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“Hey, Mani,” I say as we get to the vehicle.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks…”
“You wouldn’t be on this case if the captain knew about you and Catherine—and there’s a reason for that. We’re not supposed to watch the people we love go through shit like this.”
“I can’t think past her,” I admit, and a weight lifts from my shoulders at the confession. I strap in as Mani starts pulling out onto the street. It was an obvious play too. One I wouldn’t have missed if I’d been thinking clearly. “You need to take point on this.”
He glances at me, shocked, then turns back to stare at the road. “I won’t let you down.”
“I know.”
Mani leans forward and turns on the siren. “We’re going to ger her back.”
I can’t open my mouth to reply. All I can do is nod, fake a flash of a smile, and hope that Sade is wrong. Because if Catherineisn’tbeing held at the Mousetrap, this decision could be signing her death warrant.
And I’d have no other way of tracing her.
I know the risk we’re taking. If she had been gone for less time, I’d be more cautious. But Catherine has been missing for over seventy-two hours. Waiting any longer isn’t going to make a difference.
***
It’s close to five p.m.by the time we street-park outside the Mousetrap. Sade must have started with dispatch because I can already make out three marked patrol vehicles on the street, their flashing lights causing traffic backlog as people slow down to try and see what the commotion is about.
If we’d had the warrant, this isn’t how we’d operate at all. But we don’t, so I try not to think about the fact that our captain has no idea that we’re here or what we’re even planning.
Outside, the temperature hovers near eighty-seven degrees, and heat leeches out of the asphalt, comingling the smell of traffic with the ripe scents of the city. The store vendors across the road are in the process of closing their garage storefronts, and the sound of them rolling-up the metal gates is like an ominous soundtrack to whatever we’re about to walk in to. It feels as if the world can sense that something is about to happen and is quietly taking a step back into safety.
Although I can’t point out the GHU surveillance vehicle, I observe four potential vans that could serve the purpose. Each of them is a little shabby but otherwise non-descript and seemingly parked overnight.
Next to me, Mani checks his weapon. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
“Aiden…Whatever happens in there, I want you to know that I’m sorry. For what I said. I-”
“It’s okay.”
He nods and shifts his gaze to the front of the building. The neon sign for the Mousetrap is off, looking tired and gaudy in the light of the early evening. The black building looms portentously, a monster in plain sight, the corner door its tightly shut mouth, the blacked-out windows its shuttered eyes. At night, when the club is active, the monster awakens. The doors gape open, a hungry mouth. The strobe lights illuminate the blacked-out windows from the inside, giving the monster a soul. As I look at the looming building, I wonder how many innocents he has swallowed down, never to resurface again.
Mani approaches the door and, using the side of his curled fist, thumps loudly and identifies himself. “LAPD! Open up!”
Nothing.
He knocks again, identifying himself each time. “LAPD!”
Twenty seconds pass. Mani raises his fist to knock a third time, but the door swings open, revealing a small woman in a tight barmaid’s uniform. “We’re closed.” She tries to shut the door, but Mani puts his foot in the gap, holding it open.
He flashes his badge. “LAPD. Sascha here?”
She casts a quick look behind her before replying, “No.”
“That’s okay.” Mani smiles like a lunatic. “We’ll wait.” Removing his foot from the door, he leans back against the wall and, taking his badge out of his inner pocket, strings it around his neck in plain sight. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”
I see the woman hesitate. She knows as well as I do that cops at the door of a nightclub have patrons turning around real quick—especially at dives like the Mousetrap. “Let me see if Nyet is here. Just wait a minute.” She closes the door, locking us out.
Mani turns his back on the security camera above the door. “Nyet?”
