Page 65 of Until I Found You
Twenty-Four
Graham
I ended up driving Halle to work this morning. Dropping her off wasn’t easy to do. All morning I was dreading the thought of being away from her, but I knew she would hate it if I asked her not to go. On top of it, there were some things I needed to get done at the office.
After the run-in with Krate on our way home from the races, something told me I needed to drive by and check things out. It’s one thing to come after me, to provoke me, but it’s another thing completely when you come after the people I love. I wasn’t going to sit by idly anymore and let him scare Halle.
He was hiding something. That much is certain. Whatever it is, he doesn’t want us to catch onto him. If there’s any chance for me to get justice for Gage, I need to figure out what it is.
Checking the rearview mirror, I look to see if anyone is behind me as I glance around the desolate fields surrounding the Krate property. Up until now, no one has been able to prove it, but when Isaac Krate was arrested, Gage had to have known this wasn’t going to make people happy. He played a key role in the drugs that passed through Iowa. Stopping him was going to have serious ramifications to their operation.
It’s no surprise that with Isaac behind bars it left a spot open for someone to fill his shoes. It wouldn’t be long before Marc would be involved in the same bullshit that got them arrested before. Isaac was likely running low on funds and with four children, he needed a way to provide for his family when he was locked up.
Pulling onto the dirt road that leads to the back of the property, I hit the button on the radio as I drive slowly toward the large warehouse that doubles as their residence. Word around town is they use it to hide a lot of their business dealings.
Parking my pickup off behind an old rundown barn, I reach into my pocket and turn my phone on silent. The last thing I need while I’m out here poking around is my cover blown.
I leave the key in the ignition and climb out of the truck, careful not to make any noise as I close the door. When I laid in bed last night, I thought an awful lot about Krate and what would possess him to run us down like he did. His encounters with Halle, along with the fire at my mom’s just seem too coincidental to me.
He’s up to something and it’s time I do something about it, before someone seriously gets hurt. I’d rather it be me than either of them. I grab my pistol from my glove box and check the barrel, before slipping it into the waistband of my pants.
I’d hate to have to use it, but I’ve learned all too well that these fuckers don’t play nicely. If I have to protect myself, I can, and I will.
Jogging across the dirt road, I keep my body pressed up against the side of the warehouse, as I walk along the side of the large building. Leaning my back up against the wall, I listen quietly for any sounds on the other side, before I peek into the window of the door.
It’s dark inside and difficult to make out anything. The window almost appears to be tinted, like they don’t want anyone to be able to look through. The door is locked, but by the looks of the door frame, it’s evident I’m not the first to try and break in. Checking around me again, I use every ounce of force in me to shove the door open.
Grabbing the gun from my waistband, I release the safety and prepare to shoot in the event someone heard me as I quietly close the door behind me. I don’t trust any of these fuckers as far as I can throw them. Looking around the room, it’s piled high from floor to ceiling with boxes upon boxes.
I don’t know what I thought I’d find in here, but unless I plan on going through these, I’m afraid I’m shit out of luck. I open the top of one of the boxes and shuffle through them. It turns up a dead end, only a few kids’ clothes. There’s another next to it containing some toys and books.
Not wasting my time, I close them as I pull out my flashlight and hold it up looking around the back wall. There’s an old rustic workbench that looks like it hasn’t been used in years by the layers of saw dust left piled on it.
Stepping over more boxes, I continue to walk toward the other side of the building, noticing several boxes stacked high. Despite that, I spot the metal shining back at me reflecting off the flashlight. I recognize those wheels, they look awfully like the ones Krate has on his old GTO he’s driving now.
“What the hell?” I mutter to myself, as I push the boxes to the side and slip between them. The boxes seem to be stacked strategically around the car, so if you were standing at the front of the building you would never see it parked back here.
Sliding the gun back into the waistband of my pants, I hold the flashlight in my mouth as I work to slide the cloth cover off the top of the car.
How the hell would he get the car in and out of here in such a short amount of time? It doesn’t make sense.
Dropping the cloth on the dirty cement floor, I hold the flashlight up again as I walk around the back of the black GTO. I flash it into the window, as I round the side toward the front. As the light flashes against the hood of the car, images flash in front of my eyes again.
This time I’m not sitting in the car with Halle, reassuring her and urging her to drive faster. I’m in the moment with Gage, with my phone pressed against my cheek as he yells at me about someone riding his ass.
He looks frantically in his rearview mirror, watching the lights swerve behind him as someone drives erratically. I can feel his heart pumping as the car swerves in the lane next to him, the realization of who it is when he sees the dark GTO keeping the pace just before crashing into him, sending him fishtailing into the ditch.
Shuffling along the side of the car, something tells me to look at the front of the car. Flashing a light over the front fender, my throat goes dry at what I find.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. Maverick’s name flashes across the screen. I want to let it go to voice mail, but after what I found I decide against it.
“Mav,” I answer.
“Man, where are you at?”
His voice on the other end sounds panicked, setting off alarm bells in my head.
“I’m over at the Krate compound.”
