“Good thinking. Let’s get out of here.”
“Hang on, let me just make sure he isn’t in the middle of a batch. I don’t want this warehouse to go up in a ball of flames, and I want to inventory how much product we have. I might need to speak to our suppliers to get more if he’s been skimming them for the Maricusos.”
Sage has a little crease of worry between his brows as he looks at the storage area. I know he’s feeling guilty about Anthony, since he was the one who recommended him, but he isn’t to blame. He had well and truly been played.
“Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out. I’m sure we can find ourselves another chemist.” I try to reassure him, but I don’t think it helps.
“Maybe I should just go back to it full time,” he suggests, and I start to vibrate with anger again. Fucking Gio. If he was pulling his weight, Sage wouldn’t be split in two, helping manage all the slack.
“Don’t stress about it. You stay here and set things right, and I’ll come back once I’ve done my reconnaissance. We don’t need two of us for surveillance,” I tell him before grabbing the keys out of his hands. “I’ll see you soon.” I wave goodbye and hurry out before he can argue.
There are only two cars in the parking lot, and one of them is the one we saw arrive, so I logically assume the other is Anthony’s. It’s such an old clunker, I need to use the key to actually open the door, but before long, I’m using google maps to direct me where to go, excited at being that much closer to dealing with Lorenzo. If the victims are at the warehouse, I just have to figure out how to get him there when it’s raided, but that’s a problem for future Tori.
Chapter Nineteen
The drive past the warehouse is uneventful. Unlike ours, it has a fence around it, and I saw guards and dogs patrolling the perimeter, which is going to make it tricky to break into tonight but not impossible. I make some calls and arrange to have everything I need delivered to the house in Banebridge, since that’s where we will be leaving from. Sedatives for the guards and dogs are the easiest way to get past them both, and some det cord for any locked doors we come across, although I don’t really want to make it noticeable that the place has been breached. I couldn’t tell what kind of locks the door had, so that’s just in case, but I’ll take my lock picks.
I’m not computer savvy enough to hack an electronic lock, hence the det cord. A window is an option, but the only ones I could see were up high. Scaling the building will take more time than I want it to, and the fire escape wasn’t close to any of them, unless there is an entrance on the roof. I plan on checking that out by using the fire escape first. Lots of people get lazy and forget to guard the roof entrance because it’s harder to get up there. That’s going to be my first option. I’ll rework the plan if it turns out to be a dead end.
On my drive back to pick up Sage, I get a message from Vienna.
Vienna:Can you come pick us up? Gio and Casey left for their appointment, and we don’t have any way of getting home.
I look at the time on my phone and realize it’s already a lot later than I thought it was. I guess I won’t be able to change before we pick them up, but the black hides everything if they don’t look too closely. We’ve both completely missed lunch, and I bet Sage is starting to get hangry. We’re going to have a late night, so it wouldn’t hurt to go home early and maybe nap after we have some food.
Tori:Sure. Give us half an hour, and we will be there.
My phone pings again, and when I look down, the screen is covered in hearts.
I feel warmth flow over me and wriggle uncomfortably. This POS of Anthony’s certainly has uncomfortable seats.
Sage is waiting for me when I return. The other car has been removed from the parking lot, and he holds out his hands for the keys then puts them in a flowerpot next to the door.
“The cleanup crew will be back to dump this car later. They are going to stage it like we suggested, and they are going to put the other guy’s body in the trunk to make it look like Anthony betrayed them and died when he was on his way to dump the body,” he tells me as we make our way back to our limo. Our driver remained parked out of the way, but he starts the vehicle when he sees us coming.
“Hopefully they don’t notice he hasn’t returned for a few days,” I murmur, but I have a feeling he was important if he was being sent to lean on Anthony. They wouldn’t trust a low-level man for an important job like that.
Sage’s stomach rumbles loudly, and I chuckle before giving the driver instructions to head to the college to pick up the others.
“But I’m hungry,” Sage whines dramatically.
I pull open one of the little storage areas, and along with a couple of spare guns and ammo, I have a few candy bars for this exact reason. I hand one over to my boyfriend, who snatches it before tearing it open and stuffing it into his mouth. His eyes roll in his head as he moans his enjoyment.
“So fucking good,” he says around a mouthful of chocolate.
“Hmm, sexy,” I deadpan.
He happily munches for a while before asking, “So why are we going to the college?” He raises an eyebrow knowingly.
“Because Vienna messaged me, and Gio left them in the lurch. I guess he only arranged for a car for him and Casey and forgot about the others.”
Sage tuts. “Typical. So gallant Tori is riding to the rescue of the damsels in distress? You could have just sent a car for them as well.”
I shrug. “I figured we could use an early knock off if we’re going to be partaking in nighttime activities, and since we’re heading home, we might as well give them a ride,” I tell him, and he waggles his eyebrows.
“Tell me more about these nighttime activities.”
I roll my eyes. “A little B and E, you perv.”
