Page 150 of Here and Now
“I’m going to check it out.” I’m out of the car before he can say anything else.
As I approach the front door, two men exit the building. “Can I help you?” a tall man with dark-brown hair asks.
“I’m Miles Anderson. I’m here to see Quinn Miller.”
“I don’t know anyone by that name,” he replies.
“Tell him it’s about his sister and nephew. Penelope and Kai.”
The man pauses and then says something through a radio. A minute passes, maybe two, and I’ve assessed a lot more about the building than from my original glance.
There are two posts on the top where snipers would be perched. I’m pretty sure there’s at least one there now, but I can’t tell for sure. All over the doors and windows are cameras. They’re small, hidden very well, and anyone would miss them, but I see the lens moving now.
This isn’t an abandoned building.
This is a fortress.
After another minute goes by without a word being spoken between anyone, Quinn exits the building. He looks slightly concerned, but also a little irritated.
“What do you mean it’s about Penelope? What about my sister?”
“Where do you have her?” I ask.
His eyes widen just a smidge. “What?”
I shake my head, not wanting to play games. “She left me, and Iknow you have her hidden. I just need to talk to her. Tell me where she is.”
Quinn looks to the other guy, who shakes his head. “Miles, I’m going to say this very clearly, and I’m not fucking around. I didn’t move Penelope from Ember Falls. So if she’s gone, she either moved herself, which she would never do without telling me, or someone has her.”
“Everything is gone,” I say quickly. “Everything. Not a single item was left in that house.”
He shakes his head and looks to the other guy. “Go!”
Quinn starts to walk away, but I grab his arm. “I’m going wherever you are. I love her, and I’m not going to sit around doing nothing. You can either let me help, which as a recon guy, you know I can, or I’ll do it my fucking self.”
“Let’s go then, but you didn’t see anything when you were here, understood?”
I follow him inside, pulling out my phone to text Lachlan that I’m staying and that I’ll meet up with him later.
When we enter the building, it’s almost unbelievable. There are monitors in a row against the back wall and people walking around. It reminds me of the inside of our tents on a mission. Start-up company, my ass.
Quinn stops at a desk. “Penelope and Kai were taken. Find anything you can. Traffic cams, receipts, anything, ping the burner as well.”
“She has a burner?” I ask.
“She does. Hopefully she has it on her.”
There is so much about her that I don’t know.
I sigh, pointing out the obvious. “If someone took her, they’d have searched her.”
Quinn nods. “I’m aware, but I’m going to hope we find something.”
“Will you let me do something? I want to dig into her ex. Maybe there are some common-tie names. She mentioned his partner was there that night,” I remind him.
“That’s one of the guys we keep tabs on. He’s in Chicago still.”
“You don’t think that someone with his reach and money could send someone to get her?”
