Jenny pulled up to the derelict warehouse down on the water front. Why was it always a rundown warehouse? It was very cliche in her opinion. It was approaching dusk and there didn’t look to be any activity.
She’d tracked down three Killians. She ruled out the first two pretty easily. The first, she’d found, was living in an assisted living community. He was almost blind and in a wheel chair. Didn’t sound like the man she was looking for. The second was a yoga instructor that lived downtown. The instructor was short, blonde, and a woman. That ruled her out.
The third owned this warehouse. She wasn’t able to find any other address, a photo or a description of the man. That, in her opinion, was worth investigating.
She unclipped her shoulder holster, making it easier to draw her 9mm if it came to trouble and exited her sedan. She quickly scanned the area and didn’t see anyone watching. She made her way carefully up to the warehouse door. She felt as if she was being paranoid, but something felt off and usually not following her instincts had gotten her into trouble.
She peered through a broken out window next to the door. She didn’t see any activity. It would be just her luck to find no one here. She reached for the nob on the door. It easily turned and the door swung in. She quickly peered around the door, still no activity. She stepped through the door way and into the dark warehouse. She waited for a sound, but none came. She slowly made her way farther in. She heard a scuffling noise a short distance away.
Her gun was out like lightening. She trained it on where the sound had originated and waited. Before long a large rat shuffled into a square of dim light coming through the window. Man was she jumpy. There was probably nothing to worry about and yet she was pulling her gun. Even with the train of thought Jenny didn’t re-holster her gun.
She moved further into the warehouse. She glanced up and saw a light in an upstairs room. It looked like there was someone there after all. She squinted into the darkness and made out a stair case about twenty feet away. Jenny began to make her way toward the stairs, when a hand gripped her around the waist. Another around her mouth quickly followed.
Jenny tried to struggle against the inhuman grip. Her attacker pushed her against the wall, giving her a good look at him.
The man was handsome. He was about a half a head taller than she was. He had deep black hair and looked to be in shape. She would have flirted had he not had her pinned against the wall.
The man brought his finger to his lips and then motioned a thumb over his shoulder. Jenny followed the direction and soon saw another man come into view. The man was obviously a sentry. He was scanning the area as he moved. A menacing semi-automatic cradled in his arms. The man holding her had kept her from being seen!
The man holding her waited until the man had completed his route and headed back out of site. He again made a motion with his finger for her to keep quiet and removed the hand from her mouth.
“What are you doing here?” He whispered to her, while glancing over his shoulder.
“I’m a detective investigating a possible lead in a case.” She said. “Who are you?”
He quickly shushed her and she saw the sentry come back into view as he made his circuit again. When the gunman was out of sight the mystery man turned back to her.
“You’re looking for the boy.” It was a statement.
That set Jenny back. “How did you...”
“It’s obvious. You’re a detective and the boy is upstairs.” He motioned to the upstairs room with the light on.
“I’m here for him too.” He moved forward a couple of steps. The gunman came back into view again. The gunman came to a stop and scanned the area. He turned his back to them to complete his circuit. The sentry turned and the man shot forward with superhuman speed. He grabbed the man’s shoulder and slammed a fist into the lookout’s ribs. The sentry let out an audible grunt. The man quickly spun him around. The stunned gunman received a shot with the man’s open palm in the bridge of the nose. The gunman slumped to the ground.
The man scanned the area as he dragged the gunman’s prone form into the shadows next to Jenny.
“Who are you?”
The man ignored the question. “You need to leave.” Was his only response.
He moved out and scanned the area again. Jenny followed.
“I’m a detective.”
“You already said that.” His response came without a glance over his shoulder.
“Well that means you are hindering a police investigation!” She snapped.
The man spun around and shoved her behind a crate covered in cobwebs.
“Keep it down!” He growled. “You’re in over your head here. Leave now. The boy will be fine with me.”
Jenny could feel her face go flushed. Who did this guy think he was ordering her around.
“How do I know that? I don’t even know who you are.” She brought up her 9mm to prove her point. “I’m not going anywhere. You will either step aside or risk a bullet to your kneecap.”
In the darkness she thought she saw the man smirk. “Stick with me and keep quite.” He turned back toward the stairs, scanned the area again, and began his ascent.
Jenny kept close. She kept scanning the area for anymore sentries. She didn’t see anyone else, but being out in the open didn’t help her uneasy feeling. At the top of the stairs the man breathed deeply. He turned and looked at Jenny.
In a low whisper he said “There are three inside with the boy.”
How did he know that? “What do we do?”
“We need to get them out of there.” He looked around. He motioned across the warehouse to a forklift in the corner. Jenny guessed what he was thinking when she saw the tank sitting on the back of it.
“You want a distraction.” She stated and headed down the catwalk to the far end, keeping underneath the windows. She turned the corner at the end and looked back for a signal. The man was nowhere in site. “I guess it’s now or never.” She said to herself. She took aim and a loud report issued from the gun. A explosion filled the other end of the warehouse. Jenny slid farther away from the corner when the door to the room opened and voices were heard. She heard there rushed footsteps down the catwalk. When they came in sight below, she rushed back around the corner, still keeping low, and back to the door.
Inside she found the man sitting up a red haired boy that had been lying on a dingy couch in the office area. Jenny instantly recognized Sam from the picture in his file. The boy eyes were puffy and red, snot ran down his nose from crying. The man quickly began untying Sam, but Jenny quickly produced a knife from her jacket and handed it to him. The man nodded in thanks and cut the ropes binding Sam’s hands, handing the knife back to Jenny.
He ran a hand across the boy’s head. “It’s going to be okay Sam. Ms. Cooper and I are here to help.”
Jenny shot a look to the man. She’d never told him her name. The man acted as if he hadn’t seen the look.
“We have to go. They’ll realize soon enough it was a distraction.” He stated making his way to the door. He glanced out and looked back at Sam. “Come here, Sam.” He hoisted the boy up into his arms and headed out the door. Jenny followed and as soon as she was out the door heard shouts from across the warehouse. They had been made.
Jenny glanced back at the shouts and when she looked back she saw the man and Sam disappear over the railing. Jenny’s was shaken from her shock at the growl that issued from across the warehouse. They had a dog? Why didn’t it make noise when they’d come in? She didn’t have time to think of an answer. She headed down the stairs. Halfway down she jumped the railing and landed on the stairway below. Finishing her descent in half the time. As she reached the bottom she saw two glowing eyes coming straight at her.
The man was suddenly in front of her. With Sam still in his arms he lobbed a nearby crate at the approaching animal. “Run!”
Jenny didn’t have time to process the fact that the box had been almost as tall as the man, she hightailed it in the opposite direction. She quickly made it to the door and out onto the waterfront. She didn’t bother turning around to see if she was being followed, she could her Sam’s gasps from behind her.
She made the distance to her car quicker than she’d expected even though the run there seemed to take forever. What was she doing. She turned and brought up her gun. One of the crates sitting next to the door had been shoved in the way. The man and Sam came running toward her.
“No time!” He reached the car and placed Sam in the back seat. Jenny made her way around the car and took the drivers seat. A window of the warehouse exploded as the engine came to life. Jenny turned to see the same glowing set of eyes standing in front of the warehouse. It stood much taller than a dog.
“Drive!” Jenny threw the car into drive. The tires squealed as the car peeled off down the road. Jenny glanced in the rear view mirror. The glowing eyes were right behind her.
“What is that?”
The man spun to look behind them. “Damn!” Before Jenny could protest he reached over and grabbed her gun. He hit the switch and rolled down the window. Leaning out he fired off three shots. Jenny looked up into the mirror. She could no longer see the eyes following them.
Hours later they pulled onto a dirt road leading to a cabin the man, Xander he said his name was, had directed them too. Other than instructions they had said very little on the drive up there. Sam had fallen asleep, obviously feeling safe, about an hour out of the city. Jenny had been stunned and just focused on the road.
As they pulled up to, from what Jenny could see, a well kept cabin she put the car into park. She sat back and exhaled deeply.
“You okay?” Xander asked.
“No. No, I’m not okay.” She looked over at him. “I went into a warehouse without a search warrant. Created quite a bit of property damage. Kidnapped a kid from his kidnappers. And got chased by what I’m pretty sure was a genetically engineered rottweiler! Would you be okay?”
“If it’s any consolation I didn’t tell you to enter without a search warrant.”
Jenny stared at him, flabbergasted, as he exited the car. He took Sam out of the back seat and headed to the cabin. When Jenny finally shook the shock she was in, she followed.
The inside of the cabin seemed to be as well cared for as the outside. It seemed homey. Xander was exiting a room toward the back of the cabin.
“You two can take the bed. I’ll sleep out here.” He said nodding toward the recliner in the living room. “You hungry?” He asked making his way to the fridge.
“No.” She mumbled. “I’m too tired to eat.”
“Suit yourself.” He said, in between bites of what looked to be a fried chicken leg.
She stood there until he looked back at her. “Tomorrow you are going to tell me who you are and we are going to get in contact with my supervisors.” She didn’t wait to respond before she spun on her heels and headed to the bedroom.
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