I closed my eyes, and the talking went on. Opening my lids, I focused on calming my breathing so I’d be able to hear better. The lights were on, and thankfully, I was still in the shadows, which was an added advantage. The lights seemed to be placed under the beam I was on.
“What do you mean you came up with nothing? Our warehouse was broken into. The electricity just happened to be tampered with, and we have no footage?”
“Sir, we’ve swept the area. Whoever it was, is long gone. Nothing seems to be out of place. It’s probably some local kids messing around.”
The first speaker let out a growl, and I felt the sound vibrating through my body. “This kind of shit doesn’t just happen!”
It scared me, made me feel like giving up, shouting surrender.
I slowly turned onto my stomach. There was no better time than this. The second speaker was muttering his apologies, assuring Speaker One that this would never happen again. When I was fully turned, I placed my forehead against the wood, hoping my movement wouldn’t cause it to creak. I thanked my time in the hospital for the weight I’d lost there.
Taking a chance, I peeked out of the side of the wooden beam. A few heads were below and two in the middle of the warehouse. There seemed to be a secured area on one end, which I figured was the back of the warehouse. Plastic sheeting hung from beams and made the rest of the warehouse look like those creepy horror movie scenes.
I recognized the voice of the man pacing to be Speaker One. Speaker Two seemed sheepish and stood still, casting glances at the guards who most likely reported to him. I couldn’t see their faces, just the top of their heads. The two speakers had brown hair, which glistened in the light. The others were a mixture of browns, blonds, and bald guys, and there were several of them guarding the parameter.
“We have a professional on our hands, gentlemen, so security will need to be increased. I cannot afford to have these mishaps. Who was on duty today?” Speaker One asked. I could feel the tension in the room even from up here.
“I was.” One of the bald guys stepped forward.
“Do you understand what is at stake here?” Speaker One asked the man.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t gone for more than fifteen minutes. Sir—” Before he could finish his sentence, a shot rang through the warehouse, so loud I had to cover my ears. I saw the man who’d stepped forward slump back, and I felt dizzy.Had he seriously just shot a man in cold blood?
“And that, gentleman, should be a lesson for anyone else who dares mess up again. The boss doesn’t want mistakes.”
The room was in a bustle after he left. Two men ran forward to check on the man who I had no doubt was already dead. They carried him away, disappearing into a room—a trail of red moving with the body. I placed my hand on my mouth to mute the gasp that fell from it.
Speaker Two just stood where he was, and I watched as he sunk to the ground when he was alone. It was just him and his god doing penance for his mistakes. I watched him, and a smile spread across my face.
He would be the one to get to.
ChapterThirty-Six
Luke
Approaching my abandoned vehicle, I opened it with the spare keys. As I rummaged through her bag, I noticed everything seemed intact. It appeared to be about the same size as when we brought it from her house. However, her knapsack was gone, and I sighed.
Getting in, I started my SUV and drove to the next gas station to fill up. Then I drove out a few miles, parked it on the roadside, and got under the car. With little effort, I located the tracking device, removed it, and tossed it into the overgrown grass. I hopped in, driving straight back to the shopping center where I found it. Then turning into the industrial area instead of the parking lot, I drove around. There was nothing odd about it—a typical industrial district with factory warehouses and several abandoned ones which took up most of the area.
Parked in an alley next to one of the warehouses, I slammed my palms against the steering wheel. I was on a wild-goose chase. How on earth would I know where she was? Leaning against the headrest, a heaviness filled my chest. This was stupid. I’d been on the road for hours. I needed to rest.
Closing my eyes, I let myself drift off.
For the last hour, I’ve sat, watching the warehouse up the road from where I was parked. I couldn’t understand it, but I felt like I should be there. Several trucks were driving in and out of the area. Most had their company logos on the side, but that was nothing out of the ordinary for an industrial area. Some factories were further down, the smog from the chimneys filling the air. I tried to pay attention to the busier ones, but my eyes kept wandering to the abandoned one next to it. There hadn’t been any visible activity, but call it instinct, I knew I had to have a closer look.
Climbing out of my car, I was glad the rain from earlier had tampered down to a drizzle. I zipped up my jacket and pulled up my hood, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, making my way down the road, nodding to passers-by. The air was chilly, and most of the guys seemed uninterested in lifting their heads, preferring to remain huddled in their coats and scarves. Thankfully, I blended in.
Some of the men carried greasy lunch packets, which made my stomach growl. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. I guess that was the last thing on my mind since I arrived.
Not wanting to be pestered by my brother, I’d switched off my phone.
Approaching the abandoned warehouse, the first thing I noticed was the lock on the ground. I made my way closer, checking nobody was following me.
I kicked the lock out of sight and entered the building. It was dark and smelled musty like the rain had gotten in and soaked everything. The light of day made it easy to navigate the place along with the fact that it was mostly empty. There were a few discarded pieces of machinery, most likely out of operation. I made my way up an iron staircase. The top floor was much the same as the bottom, empty and dusty, and some of the windows were cracked. As a whole, the place gave me a strange feeling.
I was about to make my way downstairs when I caught sight of something in my peripheral vision, a bag and a bundle. For a second, I wondered if it was a vagrant huddled in the corner, but closer inspection ruled that out. I approached the bundle cautiously and stopped midstride. There lay my blanket. The one Alyssa had wrapped herself in the night I helped her escape. I rummaged through the bag, and there was no doubt it was hers. But where the hell was she?
“Alyssa,” I whispered into the semi-darkened space to be met with nothing. Sitting back against the wall, I sighed.Where could she have gone?
