Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
I dropped my eyes back to the map, and it hit me right between the eyes. “Jefferson Square!”
“What’s that?”
“That’s where he’s at. There’s a storage facility run by the Sandersons. They lease out the spaces to people for dirt cheap, but what people don’t know is that their spaces are intermittently used as stash houses.”
“If the feds know that, why can’t they bust them?”
I scoffed. “It’s a little more complicated than that. Come on.”
A loud engine rumbled by, catching both of our attention. I crouched down, tugging Reed with me, and we hit the ground just as headlights swept the air where we’d been standing.
“Shit,” I breathed. “Security sweep. He’s expecting us.”
The truck idled a moment longer, its driver encased behind thick glass, scanning the area back and forth. Then, after a few seconds, he drove off to search the rest of the premises. Reed waited for me to move, and we both sprang up and booked it back to the truck.
Once back behind the wheel, we raced across town, following the tracking lights on my phone to make sure my hunch paid off. It did. Minutes before we arrived at the storage facility, the trackers came to rest smack dab in the heart of the sprawling field of storage sheds and garages. Most of the units were outdoor, drive-up access, but there was also a three-story building that housed another hundred or so climate-controlled units and the leasing office.
“Shit, they could be anywhere.” I leaned forward in my seat as we drove by. “This place is fucking massive.”
The gate at the front was just coming down, locking into place as we passed it. There was a yellow box with a keypad to punch in the code for after-hours access. I could easily get the override code. All it would take was a text back to Pax and crew.
I turned the corner and swerved the truck into the nearest parking garage. I threw it into park and hopped out of the cab, my fingers flying over my phone as I kicked the door shut.
“What’s the plan? I walk in with the contract?”
I shook my head. “No, then I’ll just have to save your ass along with theirs. Trust me, Reed, you walk in there, hand over these papers, and you won’t walk back out again. None of you will. See, guys like Richie and the rest of the fucking Sandersons, they’re like starlings. You ever hear about them?”
“Those birds that kick other birds out of their nests?”
“Bingo. Richie’s in your nest, and he doesn’t give a fuck if you live or die. He’s gonna boot you over the edge one way or the other. No remorse.”
“So, what do you want me to do?”
“Stay here. Take this—” I pressed my phone into his hands. “If I’m not back in half an hour, dial this number.” I showed him on the screen. “That’s Pax. He’s another agent. You tell him everything, and they’ll come.”
Reed looked ready to argue again but didn’t. “Thank you, Eric—or Bennett—whoever the fuck you are.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “Bennett works. But don’t go thanking me just yet.”
With that, I turned and jogged back toward the storage facility.
Slipping through the security gate was child’s play. Even getting into the main building was a piece of cake. But making my way down the brightly lit hallways without getting spotted by a security camera was a little trickier. On my way up to the hulking building, I saw lights turn on in one of the upper-floor offices.
Most of the storage spaces didn’t have windows, so picking out the offices was easy. I knew in my gut that was where Richie would be, barking out orders as the shipment was unpacked and hidden. Since the Sandersons ran the storage business, they knew exactly how often people visited their stuff and which units were safe for hiding their drugs, weapons, and, hell, probably people.
On top of that, it was remote, locked down at night, and rigged to the hilt with high-tech security gear.
You know, for the safety of their customers.
It was halfway sick and halfway brilliant.
I got in a back door without tripping any kind of alarm and made my way up the three flights of stairs, moving quickly and keeping my head down. There were security cameras in each corner of the stairwell. I had no illusion that I’d make it very far without being spotted, but I had to keep moving and pray they were all wrapped up in the shipment of weapons to notice someone lurking down the halls.
It was a stretch.
But those damn hallways. White walls only amplified the fluorescent lights, and there wasn’t a way around it. I could figure out how to trip the power, but this place likely had a backup generator. I wouldn’t buy myself very much time, and it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack in the pitch black on a countdown timer.