AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A body wrapped in a blanket, you say?”
“Yeah, it looks like it.”
“Are you sure it's a body you're seeing?”
“No, I'm not one hundred percent sure,” I snapped. “But it seems awfully suspicious that my nanny goes missing and the man I know she last saw, just so happened to be taking a mysterious object wrapped up in a blanket, out to an old abandoned warehouse in the middle of the night.”
There was a long pause on the line and I was beginning to fear the call had been dropped when I heard a soft chuckle on the other end of the line.
“Put that way, I suppose it does sound suspicious, Mr. Sullivan.”
“Can you please send some people out here?” I ask. “And get them here in a hurry? I don't know how much time she has left. I don't know what they're going to do.”
“Tell me where you are.”
I didn't have an exact address to give him, so I gave him the best approximation I could. He said he knew the area I was talking about and would send help right away.
“Where are you now, Mr. Sullivan?”
“I'm standing behind my car,” I said. “They're around the corner.”
“Good,” he said. “Stay there. Don't engage with the suspects. Keep your head down and stay safe.”
“Yeah, but –”
“Wait for help, Mr. Sullivan,” he said. “My officers will be there soon.”
I let out a long, frustrated breath. “Okay,” I said. “I'll wait.”
“Very good.”
The detective clicked off the line and I dropped the phone back into my pocket. I leaned against the car, looking at the corner of the building – wondering what they were doing in the alley. Wondering if I was right and it really was Avery they had in the trunk.
If it wasn't her though, why would they be here, in this decrepit part of town in the dead of night? It had to be her. I knew in my gut it had to be.
The other, more unsettling thought that rattled through my mind was that as I waited for the cops out by my car, they could be doing literally anything to Avery in there. For all I knew, they were in the process of murdering her and chopping her into a thousand pieces as I sat there doing nothing.
The detective told me to stay where I was and to stay out of it. Logically, I knew that was the smart decision. I wasn't a trained cop. I didn't know the first thing about dealing with a situation like that. I knew that if I went busting in on them, I could potentially be putting Avery's life even more at risk. I was more likely to actually get her killed than to save her.
But, on the other hand, I couldn't just stand there with my dick in my hand and do nothing. Could I?
No, I couldn't. If I did nothing, Avery was going to die. If I took action, she might still die – hell, we might still both die – but, at least she'd have a better chance of surviving the fight than if I simply left her to take care of herself. If Avery was going to die, she was going to die knowing I was trying to save her. I wouldn't leave her to her fate alone.
Standing up, I crept over to the corner of the building and peered around. The car was still there, the trunk standing open, but Charles and his father were nowhere to be seen. They'd obviously taken her into one of the nearby warehouses.
I moved slowly and deliberately, carefully picking my way along the cracked and pitted remains of the sidewalk. Trash and debris littered the ground. It was obvious there was a healthy homeless population in the area, though I didn't see anybody at the moment.
From a building up ahead of me, I heard what I thought was a muffled cry. It had sounded like a woman's voice. Avery. It had to be her. She was still alive. A powerful wave of relief washed through me. I hadn't realized there was a part of me that had already accepted the fact that I was searching for her body – not until I'd heard her voice. The feeling of relief was so deep and so profound. It also meant I had a chance to save her, to keep her safe. I rushed forward and paused at the edge of a broken window. Peering around it, I saw Charles and his father, both holding powerful flashlights, hauling Avery, who was gagged and had her hands bound in front of her, toward the back of the building. She was struggling and fighting like a demon and they almost lost their grip on her several times. She was not going to go down without a fight.
I wasn't going to let her go down at all. Not if I could help it.
I stepped through the doorway of the building just as she broke free from their grip. I saw her eyes widen when she saw me, and she rushed straight for me. I caught her and pull
ed her to me, embracing her tightly, my eyes never leaving the two men walking up to us. Charles stared at me malevolently, the hatred in his eyes burning bright. His father was holding a gun, casually pointing it at us. The look on his face was not hatred, but resignation. As if he was tired of having to clean up yet another one of Charles' messes.
I quickly pulled the gag out of Avery's mouth. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“What are you doing here, Spencer?” she replied. “How did you even know where to find me?”
