Chapter 7 - The Road To Calder Warehouse
Alexander drove the black sedan himself.
Marcus sat beside him checking two radios and the emergency medical kit.
Neither man spoke for several miles.
Rain streaked across the windshield.
The city changed as they moved east.
Glass towers disappeared.
Warehouses replaced luxury apartments.
Streetlights became sparse.
Fog rolled in from the harbor.
Calder Warehouse had officially been abandoned fourteen years earlier.
Alexander parked three blocks away.
They continued on foot.
The building stood behind rusted fencing and stacks of shipping containers.
Two men guarded the loading entrance.
Another man smoked near a side door.
Alexander studied their movements.
"This is too visible."
Marcus understood.
"Decoys."
Alexander nodded.
A sophisticated syndicate would never guard its real headquarters this carelessly.
They watched another five minutes.
A dark van arrived.
The side door opened.
Two men pulled a hooded prisoner from the vehicle.
Alexander saw the prisoner's hands.
Small wrists.
Female.
For one terrible second, he thought it was Sarah.
Then the hood slipped.
The woman was older.
Unknown.
She was dragged inside.
Alexander's anger deepened.
Sarah was not their only victim.
Marcus pointed toward a roof camera.
"We can disable power."
"No."
Alexander remembered Thomas disabling cameras.
"Cutting power tells them exactly what we're doing."
They moved along the eastern wall.
Nero had remained at the estate to protect Lily.
Alexander felt strangely exposed without the dog.
Marcus found a maintenance ladder.
They climbed onto the roof.
A broken ventilation panel gave them access to a storage loft.
Below them, voices carried through the building.
Men were discussing money.
Weapons.
Names.
Then Alexander heard one word.
Sarah.
He froze.
A man below laughed.
"The Blackwood woman still won't talk."
Another voice answered.
"Silas says she doesn't have to."
Alexander moved closer.
"The little girl found the token."
His blood turned cold.
The men knew about Lily.
"Then the Benefactor wants the child handled before sunrise."
Alexander looked at Marcus.
Everything changed.
They were no longer simply rescuing Sarah.
Someone had ordered an attack on Lily.
Alexander drew his weapon.
Marcus whispered his name.
Alexander looked down into the warehouse.
May you like
His voice was barely audible.
"We end this tonight."
