Alright.Plan B.He needed cover to figure out a plan B.Even the half-wall was just metal railing and nothing more.The line of offices along the back of the hangar’s bay might offer a temporary safe haven, but who knew if they were occupied.Still, sitting here wasn’t an option either.
Weapon, phone.Weapon, phone.Ross wasn’t actually sure which he’d prefer.Phone, really.He eyed the hangar bay suspiciously, but saw no one, heard nothing.Where had henchman and Man-Shik even gotten off to?
Ross absolutely couldn’t sit out here in the open like this while he figured out what to do.He didn’t want to blindly run outside and stumble across Man-Shik and his wand.It just seemed like a poor life decision.He had no defense against it.Calling for help seemed like a much better way to go.Those offices might contain a phone and at this point, it seemed his best bet.
Alright, make or break.He’d run for that first office door.Ross gathered up his courage, sucked in a breath, and bolted.Fifteen steps felt like five hundred, and Ross was sure he’d be caught at any second, but he made it to the other door just fine.
To find it locked.
Soundly cursing his luck, he promptly ran for the next door.Also locked.Shit, seriously, if it wasn’t for bad luck, he’d have none at all.
Ross bolted for the next one, the last in the line, and finally, a door wasn’t locked.He slammed through it, shutting it immediately behind him, and turned to put his back to it.Nothing in here but filing cabinets, it looked like.Junk, boxes of crap, a desk to one side.Ross frantically started going through things, the handcuffs hampering him.No sign of a phone, although he saw a phone jack in the wall, so theoretically this place had landline services.
Assuming he could find a fucking phone to plugin.
He started going through drawers, growing more and more frantic when only paper and junk met his eyes.Come on, something, anything—wait, there.That was an old office phone.Completely antiquated by today’s standards, but if it worked—oh please let it work.He yanked it free of the drawer, along with one of the cords, and plugged it in.
Like most modern children, Ross could remember maybe a handful of phone numbers, including his own and his parents’ house.But fortunately for all, he had Glenn’s memorized because he’d had to write it over and over for all the forms he filled out on the man’s behalf.It was one of the few he knew.He held the receiver to his ear and could have wept when a dial tone sounded.Holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder, he used a finger to punch in the number.
Then it rang.
And rang.
Dammit, Glenn, answer the phone.Wouldn’t it be just his luck that he reached a phone and the one man he wanted to talk to ignored the call because he was too busy looking for Ross?
It answered abruptly, “I can’t talk now—”
“Glenn.”
“Ross!”Relief, panic, and desperation were obvious in his tone.“Where are you?”
“Man-Shik grabbed me.I’m not sure where I’m at, they had me in the back of a van.Listen, it was like a twenty-minute ride.I’m in some sort of hangar bay?It’s new, too.I’m hiding out in the back of the building with a phone, but I’m not sure how to get out.I was going to make for the van they brought me in but they’ve moved it and I’ve got no weapons—”
“Do not move.Not if you’re safe at the moment.Keane’s been working on a tracking spell but it’s been causing him trouble, something to do with magical interference.Keane!Man-Shik has him!”
Ross vaguely heard a slew of Australian slang mixed in with profanities.“Does that mean he can adjust his spell and find me now?”
“No.Man-Shik put up a ward of some sort.He’s blocking any seeking spells.Hold on, Keane thinks—oh, yes.Do it.Can I still talk with him?Good, work your magic.Ross, Keane’s tracing this phone call magically and giving me a location.It’s apparently a direct enough connection that it’s circumventing Man-Shik’s wards.”
“Oh.Yeah, I tricked the wards into believing I’m a friend.That might be part of it, too.”
Glenn’s huff of laughter sounded strained.“Of course you did.Ever resourceful, my Ross.”
“You got my location yet?”
“Yes.” The sound quality changed, as if he were on a car’s Bluetooth.“Keane has a fix on you.We’re driving now, perhaps fifteen minutes out.Sit tight, please.Half the clan is with me.”
The battle-ready half.“I don’t know if there’s much of a fight here.I’ve literally seen only one henchman and Man-Shik.”
“If he’s operating like he has in the past, he’ll have a ring of defense around the building.Which is why I want you to stay where you are.There’s no escape going outside right now.”
“Shit.Okay.”And now Ross felt like a sitting duck.Perfect.Although that did explain why the building was so empty.“Wait, doesn’t that mean you’re driving right into an ambush?”
“Unlike the last time I did this, I have a few tricks up my sleeve.And no compunction about using all of them.Has he hurt you?”
“No.I’m bait for you.”
“Quite effective bait,” Glenn replied, a feral snarl to the words.“Nothing will stop me from coming for you.”
