A Critical Tangent

by Reily Garrett

  Her relief at finding no glaring proof of underhanded transactions huffed out in a sigh when she closed the CEO’s door. The hall was dark with the promise of retribution for trespassing. Shame at suspecting her employer’s trusted staff dulled her earlier heightened senses. In her heart, she didn’t want to find anything but didn’t know where else to look.

  Two steps toward the exit, her foot halted midair when a faint noise caught her attention. Every muscle in her body clenched tight.

  Someone was in the southern stairwell.

  Not waiting, she took off, her wet sneakers squeaking from her woodsy trek. Peels from the shoes’ soles brought vomit to the back of her throat. She couldn’t have been noisier before shoving the exit bar.

  “Hey, chickie-chickie. Let’s have a chat.” From the opposite end of the hallway, a now familiar, deep chuckle filled the space.

  Shit. Her legs wobbled with each step.

  She’d known. Warning had come from her sixth sense. Had he been lying in wait, knowing she’d show?

  Half-turn stairwells meant fewer steps to vault. She bounded down each, landing at the bottom with a thud along with pain in her right ankle. The combination spurred her faster toward the exit.

  Karma dictated one of the bastard’s cohorts waited to snatch her up. When she shoved through the door to the first floor, she expected a fist in the face. But what she could see of the hallway was clear.

  By the time cool night air swept her bangs aside, sweat drenched her skin. Muffled curses drifted from inside. Praying the killer didn’t know which exit she took or where she was parked boosted her morale.

  Regular exercise prepared her for the race of her life. Fear drove her faster over the neatly trimmed lawn. The wood’s silent offering of protection had never felt so welcoming.

  Her movements, surroundings, even the wind sloughing through gnarled branches all decelerated in her mind. She’d read and understood the theory but never experienced her body’s response to hormonal dumping firsthand.

  Every sound from the breeze whipping though nearby trees and shuffling dead leaves to and fro, every sight occurred in high definition. Cortisol and adrenaline hormones would boost her reserves and then manifest in shaking, sweating, palpitations, and nausea. Her vision wavered with the flat pine needles of a low branch slapping her face.

  Lack of signs indicating pursuit could be good or bad.

  If he’d known where she parked, he might have someone waiting. Of course, taking time to observe once she got close might give the killer time to catch up.

  When she reached her vehicle, she plunged forward without hesitation. No hands reached for her and no one waited on the back seat to slit her throat.

  Leaving her drone behind could be explained if not for the cloth hanging down to cover the lens, but that was a problem to solve once safe. One hand on the wheel to guide her car, the other shoving the gearshift in reverse, she peeled out.

  On the road, she snatched up the controller and flew the drone toward the woods. Her car’s speed soon outstripped the controller’s range, but losing it in the treetops was better than leaving evidence at the scene.

  Absence of headlights in her rearview didn’t mean she wasn’t followed. She needed time to think things through.

  Leading a killer to Carolyn’s house wasn’t going to happen. Nolan’s house wasn’t an option either. Working rapport with Tucker didn’t include concealing a crime, and Gabby was MIA.

  The killer anticipated her moves at every turn. How long could she stay one step ahead?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Nolan’s suspicious nature dictated she might go to Harock Industries. Futile attempts to warn her away from the investigation spurred her determination to move forward.

  He’d parked a short distance away and decided to give her a couple hours, then disable her vehicle to prevent her escape. It was a neutral place to talk.

  Waiting was the most difficult part of the job. Tonight was no different. Field glasses kept in the back seat offered little to view through thickened woods.

  This wait proved shorter than anticipated.

  When twin headlights pierced the night and headed back toward his direction, he followed. Erratic driving wasn’t his imagination when she took a turn too fast and didn’t slow to navigate a roughened patch of road. All four wheels of her abused car left the pavement on a sharp ridge.

  His little snoop had found something which scared the shit out of her.

  After pulling onto the asphalt, he didn’t turn on his lights and thanked heaven for the light misting and cloud cover. Wind tugging at his heavier vehicle forced him to wonder what demons were making her so reckless.

  Over time, she slowed to a more reasonable speed.

  Trailing someone in a desolate area required two vehicles minimum, but he wanted to follow his hunch without Coyote interjecting random strategies. How much trouble can she find?

  Instead of heading home, she wound her way through rolling countryside, slowing after passing the nature preserve. It was nights like the present he was thankful for keeping a full gas tank.

  He went on alert the instant her lights went dark and she slowed to a crawl. The road’s shoulder was almost nonexistent, but he saw a few trampled paths in the woods, one of which offered her an advantage, a place to hide her vehicle.

  If she suspected someone had followed her, the current action made no sense.

  No, she thinks she’s onto something.

  It didn’t matter that she’d selected dark jeans and jacket while carrying a light with shielded lens. The ridiculous cap would mark her location and identity in a heartbeat.

  With a sigh, he hid his SUV and shadowed her movements. If she made half as much noise as she did the day he led her to his house, he’d have no problem despite the increasing wind and light drizzle.

  At least in the woods, they’d stay drier. To his knowledge, there were no homes and no businesses nearby. Timing and circumstances boded ill.

  It proved more difficult to withhold laughter over her muffled curses than to keep track of her whereabouts. It seemed an overabundance of determined thorns slowed her effort.

  When he crossed a well-traveled dirt path, he wondered if she knew where she was going and what to expect. As a local, she should have some idea.

  Careful to close the distance with as little noise as possible, he paused several times when hearing a quiet snap. He couldn’t discern its direction but figured the likelihood of him being followed was small.

  If he were wrong, then the other person was good. To be fair, it didn’t help that he was a walking advertisement for sticky confetti. The sooner he could collect his little snoop and get her the hell home, the better.

  She stopped and assessed her surroundings after muffling a cry. More curses declared her a non-fan of adrenaline inducing activities. Her colorful cap snagged on a branch and she yanked it back with another epithet.

  He froze when she stopped at the edge of a clearing, waiting to decide on her next course of action. Any faults she had didn’t include cowardice.

  A few minutes passed while Nolan waited.

  Like a villain in a cartoon, she crept forward in a hunched position. No doubt her defense of the ill-suited cap would be its coverage of her thick blonde hair. Deciding the lesser of the two evils correlated to a toss-up unworthy of consideration.

  In the clearing, a large warehouse stood sentinel on a small rise. Two stories of fabricated metal siding, no windows, no proper driveway, and no landscaping. Overgrown weeds stood thigh high right up to the metal siding.

  The place even warned him to approach with care.

  Out here with no designated parking area, no marking at the entrance, and no sign on the door. Not good, kid.

  It was too much to hope she’d turn around.

  Either the wind kicked up his paranoia, or another person circled the perimeter. Regardless, he was committed.

  Calling his partner was no longer an option once he’d tres
passed on private property. He could argue the point of following a suspect, but that debate would only go so far.

  Keiki had sense enough to draw near from the back. He waited for her to try the door, find it locked, and return to her car.

  The door opened.

  Shit. Don’t go in there. Come on, Keiki. Show me you’ve got some sense.

  The darkened interior swallowed her without a sound, and he shook his head.

  Technically, he could follow under the guise of witnessing a break-in. He’d never bent so many laws in his life.

  He had no doubt that whatever she now stumbled onto wasn’t good, or safe.

  Fate would dictate her either the gutsiest or dumbest coed he’d ever met. Thinking of her as a kid kept their non-relationship in proportion, until he remembered the picture by her bedside.

  The tree line offered the last cover to listen for anyone else dumb enough to sneak around the woods of an unknown area while wearing a bullseye on their head.

  Nope. It seemed he was alone.

  If someone shot him and left him in the woods, it would serve him right.

  A second’s hesitation at the door and internal sigh couldn’t prepare him for the intended lunacy. He entered with his gun drawn. Inside, what little light there was came from the metal walls reflecting her small flashlight.

  Behind him, the door shut without a creak or rasp.

  To his left, a pile of stacked pallets offered a place to observe without being seen if she looked around. At this point, there was no telling what absolute nonsense traveled at warp speed through her head.

  On second thought, yes, he did know.

  Her gasp of surprise came after light illuminated a stash of drones on a long low table. Multiple tables held a variety of devices.

  Several clicks indicated her taking close-up photos of those which held particular interest. She leaned in to get a look at what he suspected were her initials on the legs. Whatever she discovered inspired a new round of epithets.

  She’s not wearing gloves. Damn it.

  At least she didn’t have her gun for part two of her idiotic trifecta. The girl didn’t think like a criminal or a private investigator, which put her in more danger. Her heart was in the right place, but she lacked training and experience.

  At least the PI hadn’t taught her his tricks. Yet. Her entanglement with an experienced sleuth generated an uneasiness for reason’s he wouldn’t decipher.

  “Nice that phone cameras have flash nowadays, isn’t it?” His voice carried clear in the open space as he stepped forward.

  She dropped her cell on the table without turning around. “Detective Garnett? What are you doing here?”

  “Oh, just seeing what my favorite pain in the ass is up to. Whatcha got there?” He approached with caution, striding to her side before returning his gun to its rig.

  She hadn’t moved.

  “Where are your gloves?”

  “Took ‘em off ‘cause they got wet.”

  “Who owns this place?”

  “Don’t know. I found the address in Franklin Harock’s card index.”

  Suppressed giggles erupted after her light reflected the myriad sparkles covering his form. She didn’t remark about him glowing like a neon sign with all the glitter stuck in his hair and clothes. It would take many showers to clear.

  “You’ve never been here before?”

  “Nope.” Another giggle.

  “What have you touched?” Bending laws, aka giving advice rather than retrieving cuffs, entailed a slippery slope he’d never thought to travel, until now.

  “Um, nothing but the table here.”

  “Note to future burglars, go waterproof.”

  She looked at his bare hands and arched a brow but was smart enough to not speak.

  Nolan took his handkerchief and wiped the table, then asked, “Did you use telekinesis to turn the door knob?”

  “Oh, yeah. That too.”

  When she picked up her phone, he took it and stuffed it in his jacket. “I’ll keep this for now. You can get it back tomorrow. Okay?” Rhetorical questions were becoming the norm when around her. “It’s time we got the hell out of here.”

  “Wait! You have to see this. It proves my point.”

  “I’ll look at your pictures later and then we’ll talk. Right now, we leave.” A slight tug at his pocket forewarned she’d retrieved her phone. It wasn’t like she would erase the pictures.

  “But it proves someone’s cloning my devices.”

  With a tighter grip on her upper arm, he towed her toward the exit. “Later. Damn it, Keiki. I’m not sure we’re alone here.”

  Her acquiescence came with a nod and shuffling toward their escape. When she opened the door, he yanked her back.

  “Wait.”

  His first step outside coincided with her gripping his jacket. Turning to see what snared her attention proved one distraction too many.

  Pain exploded in his temple before everything went black.

  * * * *

  Keiki had opened her mouth to protest, frustrated when he hadn’t listened.

  From behind the door, a flash of movement caught her eye, a shadow moving at lightning speed toward the detective’s head. The shadow arm swung the butt of a gun in its second most popular method of use.

  The detective crumpled face down in the dirt before she could maneuver to catch him.

  “Nolan!”

  “You should be more worried about your skinny little ass.” The accent tingeing the voice thickened on a low chuckle as the prick toed Nolan in the ribs.

  Keiki looked up to recognize the glint in eyes staring daggers at her through a black knit mask. Beady eyes. From her kneeling position, she felt the steady pulse at Nolan’s neck.

  “Jesus, what the hell do we have here?”

  “He didn’t see you.” She didn’t rat out Nolan’s cop status as she slipped her phone from her back pocket and slid it under the leaves.

  “Oh, I’m not going to kill him. No self-respecting man would cover himself in glitter then follow a girl through the woods. Looks like he’s preparing for his part as a fairy princess in the school play. Who would take him seriously? Though he does look kinda familiar under all that shit. Who is he?”

  She swallowed hard but didn’t speak.

  Two other men approached from the woods, each wearing dark clothing and a mask. Both snickered when shoving the detective onto his back.

  “Kinda old for you, isn’t he, girlie? Does he help you build your little toys?”

  “No. He’s a classmate’s brother. We just started dating. Who are you?”

  Beady eyes spoke up. “You can call me Porter.”

  Porter shook his head in disgust. “You like the older guys, huh? Looks like we’re gonna get along just fine. But first, let’s make sure the boys in blue go on a wild goose chase when they find this place.”

  “You want the police here?”

  “Absolutely. S’all part of the plan. Wonder how long it’ll take ‘em.”

  Before she could react, he’d snatched her colorful knit cap and tossed it back though the door and to the side. “That oughta give their forensic meddlers something to think about.”

  “What about the fairy here?” One of the thugs shoved Nolan’s shoulder.

  “Dump him in the woods down the road. By the time he finds his way back to civilization, this place will be wiped clean and we’ll have all the drones needed to continue our own little venture.”

  “We didn’t find another vehicle.” The third speaker was shorter and bore a stronger accent. “They must’ve come together. Why didn’t they go inside together?”

  “He came with me,” she blurted. “Kept some distance to see that we weren’t followed.”

  “Definitely not a cop.” Porter sniggered.

  When the underlings suspended Nolan’s limp body by his shoulders, he made no noise and gave no indication of reviving.

  A low hum rumbled up Porter’s chest. “Dump him i
n the woods, but leave him alive. Boss gets upset when the body count rises.”

  “What is it you want?” Even if she could outrun his leaded projectiles, Keiki wouldn’t leave Nolan in her stead.

  If the killer kept his word, the detective would find her phone and live to finish what he started, albeit sporting a nasty concussion.

  He’ll search for me.

  “I deal in precious commodities. Today’s flavor is information. If you and your whorish friend are nice enough, I may let you live.”

  “My friend… Gabby? You have Gabby?”

  “Helluva nickname. I have to admit, though, it suits her.”

  Keiki struggled when he snatched her up by the collar. The gun he returned to his holster proved unnecessary considering his sheer size and strength.

  From his pocket, Porter retrieved a flashlight and flicked on a beam of light to mark their path.

  With a last glance in Nolan’s direction, she stumbled beside her kidnapper as he dragged her back through the woods. The new direction threw off her internal compass. She cried out when thorns tore at her hands and clothes. Heavier rain cooling her body temperature added to nature’s conspiracy to see her humiliated for foolish behavior.

  New foreboding set up shop in her chest with the dawning that her kidnapper didn’t care about her condition, only that she arrived at their destination. Unsuccessful attempts at suppressing sobs ended with a firm slap and muttered threats.

  If life had taught her anything, it was that there were many variables to any situation, including the opportunity to escape. Any information she could gather would help. “Looks like you know your way around.”

  “Stop fishing. Won’t do you any good. You should be concentrating on how to please me.”

  When Nolan regained consciousness, he wouldn’t be able to track her, but he’d have evidence if he found her phone.

  Keiki read people’s body language as a matter of experience. It was another thing her PI friend tried to teach her. From what she understood, her future encompassed darkness, fear, and pain.