Page 30 of 1st Shock
Security lights illuminate the front, but I'm more interested in the glow of our interior lamps seeping through the blinds of the window. Haley must still be here. Working late. Even our admin has too much to do.
For her sake, I hope she’s locked up. I check the handle and it doesn't budge. Good. As I insert my key, cold wind whips my hair against my face. I tip my head back and inhale fresh air, thankful for each breath. Unlike Emily, Avery, and the woman discovered hours earlier, I'm alive, doing what I love—no matter how emotionally draining—and I'm grateful.
Even if it wrecks me, drives me to a debilitating madness that'll never fully leave me, I'm making a difference. I know I am.
I lift my head, stare at the solid walnut door Charlie insisted on and exhaustion presses down on me like a baby elephant.
Damn, I'm tired. But...Avery. We need to identify her and send her home. Wherever that might be.
I turn the key and the clunk echoes in my head, its energy shooting straight down my spine. I don't want to be here. My mind keeps telling me that, but my heart can't let go. It wants to work on Avery, so I push open the door.
The desk is empty. More than likely, she's in the powder room or maybe the kitchen area.
"Haley?"
The heels on Matt's worn biker boots clop-clop against the pavement as he strides behind me. "What's up?"
After yesterday's incident a fresh batch of paranoia shreds my already taxed nerves. "She's not answering."
Then I'm in motion, my mind pounding at me to stay put, but my body needs to move. Matt is hot on my heels as I charge the hallway, checking each office.
"Haley?"
"Haley!"
Matt's louder voice echoes mine, but still no answer. I scan my office, frustration mounting. When I step back into the hall, Matt appears in the conference room doorway shaking his head.
"Nothing."
I peer at the back door and...hold on.
Half an inch of the interior edge is visible. It’s been pulled closed, but not completely.
"Crap," Matt says, obviously noting the same.
He angles around me and in a few long strides is ripping it open.
No.
That's my first thought. How twisted am I that my only reaction is he's touched the door and obliterated fresh prints?
Morbid. I know.
Outside, he hooks a sharp left half-jogging toward Haley's compact. I go the other way. Why, I'm not sure, but something pulls me, yanks me to the side where a narrow path separates us from the neighboring building.
On my third step I spot the broken streetlight. The one that's supposed to illuminate the corner of the lot and my chest locks up, reminding me to breathe or I'll wind up in a face plant.
Shit.
"Matt!"
A muffled sound bursts from the alley and I halt. Fifteen feet in front of me, shadows move. Two bodies, apparently in a struggle.
"Matt!"
Panic roars at me, filling my ears with a whoosh that doubles my vision. I should stop. I know I should, but something is wrong.
Really wrong.
