Picking through everything in the bag one by one solved nothing. I dusted out the blanket, and something fell out of it. Throwing aside the blanket, I picked up a scrunched ball of paper. On it was an address. For a second, I thought it might be to this building. The street name was the same. Glancing out of the window, I noticed the warehouses had large numbers either on the side or front, and this one matched the one across from me.
“Please tell me you haven’t gone in there alone?” I whispered to myself, but I knew the answer. If she was here, it meant this had something to do with Gracie’s kidnapping. She would risk herself for no other reason. I just had to wait until nightfall. Then I would find a way to get in there.
It didn’t look very guarded from the outside. Could Gregory have been keeping Gracie in a place like this, and if so, the question was why?
I sat down, grasping the paper in my hands.
I would have to find out.
ChapterThirty-Seven
Alyssa
The lights were dim, but I’d noticed the tinted windows when staking out this place, so I knew nobody could see inside.
There were three guards, one at each entrance and one at the front of the secured area. I could make out Speaker Two from yesterday. The other two guards walked around a lot, checking doors and windows. They smoked and went out every hour, leaving Speaker Two in charge of the warehouse. Whatever was being secured wasn’t valuable to them because they sure didn’t guard it like that. They took a lunch break and sat at a table in one corner, laughing and speaking in hushed voices.
Speaker Two seemed to be more disciplined as he barely left his post.
I’d dozed in and out of sleep when everyone disappeared last night, leaving these three guards in charge. Fortunately for me, they all slept loudly too, which was why I’d risked climbing down and using the toilet on the upper level. Knowing the cameras were disabled helped, but it also freaked me out because I didn’t have that kind of expertise as much as I’d like to take the credit.
The fact they were clueless about my presence gave me some hope. They didn’t so much as budge when I’d climbed back up to my post after using the bathroom. None of them had entered the secured area before but were now carrying a few boxes toward the door. One punched in a code, and they disappeared inside. At that moment, I heard it.Screaming.Women were screaming in there.
“Fucking shut the door,” Speaker Two shouted, and the other guards went in and did just that. After a few minutes, they exited, closing the entrance.
“They’re a fucking handful,” a guard shouted to Speaker Two. “Tomorrow, you feed them.”
My palms were sweaty.
My heart was racing.
All kinds of scenarios were playing through my mind. I didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out I was right. They were keeping the girls here. There was a chance Gracie would be there in this godforsaken place too. I tried to stay calm, but the spike in adrenaline made me fidgety.
I had to think this through,I reminded myself.
I would make my move tonight.
I touched the metal of my gun, which had been digging into me for the last couple of hours, and I knew, without a doubt, I would use it.
If my daughter was in there, I would do whatever it took to get her out.
When night fell, and I knew they were dozing below me, I slowly made the climb down. I waited on the upper level, just listening to their snoring and any hint of stirring. There were two of them in here, one against the wall and the other in front of the door. I had no idea what happened to the third, but it meant one less person to shoot. I descended the stairs as quietly as possible, grateful for the rubber soles of my boots. When I reached the bottom, I paused to listen.
The warehouse was dimly light, every corner hidden in shadows. Backing up against the wall, I hoped being in the shadows would make me undetectable if those cameras had somehow been reconnected.
Following the snoring, I made my way to the secured area. I stopped when they did and moved when they started back up again. I didn’t have a plan, it was fight or flight, and I was not about to leave this warehouse if my daughter was in it. I figured I’d wake the asshole up with a gun to his head, and if he tried anything, I’d pull the trigger without a thought. Then I’d use that to get the second guard to open the door for me.
I approached the guard slowly. He was sitting on a chair, his head slumped to one side. I knew he was fast asleep. Having long since filled the cartridge in my gun, I gripped it tightly, bringing it to his head. His eyes opened, and he looked directly at me.
I placed a finger to my lips, not wanting to alert the other guard.
“I’m going to back away, and I want you to open the door for me,” I whispered.
I backed away, the gun still directed at him. He lifted both his hands where I could see them and stood slowly, entering the code. I made a note of it in case I needed it later. I motioned for him to enter before me, and that is when I felt the slam against my cheek. I stumbled but managed to regain my balance.
The second guard had snuck up on me. I quickly retreated from both of them. My cheek hurt, but I resisted the urge to bring my hand up to it.
“What do you want, bitch?” the guard who punched me asked. He was taller than I anticipated—they both were. They were all muscle and would have me detained in no time if I weren’t careful.
