Page 91 of Protecting Bianca

My muscles strained under the pressure of the metal door, unflinching, unmoving. I grunted as sweat dripped down my brow. “Arrrr,” I groaned as my arms burned from the pressure.

Will’s footfalls pounded on the pavement as he ran toward me. I stepped back to give him space to work alongside me. The metal door creaked and groaned. We groaned along with it. “Fuck!” I cried as sweat poured down my face. Finally, the latch broke and Will and I fell backwards from the momentum. The door creaked as it hung open. I ran inside and stopped. There were boxes everywhere—small ones—too small to fit a human inside. I looked around, but there was nowhere to hide. “She’s not here.”

I ran out the door, grabbing the crowbar from the ground, and started on the next container. Will stood with his hands on his hips. “It will take days to open all of these,” he said. “There has to be another way.”

“I have an infrared device at home. It can tell us if someone is inside one of these containers. But I don’t want to leave here. It’s the last place she was seen.”

“I’ll call Christian and Jake. They’ll bring it over.”

Will stepped away to make the phone call, and I picked up the bar again and started prying at the door.

By the time Christian and Jake arrived, my arms were aching from the strain, but it wasn’t enough to make me stop. Only thepossibility of finding her quicker with the device made me put down the crowbar.

Christian jumped out of the car with Jake next to him. “Here. It was exactly where you said it would be.”

“Thank you.”

I took the device and turned it on. A black-and-white image appeared on the screen as I held it up to one of the shipping containers.

Christian looked back at the car and then at me. “Shouldn’t we bring him to the hospital or something?”

“He doesn’t have a scratch on him, and I don’t want him out of our sight. I’ve called the detectives on the case. They’ll be here shortly to question him.”

“Will, call this number. Make sure Mr. Towers stays put wherever he is.”

“I’ll call,” said Jake. “Give me the number.”

I recited the number to him and moved on to the next container as I scanned its contents. The next one was empty as well. There were hundreds of containers, and it could take all night to check them all, but I wasn’t going to stop until I found her, and no shipping container was leaving here until I made sure she was not inside.

“Towers is at the office. He’s all right.”

“Tell him to stay put until we get there,” I shouted.

Jake relayed the message, and I moved onto the next container.

“Come on,” I whispered as the machine whirled but found nothing warm inside. “She’s got to be here. I’ve got to find her.”

“There aren't any boats or ships docked,” said Christian, looking around the pier. “There’s no one else we can question if they’d even seen a woman. How do we know he didn’t take her somewhere else?”

“Walsh was still driving when Jager tracked him,” said Will. “He didn’t have a lot of time to hide her. It’s got to be one of these containers closest to the car.”

A little while later, Khan and Chaudhary’s car pulled up next to Walsh’s. They spoke to him while I continued my search for Bianca.

The sun began to set, and darkness was only minutes away. I imagined Bianca stuck inside one of these containers, terrified and alone. Did she know I was looking for her? I hoped she knew I wouldn’t stop until I found her. How could she not be frightened when she was tied up and gagged inside some filthy box?

My chest ached at the thought, and I moved faster from one box to the next.

I went on and on until I thought we would never find her.

And then the device beeped.

A tiny sound that punched a hole in my chest.

“Did you find something?” Will asked next to me.

“I think so.” I was too scared to be hopeful. I moved closer to the container, and the device beeped louder. The object was small, but not as small as a rat. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, but there was heat, that much I knew. Something was inside this container.

Bianca!

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