’t have time to be impressed by their anger. At the other end of the shed, partly obscured by an old wheelbarrow that was missing the wheel, was a window with a perfect view of the main entrance and the inside of the house. Andi went over there, rubbed at the glass with the hem of his jacket to get some of the dust off, and used the binoculars to look into the house. There was no movement.
Everything was still, anticipation heavy in the air, feasts down in the earth, where it was cool and dank and moldy, the blobs stirring slowly, like termites awakening in the morning after a cold night, sluggish, the scent of drugs wafting around, blood, just hints, but promising, memories of feasts gone by, of bodily fluids everywhere, pheromones clogging everything, fear and hunger and despair and anger and sexual satisfaction. Pain.
