DeYoung had already gotten out of the car and was dragging the first box from the backseat as the door of the building opened and a man came out. It was impossible not to recognize the unusual white skin and pale blond hair.
Beside Alex, Lacey gasped. “Pendergraff!”
Alex threw her a surprised look. “You know him?”
She nodded, her gaze intent on the scene in front of them. “He’s Bensen’s head of security. Wendy and I found evidence of a dogfighting ring at one of Bensen’s other properties, so when you and I found all those dead dogs and the girl, I was sure Pendergraff was the one who’d done it. That’s why I snuck into that junkyard where you found me. I was hoping to find evidence I could turn over to Wendy so she could arrest Pendergraff and Bensen.”
Alex stared. All this time, he’d been so focused on Kelsey and everything that was going wrong between him and Lacey, he’d never once thought to delve into exactly why she’d snuck into Bensen’s place. More important, why the heck hadn’t the drug task force known about Bensen’s supposed involvement in dogfighting? Didn’t anybody in the DPD talk to each other?
He had about a million questions to ask Lacey, but he didn’t get a chance to ask a single one, because just then, the cardboard box DeYoung held ripped open, spilling plastic baggies all over the ground. Pendergraff cursed and shouted at him to pick them up.
“What is that stuff?” Lacey asked in a whisper.
“Fireball—and a lot of it. I’m guessing DeYoung makes the junk at McDonald’s research labs, then Bensen and his people distribute it.”
“Why would McDonald be involved in drugs?” Lacey asked. “He’s already rich.”
Alex snorted. “Yeah, well, in my experience, people with money always want more of it. He damn sure isn’t harvesting organs for free.”
Lacey chewed on her bottom lip. “Do you think Kelsey and the other girls are in that building?”
Alex studied the place, taking in the greasy smears around the roll-up doors, the old truck tires stacked along the side of the building, and the large number of motorcycles. It didn’t strike him as a good location to stash girls they were planning to harvest body parts from. They’d want to keep them someplace cleaner and closer to the city, not to mention near medical facilities like the kind McDonald owned. Still, it would be easy enough to find out.
“Stay here,” he told Lacey. “I’m going to sniff around. Don’t get out of the truck.”
Lacey opened her mouth to protest, but he didn’t give her a chance. He jumped out of the truck, then took off at a sprint, hitting the woods that encircled the big metal-sided building. He moved around the back, wanting to avoid running into DeYoung or Pendergraff.
It was dark as hell behind the building, but he didn’t have any problem seeing as he maneuvered among the truck parts and chain-link dog runs. The pit bulls and Rottweilers there barked when they saw him, but once they got a good sniff, they quickly calmed down.
“I’ll get you guys out of here too,” he told them. “Just sit tight.”
Alex worked his way over to a dirty window and peeked in. There were a few big trucks and a car inside, along with toolboxes, spare parts, and tables loaded with fireball and weapons. Twenty guys gathered around the tables, repackaging the drugs into smaller plastic bags.
There wasn’t any sign of Lacey’s sister or the other girls, and he definitely didn’t pick up Kelsey’s scent. He turned to head back to his truck when he heard Lacey calling out to him in a sound just above a whisper.
“Alex, if you can hear me, hurry up! DeYoung and Pendergraff are leaving.”
Shit.
Alex ran back to the truck and yanked the door open so fast that Lacey let out a gasp. She recovered quickly, though.
“Pendergraff came outside to talk to someone on his cell phone,” she said. “Whoever was on the line said something that got his attention, because he jumped in his car and took off. DeYoung was right behind him.”
Alex pulled out onto the road and floored it, wishing for once he had Gage’s Charger instead of a pickup truck. But he caught up with the green Honda just before it turned onto I-45 heading north. Alex tucked in a hundred yards behind him and slowed down.
“If DeYoung doesn’t lead us to the girls this time, I’m grabbing DeYoung—and he will talk,” Alex vowed.
* * *
Lacey’s heart thudded in her chest as she listened in on Alex’s phone call with Gage. He’d called his boss a few minutes after they got on I-45 to tell him about what they’d seen at the big metal building.
“They’ve got five huge boxes of fireball and probably some other drugs too, so tell narcotics to hurry up and get their asses over there before everything’s gone,” Alex said. “There are also about twenty men armed with automatic weapons, so make sure you guys watch your backs in there.”
Lacey grabbed Alex’s arm. “Tell him about the dogs.”
Alex nodded. “Gage, there are also fifteen dogs locked up in back of the building, so watch your crossfire. Anything coming out the rear of the place is likely to hit those dogs.”
After Alex hung up, they both sat there tensely as he followed both Pendergraff and DeYoung back into the city. Twenty minutes later, the men pulled into the parking lot of a research facility DeYoung had visited earlier. Alex pulled into the parking lot of an office building a few blocks down that gave them a good view of the research facility. He chuckled softly.
