by Natalie Dean
The license plate got clearer and clearer, but the numbers were just the tiniest bit fuzzy. They could probably guess it, but Adrianna wasn’t willing to chase down the wrong truck based on a bad reading of the film.
“Can you make it clearer?” David whispered over her shoulder.
“Maybe…” Adrianna tried to remember what Cat had said about that. She’d said something. That much she knew… but what? She tried the first button combination. Nothing happened. Okay, not that. The second was also wrong. But on the third try, the image cleared up just the smallest bit. She kept hammering that button until the license plate was completely visible.
She pulled up her phone and snapped a photo of the plate. In the incredible chance that the computer went down, she wanted to make absolutely sure that she had the plate.
“Watch this,” she told him.
Getting the plate was the easy part. The tricky bit was actually trying to find the truck. That’s where detectives in all those crime shows did all that crazy tech stuff. Five seconds later, they’d locate the vehicle. It didn’t work quite like that in real life. Contrary to popular belief, those street cameras didn’t read plates. They just filmed them. You couldn’t just track the plate. You could, however, find the owner of the truck.
She entered the plate information in their databases. A little spinning circle came up as it searched. Finally, after about fifteen seconds, up popped the information she was looking for: the owner of the truck.
Alexander Washington, small-time thief and renowned kleptomaniac. Looking at the list of stuff he’d stolen, Adrianna laughed. He had a list a mile long. Twenty-three generators. Tvs. Phones. Every movie known to man. Apparently, he’d been arrested a couple years ago. Like Jacob, he’d just gotten out.
“Jeez,” David said, amazed. “Well, I’m impressed. I know that guy. They called him The Rat.”
“Yet another animal pseudonym?”
“The Owl was big on those.”
She scrolled down. A comprehensive list of his crimes was helpful, sure, but she didn’t need to know that. She needed to know his house- where to find him, his truck, and hopefully Jacob.
There! His address. It was on the far side of town, but at least he was in the city. They weren’t smart criminals to have been identified that easy. A smart criminal would have covered the plates or something at the very least. That worried her. Stupid criminals tended to be more violent. They didn’t understand the ramifications of, say, murder as much as a smart criminal did. Ellie was their bargaining chip. A smart criminal would utilize her as long as possible, only killing under extreme duress.
Stupid criminals, however, might get fed up with Ellie and kill her without thinking of the ramifications.
That unsettled Adrianna. Hopefully, wherever she was, Ellie was the model prisoner. She’d be surprised if Ellie was acting good and charitable. She was probably acting like the time Adrianna had accidentally called her “cute.” Ellie didn’t tolerate people calling her cute. She’d lose it. “I’m not cute!” she’d scream. “I’m tough!”
Adrianna shook the image from her mind. Ellie was alive. She had to be. If she let herself think the opposite- even for a second- she’d break down. No, she had to stay positive, as hard as it was at the moment.
She snapped a photo of his address and logged out. They were lucky nobody had figured them out. Even though she’d entered it wrong only once, nobody was supposed to be in the room right then. In the odd chance that someone was paying attention and sent someone to investigate, David and Adrianna might soon have a problem on their hands.
They hurried out of the room after making sure they left no trails. The computers were off. The systems were shut down. The door was locked. The lights were off. Adrianna never discovered if anyone came to investigate because they scurried out of the building subtly. Just to make everything look real if the guards questioned them about why they’d come, Adrianna grabbed her coat from the locker room.
“Uh….” What are we doing?” David asked her as she switched on the lights in the locker room, casting the blinding white light across the lockers and showers. It was one part of the agency that shut off to save power during the night.
“I’m getting my coat,” she replied, walking to her own locker and entering the code on the lock. The lock popped open, and she reached inside to get her coat. It wasn’t really her style, which is why it stayed in her locker. A good friend of hers had given it to her a few years ago. Otherwise it would have been donated long ago.
“Adrianna,” David said as she pulled it out. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but that’s hideous.”
She snorted. “Yeah. Tell me about it.”
She pulled it on over her shirt. Instantly, she felt warmer, but good heavens it was uncomfortable. Her friend made it as part of a knitting camp she’d gone to over the summer. She was absolute garbage at knitting, so a solid portion of it was coming apart over Adrianna’s midsection. The strings had started to separate, which a talented seamstress could have avoided.
“Did you make that yourself?”
She started back towards the exit. “Nope. A friend of mine did.”
“Time to get new friends…”
She punched him. “Jerk. She’s nice, even if she’s… not terribly talented.”
“Ow.” He rubbed his shoulder. It was a routine of theirs. She’d taken to punching him affectionately. He’d taken great shots. Adrianna jabbing him in the shoulder didn’t do much more than mildly entertain him.
They made their way back to the entrance of the agency. Adrianna kept worrying that someone would take them aside and question them. She never came here at night. Everyone at the office knew she got exhausted right as the sun went down. To see her that late must have raised some eyebrows.
Her fears were realized as the doors came into sight.
The two guards designed to protect the front entrance were talking, but when David and Adrianna got nearby, they silenced and turned towards them.
“Say, Ads,” one said. Adrianna knew him. He was an old-timer at the agency, which is why he got to call her Ads instead of Adrianna or, as most people called her, Whetmore. “What are you doing here so late?”
His eyes shifted over to David. “Here I’m being rude. My name’s Dawson.”
“David,” David introduced.
“You look familiar,” said the other guard. “Have I seen you around before?”
“I’m an MMA fighter,” David replied. The guards couldn’t tell, but Adrianna noticed a shift in his personality. Every time someone said he reminded them of someone or asked where they’d seen him before, he did the same routine. “I go by The Celtic. You might have seen me fight.”
“That’s who he is!” exclaimed one of the guards, the one that hadn’t introduced himself. Adrianna didn’t even know him. He must be new. Dawson was probably breaking him in. “Man, my wife loves you!”
Adrianna felt a little spark of anger blossom in her chest. David was her man. Not anyone else’s. That was something she hadn’t expected to be so hard to get used to- sharing her fiancée with the news, the fans, and the world in general. As an FBI agent, she lived a very quiet life to purposefully not be recognized while in the field, but David was huge news everywhere he went.
Dawson, however, wasn’t as star-struck. “Why are you guys here so late? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you make it here past nine or ten p.m.”
She pointed to the sweater. “Had to pick up my sweater.”
A normal person would have said something like “that’s nice” or “ok.” Dawson had known her for years. He didn’t go for the conventional. Instead, he waved his hands around in front of her, closing his eyes. “Lord,” he said solemnly, “remove this demon from my friend.”
“Shaddup,” Adrianna said, batting down his hands. “Quit it. It’s not that bad.”
“It’s pretty bad,” David said from the side.
“You’re supposed to be on my side,” she protested.
He held his hands up in surrender. “Just telling the truth.”
Dawson eyeballed Adrianna. “You wouldn’t happen to be here because of that case, would you? The one Stone said to keep you away from.”
“I’d rather not discuss that with you.”
He understood. He gave Adrianna a sad smile and took her hand in his massive hands, gently, like a father would a daughter. “Glad to hear that, Ads. Stay safe.”
“Will do, Dawson. Will do.”
Dawson was one of her favorite people at the agency. He was, as he called himself, a buff puppy. He had a heart of gold, but Adrianna had seen him when situations got real. Heart of gold? Yes. But he sure didn’t mind charging an armed gunman if it meant his friends would be safe. He’d been shot two or three times before, but she was convinced he was dang near immortal. The man just plain didn’t die easily.
Adrianna got out of there. The longer she stuck around, the more of an accomplice that Dawson became. Right then, if Stone came in, he’d have the excuse that he hadn’t had enough time to really grill her over the details of why she’d come to the agency. If she stayed to chat, a couple of things would happen. First, they’d be losing valuable time that could be better put towards tracking Jacob and his accomplice Alexander. Second of all, the more time they spent with the guards, the more that the guards could be held responsible for not stopping them.
When they got back to the car, Adrianna felt like melting into the seats and staying there forever. Even with the adrenaline, she was exhausted. She shook it off. Ellie needed them.
David looked wide awake. It never failed to impress Adrianna how late he could stay up. He was a night owl to the truest extent of the word. Here it was, early in the morning, and he was running strong. He wouldn’t be doing that in the morning.
“We need rest,” he finally said, which surprised her. “You need rest. I’ll drive us there. Take a nap. I’ll wake you up when we get to his house.”
“But don’t you need me awake? Directions?”
“I’ll use my phone.”
She hesitated. “Are you sure?”
He stroked her cheek. “Babe, you won’t be any use to Ellie exhausted. Get a nap. Don’t worry- I’ll get you up when I need you.”
She wanted to say no, to nobly deny the nap and stay up to keep him awake. But then again, what he said was true… she needed sleep. She could already feel her brain starting to shut down. And they still had to track down Alex…and then find Jacob…and then rescue Ellie…and here she was, so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open.
She snuggled up in the seat. It felt like heaven.
“Sleep well,” David said.
She was out in a minute flat.
Chapter 7
Adrianna’s dreams were understandably awful.
She’d never been capable of sleeping in cars. Even back when she was a kid riding to soccer games on the bus, she’d never been able to fall asleep. She did, once. When she’d woken up, the other girls had drawn a mustache on her. That was the last time she’d slept on any sort of public transportation.
However, she broke that trend in the car that day. As if the motion and sounds weren’t enough, she was incredibly stressed. Her dreams weren’t anything in particular. She couldn’t quite make out anything. The only thing defined about the dream was the feeling of being chased, of fear. She was running away from or towards someone. After a little while, her brain decided that it was the huge man from the mall- Jacob Jackson. To her dream mind, he wasn’t really a man.
He lumbered and slobbered like a great wolf. He didn’t breathe. He panted- loud, slobbery pants as though he was a fearsome bear instead of a human man. Sometimes he was in front of her, and she was on his tail, and other times he was snapping at her heels as she ran, terrified.
Finally, David woke her up by shaking her shoulder. “Hey, we’re here.”
She blinked exhaustion out of her eyes. It was still dark outside, but her tired brain didn’t even think to look at the clock. “How long was I asleep?”
“A few hours.”
A few hours? He’d been driving for a few hours? She glanced at the clock. Yes.
His eyes were tired, and his mannerisms were just a tad slow. He was exhausted. She was amazed he hadn’t fallen asleep, especially with her snoozing right next to him.
Alexander Washington’s house was about as she had expected. It was broken down and bent over like a stooped old man leaning on a cane. All manner of random stuff littered his front yard, from tire rims to an inflatable pool. And there, in his driveway, was his truck. Nothing was hiding it. He hadn’t even backed in to keep the license plate out of sight. It was out for everyone to see.
“Oh, he’s a smart one,” Adrianna said dryly. “Seriously, we’d better be careful, or he might outwit us.”
Together, the two of them got their guns, pulled the car up beside his truck, and went up towards his house. Adrianna could practically hear her own heart pounding. She had no idea what she was walking into. He might have heard them pull up and was waiting on the inside, gun trained on the shoddy door. Or he could be sleeping. Or he could inside and not aware of them. Then again, nobody could be home.
She situated the gun in her hand the way the FBI had trained her and fired up her phone flashlight. It was still dark outside. Inside, it would be nearly impossible to see without a light. She nodded once to David, who reared back a foot and kicked the door right around the handle. The door busted open with a loud crack.
With one smooth motion, Adrianna stepped into the doorway. She kept her gun in front of her, waiting to see movement. If she saw someone with a gun or really anything that flashed, she was going to put a hole in them.
Luckily, nobody was waiting inside, so Adrianna didn’t have to get violent. There was, however, a curse from another part of the house and a loud crash. Someone was running.
She charged into the house. “Stop! FBI!”
Technically, that was true. Adrianna was still an agent, even if Stone had commanded her to stay away from this particular case. Yeah, well… the detectives assigned to the case hadn’t even figured out Alex Washington’s identity yet.
Adrianna hated to sweep houses. She’d had to do it a couple times, and each time she dreaded it just a little bit more. It was about eight hundred times worse doing it in the dark. She kept seeing what she thought were flashes of movement, so she’d whip her phone light towards it only to discover it was a curtain or just her imagination.
“Look out!” she heard David yell.
Automatically, she dropped flat on her stomach, behind a couch. If the FBI had taught her anything, it was that getting shot sucked. As it turned out, her move was just on time. She heard a loud bang. It took her a second to realize that someone had shot at her. If she’d stayed up, she’d have a hole in her chest.
She fired back once. The thought occurred to her right then that she might be shooting at an innocent. Even though they knew Washington owned the house, someone might be there that wasn’t involved with the situation at hand. The last thing she wanted to do was get into a fight with some poor, uninvolved chap that thought they were getting attacked by a home intruder instead of an FBI agent with good intentions.
She whipped up her phone’s light. The man shouted something and fired off a pot shot, which actually clipped her phone and sent it spiraling out of her hand. Adrianna wasn’t quite sure what happened, but one second she was shining a light in his general direction, and then next second her phone was gone, and the man was shooting at her.
He was yelling insults at her, calling her “pig” and “copper” and a whole wealth of incredibly offensive insults. She was amazed at the number of derogatory words he’d apparently had stored up.
She caught just the briefest sign of movement as who she could only assume to be David sprinted across the room in the pitch blackness and tackled the shooter. The gun went off once into the ceiling.
When Adrianna found her phone and
illuminated the spot where the shooter had been, she discovered David standing over an unconscious Alexander Washington.
“What did you do?” She hurried over to the motionless man. “Did you kill him?” She couldn’t see any wounds, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there.
He prodded Washington’s unconscious body. “Nope, still breathing. I just hit him. They don’t call me Ole’ Left Hook for nothing.”
“Nobody calls you that.”
“Well, they should.”
It took forever for the guy to wake up. He was out cold from David’s punch. Although nobody called David Ole’ Left Hook, he was a fearsome fighter, and he had knocked out quite a few professionals. Some regular dude didn’t stand much of a chance.
Adrianna found some rope while trying to discover some clues before the police arrived to investigate the shots, so they tied the guy up and went for a drive. When the police arrived, they wouldn’t find a thing.
Luckily, David had always been fond of tinted windows, so when the guy woke up a couple hours later, nobody could see him tied up. Adrianna had driven them out in the middle of nowhere and parked the car while David grabbed some sleep.
Washington’s eyes blinked open slowly, then he abruptly realized he was not in his house anymore and that he was bound. Upon that realization, he started yelling as loud as he could. David jolted awake, but Adrianna didn’t do anything. They were in the middle of nowhere, way outside the city. She had only seen one or two cars on the road the entire time they’d been driving.
“You done?” she asked him when he finally stopped screaming. “Nobody can hear you.”
“Let me go!” he snarled, trying to rip free of the bonds. He’d have to have super strength to bust through the ropes. “I don’t know who you freaks are, but-“
“Ellie,” she said. At her name, his eyes widened, and he faltered for just half a second.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”