“I’m not supposed to go in.”He wavers as if he wants to.If it were my family, I’d be charging in, instructions be damned.
The phone in his hand buzzes, and he jolts like he’s been electrocuted.
“Is that him?”I can guess who’s texting.
“Yeah.I’m supposed to take your phone,” Ted mumbles but keeps his hands at his sides.His head hangs, and I feel a stab of pity.He’s trapped in a nightmare I understand all too well.
“Take it.”I offer it to him.Rex will be tracking it.I turn to face Ted fully.Even if BK is watching, he won’t be able to see or hear me murmur.“As soon as I’m in, call for help.”
He looks up, a dash of hope breaking his fearful expression.“But—he said?—”
“If he’s watching, he’ll know you followed instructions.I’ll get him to let your family go.He wants me.”I press my phone into his unwilling hand.He almost drops it.“But I’ll need help getting them out safely.So call for help.”
“All right.”
I don’t know if Ted can pull himself together long enough to be useful, but it’s worth a shot.
I turn from him and square my shoulders.The real challenge will be getting BK to give me a chance to talk to him before he does what he did at the last warehouse and detonates a bomb to send us to our deaths.
This is the end game.Chances are, my vision is real, and I’m going to die.
But if I can save this family before I go, it will be worth it.
The steps I take toward the warehouse are the longest of my life.I get deja vu from the last time I entered a warehouse, but this time is worse because what Rex told me last night is playing on repeat in my head.
I’ve been waiting for you all my life.You are everything to me.
I’m sorry, Rex.I draw my gun and push the door open, and it swings out of my way with a creaking whine.
I step in to face my fate.
21
This warehouse is smaller.Older.
The first thing I do is kick something.It goes skittering across the floor, rolling into a patch of light.A flashlight.
Did BK leave it for me?I clear the area and keep my head up when I crouch to pick the flashlight up.I deliberate for a moment.Should I keep it off and try to sneak around in here, or use it even though it leaves me without a free hand?
In the end, I flick it on and blink to adjust my eyes to its full brightness.I swing the beam in a circle, feeling braver.Normally, I’d use the flashlight on my phone, but BK made me surrender it.
The beam illuminates the far brick walls, stained black with soot.There are a few scattered feathers on the concrete floor.
I pace onwards, scanning for any movement with my gun at ready.If I’m going to die, I’ll take BK with me.
But I can’t kill BK without saving the family first.
I find them in the middle of the warehouse.Their bodies are lying in a circle, tied together.A brunette woman and two school-age children.Beyond them, a lanky, balding man is stretched out.I can’t see clearly, but he looks a lot like Ted.Must be his brother.
I shine the light on each face, but no one moves.My breath shorts out, but I push down my panic and focus on the mother.She’s alive.I let the light linger on the rise and fall of her chest long enough to make sure.She’s breathing.They all are.They’re not dead, only unconscious.
The family is surrounded by barbed wire.And worse, there are small cardboard boxes with wires spiraling out of them, duct-taped together and placed inside the barbed wire barrier near the family.These have to be explosive devices.
I approach slowly but keep my distance.The family is right there, and I can’t even touch them.Can’t shake them awake or drag them out to save them from their doom.
BK knew I would come to save them.He made it so I couldn’t do it.
It’s so evil that it takes my breath away.How many families has he terrorized?
