“Ok, Jack. If you think it’s the right thing to do.”
“Thank you, Mary. It is.”
She then proceeded to give me the log-in details to her car’s GPS tracker. I wrote the information down for Casey to see, and she logged it into the account on her laptop.
“It’s working. I’m tracking the sedan now.” Casey whispered with a thumbs up, as she pointed to a red dot that was flashing on the screen, tracing over the city map.
“Thank you, Mary. Ben will be thankful as well. I promise.” I hung up the phone. I could tell that Mary didn’t seem convinced, but now wasn’t the time to think about the dynamics of my extended family. Plenty of time for that when the night was over. I just hoped I could keep that promise. Time was running out for a happy conclusion.
“Bring that with us.” I indicated to the laptop as I began storming out the door. “We’ll track it in the car and meet him wherever he’s going.”
Chapter 25
I could feel my heart pounding in my ears as I started up the engine on my truck. This was it, the moment that would determine what happened to this case, and to Millie. If I was right, and Ben was involved, then I was hopeful we could save that lovely, little girl’s life. But if I was wrong, then this was a big move in the wrong direction and we were out of time. I couldn’t live with myself if I let Millie down now in the closing moments of this terrible game. All I could do was hope I was right.
The tracking signal for Ben’s car stopped after twenty minutes. Driving my truck, I raced through the streets, the engine screaming for mercy as I pushed hard to get to his position. We were still fifteen minutes away from where he had parked.
I looked at my watch.
Three hours until the drop time.
And I still had to take Chase through the process to make sure that he didn’t do anything stupid.
“Where has he stopped?” I quizzed Casey, sitting in the passenger seat with the laptop open in front of her.
“It’s not an address I recognize. Let me search the addresses near where the car has stopped.” Her fingers typed fast. “Another industrial lot, only thirty minutes away from the drop area. We’re closer to the drop area now.”
“We’ve got time. What’s in the industrial lot? Any addresses that stand-out?”
“We’ve got a hardware store, a carpet center, another hardware store, and… ah, a mechanic shop that specializes in diesel mechanics.”
My body tingled momentarily as a shot of adrenaline surged through me.
“That’s our target. That must be where Ben is going.”
I dropped the truck back in gear, roaring it into action, making the fifteen-minute trip in eight. As I turned the corner to the industrial lot, I slowed down, crawling forward, looking for a white sedan in the dimly lit street.
“Are you packing heat?” I turned to look at Casey. She tapped her hip under her jacket.
Slowing the car, I pulled over to the side of the street, switching out the headlights first, and then turning off the engine. My eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness but even when they did I couldn’t see any movement.
We sat for a moment, allowing our eyes to adjust further and taking in the surroundings.
The area around us was dimly lit, with no activity as the time approached 9pm. There was one other car parked on the street, all the buildings were locked up with extra security, and barbed wire covered the top of the chain fences nearby.
I could see Casey was watching the vehicle intently, so I took a moment longer to look all around. Checking for any signs of movement, anything we should be on guard for. We didn’t have a lot of time, but we couldn’t afford to rush in and mess it up now.
I was as confident as I could be that we had arrived unnoticed, so I turned my attention to the other car in the street as well.
“White Volvo,” I stated.
Casey nodded. “Looks like we’ve found the car, but no sign of Ben.”
“Time for a closer look.”
We eased our way out of the truck. I kept the doors well-oiled for moments like this. I couldn’t have a creaking door alerting people to our presence.
I indicated to Casey to flank the left side of the sedan and I would flank the right. Jogging in the shadows, we approached the car.
Drawing my piece, keeping it low, I jogged to the side.
I looked in the back window.
Nothing.
Casey, weapon in hand, indicated the same. I looked in the front window.
Again, nothing.
Casey shook her head.
I let the breath I had been holding go and indicated we should move forward towards the shadows next to the building.
“The mechanics shop is the third warehouse on the right,” Casey whispered. “We’ll see it once we go around the next corner.”
I led us through the shadows, sticking close to the edge of the wall on the empty street.
I heard the crunch of broken glass under foot behind me and turned to glare at Casey who had frozen in place. With an apologetic look, she cautiously lifted her foot and crept carefully past the remains of a broken bottle. I glanced around nervously, but we were still far enough away from the warehouse to escape notice.
One streetlight was on ahead of us.
I sneaked to the corner, and turned my head around the wall.
The warehouse sat back from the street on a long driveway. There was one long garage door, big enough to fit two trucks side by side, and a workshop door to the right.
“There’s a
