Page 19 of Halloween in Sleepy Hollow
Thea had a gun held on her, too. She was kidnapped. Nearly killed.
Shit.
Oliver spins around, scanning the darkened buildings around us. “Cole’s on the way with Rylan. He said he’d call Ian and Kane, let them know to head here, too. Then we’ll canvas the area. Search the buildings.”
“And nothing on Shea’s tracker?” Cash asks.
Oliver exhales heavily. “Nothing. It’s like she just disappeared. Or—” He turns towards the bank. “Or she’s someplace the signal can’t get through.”
As soon as he says it, my thoughts follow his.
Where would there be walls thick enough to block a GPS signal?
Cash sucks in a sharp breath. “The old bank.”
Oliver nods. “There’s a vault in there. Unless they’ve torn it out since the bank closed.”
“I don’t think so,” I reply. Instinctively, I take a step towards the bank. “Thea was telling me how some investor bought the place. They want to turn it into a bank-themed restaurant. So if they’re going to do that, I bet they’d want to use the vault. Make it into a dining area or something.”
“Maybe we should go inside,” Cash suggests. “The bank, I mean. If there’s a chance they’re in there…”
“Let’s check the perimeter first.” Oliver jerks his chin at the bank. “As much as I want to go busting in there, we don’t have enough information yet.”
“Do weneedmore information?” There’s a terse note to Cash’s voice. “If there’s any chance Ari’s in there, I don’t want to wait.”
“I know.” Oliver meets his gaze. “And I feel the same. But we don’t know they’re inside. And if they are, we don’t know how many people could be involved. If there’s just the one man we saw or if he has accomplices. If we just rush in there unprepared and one of the women gets hurt…”
Cash’s lips thin. But he nods at Oliver. “I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.” With another glance at the bank, he says, “Let’s go, then.”
In silent agreement, we all head towards the bank, not to the entrance but the overgrown bushes to one side of it. In a low tone, Oliver says, “Okay, since I’m armed, I’ll take the east side myself. You two take the west. We’ll meet around back.”
Then he retrieves his gun from inside his jacket and holds it at the position I recognize as low ready. “I have a knife,” he adds. Removing asmall switchblade from his inside jacket pocket, he hands it over to Cash. “And a taser.” That, he hands to me.
I stare at him for a second. Despite the dire situation, I can’t help asking, “Do you carry all this with youallthe time?”
His lips twitch. “Yes. Shea says it’s overkill. But—” His features pinch into a grimace. “Apparently not.”
On that note, we split up, Oliver to the east and Cash and myself to the west.
As we work our way around the perimeter of the bank, by silent agreement Cash searches along the ground while I carefully peer through the windows. He uses the flashlight on his phone to scan the thick grass, carefully shielding the light with his hand to keep the light hidden. I don’t want to risk using my own flashlight, not at the level I’m searching, so I have to rely on the faint light of the moon to guide me.
We’re nearly at the back corner of the building when I spot the first glimmer of light through a window.
Pressing myself flat against the brick wall, I creep closer. Breath held and heart racing, I peer through the dirty glass.
And there.
Just a sliver of light glowing beneath a closed door.
The room itself is dark and empty, but the light beyond? It’s something.
Backing away from the window, I whisper to Cash, “There’s a light inside. I can see it coming from outside the door.”
Cash shuts off his flashlight and stands up straight. Then he looks inside, just as I did.
“I think that’s an office,” he says after a moment’s thought. “So there’s a light on in the hallway. Or some sort of light source.”
“It could have been left on by the construction crew.” But I really, really hope it wasn’t.
