Page 3 of Blaze

“Can you take my shift next Saturday?”

I barely stopped my shoulders from slumping in relief since I had thought she was going to ask me what I was doing. Forcing an apologetic smile, I shook my head. “Sorry, but I already have plans that day.”

I didn’t really, but it seemed like a better answer than I wasn’t sure if I’d even be around to work after tomorrow. If I didn’t figure out where Sabrina was, I might be in the hospital. Or worse.

“Darn,” she sighed.

“Maybe Paul can cover for you,” I suggested, jerking my head toward the teller on the other side of her.

When she turned to ask him, I quickly wrote down the address and clocked out. My guilty conscience got the better of me, and I felt like everyone was staring at me as I said my goodbyes.

On my drive home, I was careful to drive exactly the speed limit. I didn’t even have anything incriminating on me, but with how jittery I was feeling, I didn’t want to get pulled over.

Parking in my assigned spot, I scanned the lot for any sign of the guys who’d forced their way into my apartment yesterday. When I didn’t see anyone, I headed into the building.

I didn’t feel any safer inside my apartment, so I let out a soft shriek when my cell rang. Glancing at the screen, I saw my brother’s name. I always answered when he called but was sorely tempted to send him to voicemail. Arlen took his big brother duties seriously, and I knew I couldn’t avoid him for long. His Navy SEAL team was due to deploy overseas soon, so he’d want an update on how things were going for me before he left.

I briefly considered telling him about what was going on, but I didn’t want to stress him out right before he went into a potentially dangerous situation. Not until after I checked out that address first, at least. If I didn’t turn up anything on Sabrina, then I’d think about calling Arlen to ask for help before my forty-eight hours were up.

“Hey, big bro. How’re you doing?” I asked, infusing my voice with an enthusiasm I didn’t feel.

I should’ve known it wouldn’t work because Arlen was too observant for my own good. “What’s wrong?”

“Just a long day at work. Sometimes people can be such jerks.”

Both statements were true, they just weren’t the whole story.

“You need me to come teach ’em a lesson the next time I’m on leave?”

I wasn’t surprised by his offer since he’d always been protective of me, and it had only amped up when our parents passed away in a car crash shortly after I graduated from high school. I gave him the same answer I’d done each time he’d said something similar. “I’ll let you know if it comes down to needing that.”

“You better.”

“Enough about me. Anything new going on with you that you can actually tell me about? Like maybe you met my future sister-in-law?” I asked, knowing that questions about his love life—or lack thereof—would sidetrack him from grilling me about what was going on with me.

“Like I have time to worry about dating,” he growled.

“All I’m hearing are excuses,” I chided. “Especially when so many of the guys on your team are happily married.”

With how demanding their job was, the divorce rates for Navy SEALs tended to be really high. But a lot of the men my brother worked with had defied the odds, which gave me hopefor whenever he found the special woman who made him fall head over heels in love for the first time. Not that I blamed him for holding out for the right one. Our parents had set a high bar for relationships since they hadn’t hidden from us how deeply in love they’d been with each other.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, changing the topic to mundane stuff.

We chatted for about five more minutes before he had to go. “Love you, sis.”

“Love you, too,” I choked out, barely resisting the urge to blurt out everything that was going on.

Instead, I hung up and waited until after sunset to drive to the warehouse located on the south side of Riverstone. I’d never broken into anywhere before, but I assumed that doing it in broad daylight upped the odds of getting caught.

When it was finally dark out, I dressed in all black and headed out to my car. Then I carefully drove to the address I’d pulled off the bank’s computer and hoped like heck that I wasn’t going to their compound because then I’d have zero chance of sneaking in. Or at least I assumed I would, based on the little I knew about motorcycle clubs. All of which I’d learned from television shows or the online research I’d done over the past few hours.

I drove past the address, peering out my passenger side window and heaving a deep sigh of relief when I didn’t spot a single car or person anywhere. There was a guard shack, but no lights were on inside.

The gate was closed, so I took advantage of the lack of traffic to slowly circle the property until I found a spot where I could pull my car next to the fence. I hopped out and climbed onto the hood, then crawled up to the roof, which gave me just enough of a boost to make it over the top rail. After landing on the otherside, I ran as fast as I could toward the large building, glad for just enough moonlight to see where I was going.

When I reached the back door, I leaned against the hard surface, gasping for breath. I tried the handle and found it locked. I jiggled it a few times with a groan before pounding my head against the door. Patting my pocket, I was grateful that my brother had drilled into my head to always carry a multi-tool pocket knife.

Between that, my flashlight, and a handy video online that I streamed on my phone, I was able to pick the lock using the scissors. All I had to do was flip the handle down so it lined up with one of the blades. Then I inserted it into the keyhole, jiggling up and down while pressing toward the opening. Eventually, I was able to turn the tool to the right, unlocking the door.

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