“Shit,”Sam growled, banging his hand on the steering wheel. “Can’t go any faster.”
He was pushing 90 mph as it was. He just hoped he didn’t run into any cops, because he wasn’t slowing down for anybody. It wasn’t that the SUV couldn’t go any faster—he’d clocked it at 140 mph on a racetrack—but rather that Harry was triangulating their relative positions. Harry observed the path of the vehicle carrying Nicole and had to calculate the best, fastest way for Sam to get there. It was a complex piece of geometry and Sam had to be able to take a corner on a dime when Harry said.
Mike wasn’t paying him any attention. He was staring at the small screen set in the dashboard, listening hard to Harry through his earpiece. Sam was getting the same intel over his.
Mike acted as navigator, quietly telling him two minutes before he had to turn a corner. If they’d been traveling during rush hour, they’d both be dead in smoking ruins by now.
“Turning left onto Spring Road,” Harry said. “Where thefuckis he going? There’s just nothing there but…” His voice trailed off.
“But warehouses,” Mike finished for him. “I thought that might be where he’s headed.” His mouth pressed into a thin, grim line. Sam met his eyes briefly, then gave his whole attention back to the road.
“Not good,” Mike said quietly.
No, it wasn’t good. It was a section of town destined for demolition. A new residential complex was supposed to go up afterward, though the plans had been halted due to zoning issues. In the meantime, it was an area of derelict warehouses and abandoned buildings. Empty, for miles. Guaranteed privacy, for as long as they wanted. No one would ever hear Nicole screaming…
He pressed the accelerator just a little harder.
“Target stopped,” Harry announced quietly into their headsets.
Mike pointed to the screen. “We’re about ten minutes out.”
“Where, exactly?” Sam asked, eyes on the road.
Mike leaned forward, frowning at the map on the screen. “Turn right.” The tires’ squealing sounded loud in the night’s silence. “Left.”
A straight stretch. Sam nudged it up to 110 mph.
“Coming up,” Harry’s voice came over the headset. “Got it?”
Sam flicked a glance down at the grid on the screen on the console, where a blipping light was stopped. It wasn’t on the road, but inside an outline. “Got it. What the fuck is it?”
“They’re inside a compound. Don’t know what security measures they’ve got set up, though. You and Mike be careful.” Harry’s calm voice sounded loud in Sam’s ear.
“That’s a whole row of condemned buildings.” Mike ran his finger over the street. The map showed long rectangles of buildings separated by alleys along the waterfront. “You got the number?”
“Says here 3440.” Harry’s voice was low, calm, but Sam could hear his fingers pounding the keyboard. “It was—yeah, coming up now. Formerly a bonded warehouse. Company moved out in 2018.”
“There was a big bust there,” Mike said grimly. “Arms for cocaine. SDPD bagged a couple of real bad guys. That was before Sam set up shop here, before my time even.”
No one to hear her scream.Sam’s hands tightened on the wheel and he pressed down on the accelerator. They were going so fast it took all his skills to keep the SUV on the road at turns.
They were on a straight stretch, only a few minutes out. Sam started slowing down.
“Kill the engine…now,” Harry ordered, and the vehicle drifted soundlessly forward until it came to rest at the curb of a cross street, about ten feet from the street where the car with Nicole had gone in.
The SUV was still rocking when Sam shouldered the driver’s-side door open, ready to leap out. A strong hand held him back.
What the fuck?
“Goddamnit Mike, Nicole’s in there.” Urgency rippled through his veins, prickled his skin. Right now, someone could be hurting Nicole, cutting her, burning her… “Let me go,” he snarled.
“Wait,” Mike said calmly. “We need more intel.”
Sam swallowed. He knew this. He knew this on an intellectual and theoretical level. You do not go blind into a situation. But, shit, Nicole was in therenowand Sam felt like jumping out of his skin with urgency. He was panting, the sound loud in the dark cabin of the vehicle.
Mike pulled his head around and went nose to nose with him. “Listen up here, I know you’re worried, but I’m not going to let you fuck this up. I like Nicole, too. And the best way to bury that beautiful woman is to go in guns blazing without knowing the terrain or even where they are.”
“Blueprints of the building coming up…now,” Harry said into their earpiece. The screen darkened, then lit again with the blueprints of an industrial complex.
