Page 87 of Wandering in Darkness
After about half an hour, I fall asleep and sleep for the rest of the flight until Eddie’s whispered “Just leave him here” wakes me up.
“No, don’t leave me,” I groan, struggling to get up.
I feel like a zombie as I trail after them and am immediately stuffed into an SUV where I’m given the gun I usually use, since I couldn’t very well bring the one Grayson gave me with no notice.
Once in the vehicle, they go over everything, explaining that Devon and I will be inside an abandoned apartment building facing a hotel which is owned by whoever the deal is being made with. To my understanding, the hotel is now for the rich men and women this man deals with on a daily basis, marking it as a high-end establishment.
We plan on trading money for their supplies, again sending a tracker with the money in the hope of seeing how the money is transferred through the city and what places we need to target. This group is the one that Lt. Allen was hoping to learn about from the men who tried shooting us. Thankfully, it seems like after months of work from Devon, he’s finally made contact with them and is sending his “men” in to deal with them. Which means that Devon is staying back with me while the other three go in for the exchange.
We’re given our earpieces so we can communicate with each other, and the two of us are walking toward the apartment building when Eddie wishes us luck through them.
Devon taps his earpiece before pulling it out. “Is yours clear?” he asks.
“Yeah, no issue on my end.”
“Mind if we swap? Mine’s crackly as fuck. That way I can direct things better if you’re concentrating.”
“Yeah, of course,” I agree as I pull mine off and hand it over.
“Thanks. I’ll just relay what’s being said if any of them try to communicate with us,” Devon says as he holds his hand out, so I give him mine and he sticks his old one in his pocket.
“You don’t have a spare set?”
“I do in the vehicle, but we need to keep moving. I don’t want to delay.”
“True,” I say, hurrying after him. Once in the run-down structure, we make it to the fourteenth floor, taking the stairs since there’s no electricity in the building and the elevator’s not in operation. It’s apparent that this place has been broken into more than once, so getting inside isn’t much of a hardship.
“I think I need to exercise more,” Devon comments. “I’m not used to steps.”
“These are nothing like the steps on that hike yesterday,” I say. “If you want to practice steps, I have the perfect spot for you.” I show off my wounded hands and he shakes his head.
“I’m good. I like my hands the way they are.”
We find a decent apartment that faces the hotel and let ourselves in through the broken doorway. There’s still junk in the room, including children’s toys and shoes they likely outgrew, along with plenty of stuff that’s just wasted away ever since the tenants left.
I find a table with a broken leg to set my case on and then decide which of the rooms will work. The only issue is I pick a room with a window that won’t open, so I head to the next room and find that this one does open but won’t stay up when it nearly guillotines me right there.
“Looks like they were using this stick to keep it open,” Devon says as he wedges it in the window.
“It’s like a death trap,” I grumble, kicking a soiled rug out of the way. When I do, I get an overwhelming smell of dog piss and realize that I’m about to kneel in whatever nasty shit wasleft on the floor. Even so, I set up, glad for the fresh breeze washing some of that stench away.
“I’m surprised whoever owns that fancy-ass hotel hasn’t demolished this thing,” I say as I settle in and look through my scope. “Who wants to be looking at this shitty building?”
“I am too. Maybe the owners won’t sell,” Devon replies while he takes up position. “I told our team to try to keep the others near the windows to help us out. I don’t see any of them yet. They’re supposed to be dining up on the top floor.”
“I can see waiters moving around, so it looks like they’re preparing for them. I wonder if they’re just not there yet.”
“Possibly. You stay focused on the top floor. I’m scanning the lower floors,” he says.
I want to scan them too, but I stay where I’m told, focusing on anyone walking past, but they all seem to be staff preparing for the meal.
Devon’s phone chimes and he pulls it out, annoying me a bit. We need our full attention on this, and if he really doesn’t want me scouting out the building myself, he can’t be looking away for even a moment.
He seems to read the text before turning his attention back to the hotel.
“Something wrong?”
“No, I was just checking if it was one of them,” he says. “Just my wife. Wants to know what I want for my birthday dinner.”
