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and jumped to the floor to join him.
“Impressive.”
“Yoga,” she said, mistaking his intent, and shimmied the skirt back down over her hips. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you staring at my ass. You could have offered a hand, you know.”
“It was way more fun to enjoy the view.”
She slapped the dust from her hands along the side of her skirt. “So why are we in here anyhow? It’s deserted.”
“First, we don’t have any direct confirmation that Darcy left the place, do we? Bryce said she wasn’t around when he got back. For all we know she could be still here. Or she could’ve left something.” A rustling to his left caught his attention, and he put his hand out to tell her to wait.
They stood quietly for a moment in the large, darkened warehouse, waiting for the sound to occur again. Nothing. He headed in the direction where he’d heard the sound, Meredith right behind him, stopping after a step to slip her heels off before continuing barefoot.
Near the back of the building was a room, the door shut. He crept over and pressed his ear to the door, listening. He motioned Meredith to stand behind him and then tested the door. Unlocked.
He pushed the door open and waited to see if someone—or something—rocketed his way. Nothing.
It someone had been here, they’d cleared out pretty fast. In the corner by an open window was a blanket that appeared to have been used for a bed and several empty cans of soup. He went over and bent down. The blanket was still warm.
“Do you think it was Darcy?”
He looked around. “Nah. I’d say the person who set up here is a permanent squatter. But they might know something.”
He stepped over to the dirt-covered window and peered out. Whoever the person was, he or she was bound to return eventually.
They walked through the place again, looking for anything that would be of interest. But other than trash and empty cups confirming a couple hundred kids had partied here recently, just as Bryce had described, they found nothing. No sign of Darcy.
Or her car.
Back outside, they climbed into his car, and he dialed the impound lot, knowing in his gut what they were likely going to report.
The woman who answered obtained the make, model, and license plate from him in a monotone voice. She clicked at her keyboard and then put him on hold. Another minute passed as he and Meredith waited, the phone on speaker.
“Yeah. We have that here. Arrived this morning.” The woman proceeded to give him the information they needed to get the car back as well as the daily rate they’d charge until it was picked up while Meredith stared outside, her face a mask, even though he knew she had to be upset.
He hung up. Time to make the call.
With Darcy’s car sitting in an impound lot, it seemed less and less likely that Darcy had taken off for a few days. And from Bryce’s description, she’d been completely out of it, possibly drugged, when he last saw her.
And nearly twenty-four hours later, she was still missing.
“Guess I’ll go find a hotel for the night. Looks like, if you still want me, I’ll be taking the case.”
She glanced over at him, her emotions now clear. But instead of righteous anger that she’d been correct all along, or relief that he was helping, she looked alarmed. No, petrified.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
“If you’re taking it, then it means you think something’s wrong. That Darcy really is in trouble,” she added in a near whisper.
There wasn’t anything he could say. He looked at the front of the building again before pulling away, knowing that at some point tonight he’d be returning to find and talk to the squatter.
Without his new sidekick.
Chapter Five
Meredith didn’t have much to say the rest of the ride back to her car. Her thoughts were with Darcy. Still missing.
Meredith looked down at her cell phone for the thousandth time. No messages. No new texts. Almost automatically, she tried Darcy’s phone again and was sent promptly to voicemail.
