Page 36 of Operation: Discovery

Nixon’s shoulder walkie squawked, and he stepped away for a moment. Dee tried to hear what was said, but all she heard was “10-99” in the middle of muffled talk.

“What is 10-99?” she asked Brendon as he came alongside her.

“Not sure, why?” He shaded his eyes from the sun, reminding her she still needed to find some type of sun option for Rebecca. Her life was literally torn in two right now between helping her patient and helping find the missing boy.

Officer Blake turned back toward them. “10-99 means the car was stolen, but they had no backup. When they went to process the license information the driver gave him, they drove off. Squad three was in pursuit, but had to fall back when they drove into town. High speed chases are too dangerous within city limits. He put out a BOLO on the car. The license given was a fake.”

Dee closed her eyes and squeezed them tightly. “All that happened so fast.” She furrowed her brow. “Another dead end.”

“Not completely.” Brendon’s confident voice came from her side. “The bullet they shot at us is still lodged in your car. If they can get any information from that, we might just break this case yet.”

ChapterFifteen

Brendon strained against the long, tangling grass to move his chair by the front door to the garage. It literally looked like someone had picked up a detached garage and driven out to the middle of nowhere, then plopped it in the middle of a pasture. The only sign that the garage had been there longer than the fence was that the fence had been built around the small area where the garage sat.

“How long was this for sale before it was purchased?” Brendon asked, now that Nixon was off the phone with his lieutenant.

“When I checked it earlier, it had been years. The lot went into sheriff’s sale not that long ago, and the current owner was the only one who bid on it. They bought it for a dollar, paid all the back taxes on the property, and were in good standing. We had no reason to come out here and look at it.” He leaned up against his car. “I’m just waiting to hear back on my warrant request. Shouldn’t take long in the middle of the day like this.” He glanced at his watch.

Dee tugged on the handle of the garage door, but it didn’t budge. “I thought it was worth a test.”

Officer Blake nodded. “When I did my 360, I checked the doors, front and back, and looked for windows. I didn’t hear anything from inside and there’s no other way inside.”

Another squad car drove up and pulled to a stop behind Officer Blake’s. He got out and met Nixon by the front of his car. They spoke for a few seconds, then headed for the door of the garage. The second officer drew his gun and pulled a large flashlight from his duty belt, holding it aloft.

Officer Blake drew his weapon. “Police. Open up.”

Dee waited as Nixon nodded his head three times, then kicked in the old door. The dry wood splintered under the force and slammed into the building then hung off its hinges. Dee had never believed in haunted houses, but this garage certainly fit the stereotype.

“You two wait out here for a minute while we clear the area,” the other officer said as they both went in.

Fear and dread prickled up her spine. Now that she was here, in the middle of the case, she wished this rural town was more like the big city. She didn’t want to see what was inside there or be included in the case anymore. Something in there was going to change the direction of the case. She could feel it to her very core.

“I’m scared.” She usually wouldn’t admit such a thing.

Brendon took her hand and held it in his, sending warmth through her chilled fingers. “I know. I wasn’t sure if we did the right thing before, but now I’m glad we did. I don’t know what—if anything—they’ll find in there, but I’m certain whatever they do find won’t be good.”

Nixon returned and sighed as he placed his hands on his hips. “There’s a newly placed false floor in there. It’s little more than plywood, like they’d planned to install a floor. We picked up one of the boards that looked uneven and there was fresh digging there.”

Dee’s knees gave out on her and she felt herself falling, but could do nothing to stop the momentum. Brendon reached out with both arms, catching her. He held her close to his chest, wrapping his arms around her. She hadn’t allowed herself to be held, to be vulnerable, in years. Part of her wanted to stay there and absorb some of his strength.

Instead, she quickly righted herself, trying to avoid making the worry about her instead of where it should be, on what was happening inside.

Brendon glanced up at her, silently asking if she was all right. When she nodded, he directed his attention back to Nixon. “Is there anything we can do?”

Officer Blake replied, “No. We don’t know if that was the people who own this place or if they just found out the building was empty and decided to use it. There’s a lot that needs to happen, the first of which will be pulling those boards out and seeing what’s under them.”

She had no proof. No way of knowing. Yet, she knew all the same. They would find the little boy under there. “The woman looked familiar,” she blurted out.

“The woman Brendon mentioned on the phone.” Officer Blake turned his attention to her.

“Yes, the one who was smoking. She took her mask down. I might be able to describe her, but that cigarette might have her DNA. She had it in her mouth for a minute before she saw us and ran back inside.”

“I gathered it as evidence in case we needed it.”

The other officer came out of the building and waved Nixon back over. Though they kept their voices down, sound traveled to them, and Dee was able to hear what was said.

“We need some help in there. We’ll need someone to photograph the scene. That residual scent in there tells me we’re going to need the ME when we start digging.”

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