by Zoe Arden
"I'm sorry," I said, then looked down. "It seems like that's all I've been saying to you lately."
He sighed and squeezed my hand. "You found your ring."
"I never lost it," I said, looking at the diamond Colt had given me. "I was just stupid."
"I didn't mean what I said," Colt said quietly. "About not knowing whether or not you're still my fiancée. You are."
Relief washed over me. I leaned across the table, my lips moving for his. He pulled away, letting go of my hand.
"No," he said, and the momentary relief was replaced with anxiety.
"I thought you said—"
"I did. And I meant it. I still want to marry you, but I'm also still angry with you. I need a little more time, I guess. I don't get over things as easily as you do."
I nodded, still grateful for whatever love Colt was willing to give me.
"Do you have a plan?" he asked me.
"A wedding plan?"
He laughed, and his face lightened. "No. A plan to get into Standards and free those mutants or whatever they are."
"So, you believe me now?"
He hesitated. "I believe you."
"Tomorrow night," I said. "We can't wait any longer than that. Lucy and my family will help, too. We'll wait until midnight when things are quiet, and then we'll sneak in and sneak out."
"How are we supposed to get them all out of there?" Colt asked. "We can't just fit them all into our cars and drive off with them."
"I'll think of something," I told him.
He sighed. "Why don't you let me figure that part out? It sounds like you've got enough on your plate already."
He reached for my hand again, brought it to his mouth, and kissed it.
* * *
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR
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I was grateful when the day was finally over. I'd gone back to the bakery after meeting Colt only to have my aunts tell me to go home and rest.
"You've done enough for one day, and we're good here," Eleanor had said. She'd also asked whether Colt was terribly angry with her for deceiving him and getting him to the coffee shop.
"He's not mad at you," I said. "In fact, I think things between us are finally getting patched up."
"That's good to hear," Eleanor had said, and I could tell that my father and Trixie were just as relieved to hear it. They all liked Colt and wanted things to work out for us.
Now that I was home, I lay awake in bed, thinking things through. Tomorrow night, we'd show up at the warehouse, and what if things went wrong? What if someone I loved got hurt? I couldn't bear the thought of that.
The door to my room creaked open, and Snowball came walking in.
"Mama," she said, jumping up on the bed. She made her way over to me and nudged her nose against my chin.
"Hi, Snowy," I said, scratching her head. My nose wrinkled. "Where have you been? You smell like fish. I think you need a bath." I sat up and Snowball jumped away from me.
"No, Mama!" she cried, her eyes wide. "Snowy does not like baths."
"I know, but you really smell, sweetie." I grabbed for her, and Snowball squirmed out of my hands.
"Snowball has a message for Mama," she said quickly.
"A message?" I asked, pausing. "What sort of message?"
"From the fish man. He gave Snowball much tuna today and told Snowy to deliver a message to Mama. So, Snowy can't have a bath."
I looked at the clock on my dresser. It was after ten. Trixie had a late date with Melbourne, and my dad had one with Sadie, so they wouldn't be home for another hour or two yet.
"What's the message?" I asked.
"Fish man said that Damon is in trouble and for Mama to come right away."
I jumped off the bed, and Snowball dashed to the side of the room in case I made another grab for her.
"Relax," I told her. "You're off the hook for the bath, at least for now." I grabbed my phone and my keys. "Where did he say to meet him?"
"At the fish stand."
"Thanks, Snowy." I hesitated, then hurried to the kitchen and put a little tuna in her dish.
"More tuna for Snowball?" she cried, excited, and began to gobble up her reward.
By the time I got to the beach, there weren't many people hanging around. There were always those oddballs who thought the black water looked exotic and mysterious at night and preferred to swim under the light of the moon. Those people weren't the ones I had to worry about.
Burch knew my name. My address. Where I worked. If he wanted to grab me or someone in my family, it wouldn't be too difficult.
My eyes wandered back and forth, left and right, all over the ground. I was certain that if my father and Trixie had been home, they'd never have let me come down here alone. Maybe I should have called Colt, but things between us were just getting back to normal. I didn't want to ruin them again by telling him that I had a clandestine meeting with a fishmonger I wanted him to accompany me to.
The stands that permeated the strip of beach all morning and afternoon were vacant. Most of the vendors left their stands up overnight, relying on whatever protection charms they had used to prevent any vandalism or theft from taking place.
"Hello?" I called when I approached the spot where Max sold his fish. There was a noise and then a shadow stepped out from behind the stand. The moonlight fell on him from behind, blocking out his face, and for one panicked moment, I thought Burch had found me.
Then a familiar voice called out my name. "Ava?"
I relaxed and rushed over to Max. "Oh, my roses, you scared me. What's going on?"
Max looked carefully around then pulled me back into the shadows with him. His stand wasn't big, but it was large enough for us to hide behind it. The sand on the beach was a pale gray, and the water beyond it pure black. We were hardly visible.
"Damon came to see me," he said softly.
My heart skipped a beat. "He did? When?"
"Right around closing. He didn't look good. Said he'd been sleeping mostly in alleyways."
"Why'd he come to you?"
"He was hungry and hoping I could help him out. And he knew you'd been to see me. He wanted me to get a message to you."
"What message?" I asked.
"He said he didn't want you to go back to the warehouse anymore, that it wasn't safe. He tried tipping off COMHA that there was some weird stuff going on there, but he seemed upset that they sent your fiancé to check it out. Anyway, three guys showed up out of nowhere and tackled him. I tried to stop them, but one of them hit me over the head with something. I think it was a boat oar."
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "But when I came to, Damon was gone."
My pulse was racing. "They must've taken him to Standards."
Max shrugged. "I'm not sure, but if Snowball hadn't come along when she did, I might've been lying in the sand another hour. That cat of yours licked my face until I woke up." He smiled. "You've really got a special feline with that one."
"I know."
"If there's anything I can do, just let me know."
"Just go home and get some rest," I said, hurrying away. Even though I knew I'd need all the help I could get, I wasn't about to risk any more lives. Burch's men had to be taking Damon to Standards. There was just no place else I could think of that they'd go. They'd probably decided to dispose of him along with the mutants. That meant we couldn't wait until tomorrow night anymore.
Colt answered his phone on the first ring. "Ava, what's wrong?"
"We've got to move now," I told him. "Tomorrow's too late."
"Whoa, slow down, what are you talking about?"
"They've got Damon. They're planning on killing him along with the mutants. They'll probably dispose of their bodies all together."
Colt hesitated. "I need a little time to get the transportation together."
"I'll meet you there."
"Ava, don't do anything reckless."
"Me? Reckless? Since when am I reckless?"
I laughed, and he laughed with me, but it all sounded hollow.
"I love you, Ava," Colt said, and I was able to forget my anxiety for the moment.
"Love you, too," I told him. "Be safe."
We hung up, and I was surprised to find I was already back at the house. I started Eleanor's car and prayed I'd make it in time.
* * *
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
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I was lucky it was dark when I got to Mistmoor Point. Well, maybe luck had nothing to do with it. All of the things going on at Standards Warehouse were the sort of things that people only did under the cloak of nightfall. Who wanted to kill and dispose of dozens of mutants when the sun was shining brightly down on you?
It was much better not to let others see what was going on. Sometimes, you probably didn't want to see it yourself. Not if you had half a heart, that is. I wasn't sure either Burch or Jaggers had even that much.
"One, two, three," I muttered to myself as I watched the guards outside make their patrol.
I recognized Gordie Peterman and wondered if there was any chance I could sway him to help me. I didn't want to risk talking to him and have it backfire on me though. He wasn't alone. There were three guards total so far as I could tell, but who knew how many more were hanging around inside? If they were about to destroy all the mutants in the basement, Jaggers might have put on extra security.
A car pulled up to the front gates, and I jumped back behind the tree I'd been watching from. I'd parked Eleanor's car at the far end of the forest, well out of sight, and had walked the rest of the way to the gates. I had no intention of being seen.
The car stopped, and a hand shot out, flashing an I.D. badge in front of the security monitor. The monitor read the barcode and the gate opened. I hurried in behind it, not sure if I'd get another opportunity.
I made sure to hang back at the end of the drive, staying behind the bushes like last time I'd been here. The car door opened, and the driver got out. He went around to the back and opened the rear door. Burch slid out, followed by Jaggers.
I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut as if that would somehow make me invisible. I had to force them open again, knowing it was better to see what was going on than pretend as if there was nothing happening.
Gordie walked over to Burch and Jaggers, said something to them, and the three men went inside the building together. I bit my bottom lip, worried that they had somehow dragged Gordie into this. I didn't want him to end up like Damon—on the run and scared for his life. Gordie had helped me escape. I wanted to make sure he got out of this mess unscathed.
The entrance to the building closed behind the three men as they went in, and I expelled a breath. I had no idea how I was going to get inside. Last time, I'd been able to get in with Lucy's help, but Lucy wasn't here now. I was lucky she was still talking to me after the disaster that had taken place.
I approached the doors slowly, counting the minutes as I went. I'd timed the guards who were walking the perimeter and knew they wouldn't be back around to the front for another three minutes. It didn't give me much time. I pulled on the front door, certain nothing would happen, and to my surprise, the door opened.
For just a moment, I hesitated. What if this was a trick? Had Burch seen me, after all? Or Jaggers? Did I really just want to walk into the building unarmed in the middle of the night? Maybe I should wait for Colt. I had no idea how long he was going to take though. He'd said he had to get the transportation ready, whatever that meant. I still wasn't sure how he planned to transport dozens, maybe even a hundred or more, mutants out of this building and to safety. And where exactly were we going to take them once we got them free? COMHA? It was the middle of the night. There were no ferries to cross us to the mainland. Maybe Colt had rented a boat?
He'd told me to let him handle things, and I had to trust him. He was a great agent, and I was sure he knew what he was doing. He'd been in tougher spots than this before, or so I imagined. He couldn't always tell me about his work, so sometimes I had to piece the information together myself, and I wasn't sure how accurate I always was. Leaving things up to someone's imagination was not always the wisest idea.
I stepped inside and let the door click shut behind me. The counter where the Howie normally stood during the day was empty. He'd probably gone home hours ago, and there'd be no one to replace him. Not until morning when the warehouse reopened.
There was still another set of doors I had to get through in order to get into the main warehouse. I tried those, and they were locked. I bit my bottom lip for a second, thinking, then I walked around the counter where Howie normally sat high on his stool and pushed the button I'd seen him push before to buzz people through.
The buzzer sounded, and I hurried back around the counter to pull the doors open before they could lock again. They opened easily, and I was finally through to the main warehouse. I already knew there was nothing interesting in Jaggers' office, and though I had yet to find Burch's office, I suspected it would be empty of anything incriminating as well. The only area I was interested in at the moment was the basement.
I checked the time in hopes that Colt got here soon. I sent him a quick text telling him that I was inside and heading down, then I made my way to the basement door. There were no signs of any guards; there were no signs of Burch or Jaggers. I assumed that they must already be in the basement, taking care of business.
I moved quickly, hoping and praying that the basement door would be open as well. My heart deflated when I tried it, and nothing happened. Locked.
"Darn it," I muttered.
Footsteps sounded from the other side of the door, and I hurried quickly away from them. I ducked into the bathroom and propped the door open a crack so that I could see out. The basement door opened, and Gordie came walking out. His face was pale, and his expression showed alarm.
He didn't push the door shut behind him; he just let it fall closed.
I was about to make myself known to him, glad to have a friendly face on hand and deciding I could use his help after all. But before I could step out, the basement door pushed open again and Burch came out, followed by Jaggers.
"Is it done?" Gordie asked.
Burch shook his head. Gordie sighed.
"Come on," Jaggers said. "We've got to work faster." He hustled away, and Gordie and Burch followed after him. I hurried to the basement door and pulled it open, sighing with relief it wasn't locked. I was catching all the breaks tonight. The witches must have been watching over me.
Down on the basement level, I went to the room where I'd first seen the creatures suspended in their tanks. This door wasn't locked either. I pulled it open and walked in. It was empty.
"Crud," I said, staring around at the blank floors and walls. There was literally nothing left in the room. Every piece of equipment had been moved out.
"I'm too late," I muttered, horrified. It occurred to me that maybe I'd gone into the wrong room. After all, they all looked the same from the outside. There was nothing on any of the doors to differentiate one from another.
I went back into the hall and started opening every door I came across. I walked up and down the hall, opening doors left and right, and when I finished with the first hall, I started on the one that intersected with it. They were all empty.
"I'm too late," I said again, tears filling my eyes. If Damon had been here, he was gone now. They were all gone. I'd failed.
* * *
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
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I stood with my hands on my hips, tapping my foot, no idea what to do next. I checked my phone to see if
Colt had texted or called and realized that I had no signal down in the basement.
"Great," I muttered. I should've known something would go wrong. I'd been far too lucky all night, things just couldn't stay that way. Luck always ran out.
I started back for the stairs, figuring I might as well check the main warehouse and see if I could find Burch's office. Maybe there was something incriminating in there after all. I might as well look since I was already here.
If anything, maybe I could find something that would tell me what they'd done with the mutants. A scrap of paper with the address of where they'd buried them, or maybe they didn't bury them at all. Maybe they'd all been incinerated. That would probably make more sense. It would leave no evidence behind whatsoever.
My heart ached at the thought of losing Damon, but I refused to give up hope. Maybe I'd been wrong, and he'd never even been at the warehouse at all. Maybe the men who'd grabbed him had taken him somewhere else entirely. Some other warehouse. Heck, for all I knew he could be at Burch's home, tied up in an entirely different basement. Where did Burch live, anyway? Maybe I should check there next. I'd have to call Colt once I got outside and let him know.
I was at the bottom of the stairs, with my foot on the first step, when I heard a noise from the far end of the hall. I paused, listening, and heard it again. I hurried in its direction, not entirely sure what it was that I'd heard but wanting to find out. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end. The rooms had all been empty when I checked them, and I hadn't seen any guards walking the floor. As far as I knew, I was alone down here. So, what was that noise?
