"Then that's where we're going."
68
Carter
Carter's anger at his family competed with the nagging worry about Allie. He tried calling her again.
When he returned to the city later that afternoon, he went back to the penthouse and began to pack.
"That's it," he told Margot. "We're leaving." He typed out his resignation letter and attached it to an email to Grant. He would send it after he was far away.
But he didn't know where to go exactly. Should he reenlist? Find a job as a security guard somewhere?
What about Allie? He checked his phone again. Still nothing. He texted Liz. She wrote back immediately.
I haven't heard from her in a few hours
I think she was at her apartment doing some work
Carter tried to calm the worry in his gut. She was just absorbed with her projects. Maybe he shouldn't even go see her if she couldn't even bother to respond to him. But what if something had happened?
Carter picked up the dog and his backpack. Margot whined and wriggled in his arms, and Carter wondered if it was an omen.
"You're paranoid," he told himself, walking to the subway. As he stood on the platform for the train that would take him in the opposite direction of Allie's apartment, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he needed to at least go see her before he left.
"Fine," he huffed as he hiked up the stairs and back down on the other side to the opposite platform. "I'll go see her."
As he stood outside of Allie's apartment, he buzzed her unit. No one answered, so he waited until someone was leaving and snuck inside.
"She's just ignoring you," he told himself as he climbed up the stairs.
He realized how wrong he was when he arrived in front of her apartment. The door was swinging free, and the locks were broken. Carter set Margot and his bag down as quietly as he could and pulled out a knife. Margot started growling, and Carter made a motion to silence her. Then he eased the door open.
No one was there.
The apartment was in disarray. Her phone lay cracked on the floor, displaying flickering images of all the messages he had sent her. The small table and chairs were tipped over, and her laptop lay cracked on the floor next to the dented wall. Carter righted the table as Margot sniffed around. He carefully picked up the laptop and tapped the keys. Part of the screen was broken, but he could still read the login screen that came up. He knew Allie's password, and he typed it in, and the documents she had been looking at before the laptop was smashed came up.
"Holy shit," Carter muttered as he read through the notes she had made. "Trent killed the worker in the Halcion Drone factory?" He continued scanning and saw Bryce's name.
"That's the guy! That's her ex that Stacy said Allie was back together with!" he exclaimed. As he read on, Carter realized Allie thought Bryce was somehow involved in the murder too.
"This is insane," Carter muttered. He looked around the apartment. Someone must have found out that Allie was onto them.
Where was she?
"Stacy," Carter muttered. "She seems to know an awful lot about what's going on." He grabbed the laptop and Allie's phone and put them in his bag. Then he whistled for Margot and headed for his grandfather's apartment.
"Good evening, Mr. Holbrook," the doorman said as he let Carter into the building. "Shall I call your grandfather? He's out at the moment."
"No, thanks. I'm just picking up a shirt for him. He said you wouldn't mind letting me in," Carter lied.
"Of course," the doorman said. Carter tipped the man after he let him into the apartment.
The lights were out, and Carter prayed he was alone. Not sure where to look or what he was even looking for, he headed to the master bedroom. The French doors out to the balcony were open, letting in a slight breeze. In the waning light from the open doors, Carter started pawing through Stacy's things. Her drawers and closet were as messy and disorganized as she was, but stuck in with her collection of skimpy lingerie, he found a flash drive.
Margot whined, and Carter heard the door open and Stacy's voice.
Oh no.He grabbed the dog and hid in the master bedroom closet.
