Page 46 of Sinner's Secret

Had the driver chosen this parking garage because it was little used and they planned to leave the ambulance and his dead body where it wouldn’t be found right away, or for some other reason?

Sirens wailed in the distance.

Staying with the vehicle wasn’t an option, and he really needed to figure out where he was.

Baz slipped out of the ambulance, shut the doors, and strode with purpose to the nearest door marked exit. He had to go up two flights of cracked concrete stairs before he found his way onto the street.

It was mid-afternoon, but clouds had rolled in, so the sun wasn’t as bothersome as it could have been.

The closest street sign told him he was closer to the zoo than he expected. This part of the city was mostly residential, and the uniform he was wearing was going to attract attention.

On the other hand, people tended to only see the uniform, not the guy wearing it, so maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to keep it on.

The phone in his pocket pinged and he pulled it out to look at it. A text message had come in.

Delivery made?

First a cab driver, then a paramedic, and now a delivery guy.

Busy day.

Baz stepped into the shelter of the parking garage and pulled out the finger. He pressed it against the phone and the screen unlocked.

He quickly put the squishy digit away, swiped the screen, read through the series of messages in the conversation with a contact called The Office. Short, formal, and vague.

He could do that. He typed in a return message.

Package delivered after second attempt. Difficult customer.

There is a noise complaint.

It must have been made after I left the package and departed. All breakage is the customer’s responsibility.

Return to the office, we have another delivery for you.

Excellent, I shall return by indirect means.

There was no response, which Baz took to mean acceptance. Now he just needed to figure out where this office, and Nika, was.

And get out of this uniform.

And get rid of the finger in his pocket.

Busy, busy day.

***

Consciousness returned to Nika slowly.

The inside of her mouth tasted like spoiled meat and her head hurt so much she wished she was still out. Her body felt odd. There was a painful buzzing sensation moving through her muscles, and they weren’t responding to what she wanted them to do—open her eyes and sit up.

It took several seconds for the lethargic partial wakefulness to clear before she could pry her eyelids up.

An overweight, bald man sat on a chair next to her. Close enough to touch. Close enough to smell his rank body odor.

Where...What...?

Adrenaline careened through her system like a derailing freight train, burning away her body’s need to shut down and return to unconsciousness.

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