“I’m sure.”
He sighed. “Come on then.” He climbed out of the car and I hustled to keep up with him.
We walked over to the fence. There was nothing beyond it, just an empty space with piles of dirt and trash. More trash had collected along the fence, proof of human life although nothing seemed alive anywhere nearby. Rafa began to kick through the trash, a permanent scowl on his face.
I moved around the fence, looking carefully. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I figured I’d know it when I saw it. The Spiders had said they’d leave something for us, and I had to believe that they would. I couldn’t see what they had to gain from lying about it.
I moved around to the other stretch of fence and spotted something odd. There was a gym bag on the ground with its handles looped through the chain. But instead of being all beat up and gross like everything else, it looked brand new.
“Rafa,” I said, kneeling down next to it. “Look at this.”
I reached out to open it.
“Stop,” he said. “Hold on.” He knelt down next to me and put his face next to the bag.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure there’s not a bomb in here.”
“Are you listening for ticking?”
He grinned. “I am. But I’m also trying to smell any plastic or molding putty.”
“And?”
He sniffed and waited. “Nothing.”
“Come on.” I grabbed the zipper and yanked it open.
No explosion.
I let out a breath. Inside the bag was a single piece of paper. I grabbed it and unfolded it. Written down the center was another address, not far from where we were.
“Fucking shit,” Rafa said.
“Come on.” I stood up. “We have another stop.”
“Fuck that. We’re not going.”
“Come on. We have no other choice.”
He stood up and shook his head. “Coming here, to a public place, was bad enough, but we don’t know what’s on the other end of this address. We’re not prepared for this, Cass. We need backup.”
“No,” I said. “The mob will ruin this. We need to go. This is our best chance, Rafa.”
He stared at me, and for a second I thought he was going to throw me over his shoulder and drag me back to the compound. Instead, he grinned and shook his head.
“You’re going to get me killed.” He got back into the car. “Well?”
I smiled and got in the passenger side. “Well, let’s go.”
He pulled out. We drove for a few minutes through the neighborhoods. It was a pretty bad area, and most of the houses were either empty or crumbling to the ground. Certain parts of Chicago looked like a war zone, with entire houses missing like smashed teeth. We got closer and closer to the address and finally pulled up outside a normal-looking row home.
“Doesn’t look bad,” I said.
He nodded. “That worries me.” He killed the engine and we got out.
The house was probably the nicest on the block. It had all its windows intact, its front door wasn’t covered in graffiti, and the steps weren’t littered with glass and trash. Rafa walked up to the door.
I hung back a bit, nervous.
He knocked and waited. Nothing happened. He knocked again, louder, and we waited. He glanced back at me.
“Nobody’s home,” he said.
“Try the knob.”
He frowned and turned it. The door opened with ease.
“Shit,” he muttered. He reached back and took out his gun. “Stay here,” he said to me.
“Nope,” I answered, staying close to him. “We’re in this together.”
He didn’t argue. He was too busy sweeping the room as we stepped into the building.
The living room was completely empty. It was clean, though maybe a little musty-smelling, but there wasn’t a bit of furniture anywhere. We moved through and I glanced down a hallway. There were more rooms back there, and they looked equally empty.
Rafa headed into the kitchen. I followed, staying close, my heart beating fast. I was terrified, though I wasn’t sure why. Something felt wrong.
In the kitchen, there was a single table. On the table was a black plastic rectangle.
Rafa got closer. “VHS tape,” he said. “Probably from a security camera.”
“This is what they wanted us to have.”
“Looks like it.”
I smiled at him, suddenly elated. “This is amazing.”
“Come on. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I turned and started heading back toward the front door. I felt good, floating on air. I felt like I had finally done something right, finally made a good decision.
Then suddenly pain blossomed in my side, hot and sharp. Something shoved me up against the wall violently, and blackness descended.