Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes(103)

 

The woods had worked well for me the last twenty-four hours, so I returned to what I knew. Muffy insisted on joining me, jumping out of the car when I opened the door. I told her she could come, but she had to be quiet. It seemed like a stupid thing to say, but I felt the need to tell her something. We couldn’t very well synchronize watches. I stopped wearing mine when I got my cell phone.

 

We crept through the brush, between the trees, and I prayed I didn’t crawl through poison ivy. I still wasn’t sure it was the right place, until I saw Joe’s car was parked in back. The lack of guards outside concerned me.

 

A metal chain-link fence surrounded the property. I considered scaling it but Muffy would never make it. Besides, I had just mastered climbing out windows, fences were still on my to-do list. I walked along the perimeter looking for any gaps. Muffy found one toward the rear, big enough at the bottom for both of us to crawl under. I knelt down to face her.

 

“I’m not sure it's a good idea for you come with me, Muffy. Maybe you should wait for me here.” But I secretly hoped she would come.

 

I lifted the fence and Muffy scooted through first. I crawled through but scraped my side on the metal wire. If that was the least of my injuries today, I’d consider myself lucky. We emerged next to a delivery truck and hid behind it while I figured out what to do next. Since I couldn’t go waltzing through the front door, sneaking around to the back seemed like the best option.

 

We dashed across the lot and walked the length of the building to the back corner. Open doors gaped in the middle of the back wall, big enough to drive a truck through. Next to me was a metal door, propped open with a brick. I inched toward it and peeked in. Metal shelves lined the room, stocked with plastic bins. I didn't see anyone so I took a deep breath and opened the door wide enough to slip through. Muffy followed.

 

Edging along the shelves, I made my way toward the center of the room. It looked like a parts room with a door on the opposite wall. I knelt by the door and opened it just a crack, peeking through the one-inch gap. It was a large room, like the warehouse I’d seen in Joe’s vision. Two delivery trucks were parked in the center and men moved stacks of small packages. Joe stood to the side, watching. I didn’t see any sign of Daniel Crocker, which was fine by me.

 

I wanted to tell Muffy we were just going to wait, but she sensed it and sat down beside me. I sat with my back to the wall and Muffy laid her head on my lap. I scratched her neck while I listened to the voices echoing in the warehouse.

 

Probably a good ten minutes went by without anything happening. I was beginning to think that we’d make it out of the warehouse without any trouble. I wasn’t sure why I believed that. I had yet to have anything happen without any trouble.

 

It started with shouting in the distance, echoing throughout the warehouse. I jerked at the noise and looked through the crack. The stack of bundles in the warehouse was nearly gone, now inside the delivery trucks. Joe was carrying a package. Daniel Crocker descended metal steps with two other men. It looked like they came from an office above the warehouse floor.

 

“McAllister!” Crocker shouted.

 

My blood turned to ice. My vision was coming true.

 

Joe swung his head in Crocker’s direction. Rage engulfed Crocker’s face and he literally growled as he reached Joe and slammed him against the wall.

 

“Where is she?” Crocker screamed. His eyes were wild and even from my location, I saw the veins and tendons bulge on his neck.

 

“How the hell would I know?” Joe asked, looking disgusted. “I’m done with her.”

 

“I don’t believe you. The information was fake! I want the fucking flash drive!” Crocker slammed Joe against the wall again to emphasize his point.

 

Two men stood behind Crocker. I guessed they were important from the suits they wore, their stiff postures, and the bored expressions on their faces. They had to be Crocker’s business partners.

 

Crocker pulled a gun out of the back of his pants and held it up to Joe’s head. I had already jumped to my feet and stuffed my gun under my shirt, into the waistband of my jeans. I hoped to high heaven I didn’t shoot my toes off.

 

“Where is she?” Crocker growled.

 

“Lookin’ for me?” I shouted, walking through the door. I tried to not look nervous, like I knew what I was doing.

 

Crocker turned in disbelief. Joe’s eyes widened in horror. I hoped to God he didn't try anything stupid.

 

I walked toward them, hands at my sides instead of up in surrender, even though I was scared out of my wits. I didn’t see me surviving this.