Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows)

by Mell Corcoran

  Dillon kept his gaze straight ahead as he drove, as if he were lost. “Grab the map out of my glove box, pretend you are looking at me and yelling, but see if you can get a good look at the building.”

  Lou fished the map out as instructed. “Can you explain why you have a map when you have GPS in this car and your phone?!” She was yelling and flailing her arms to make it look as he suggested. Unfortunately she couldn’t see anything of value from her vantage point.

  “Why?” He looked at her to sell the argument ploy. “Why? What if the car dies? Hmm? The battery goes out on the phone? GPS doesn’t exactly come in handy then does it?”

  “Wow.” Lou looked stricken.

  Dillon looked at her, worried. “What? Do you see something?”

  “Oh, no.” She chuckled. “I just never thought about that. I mean if the car dies, the battery goes on the phone. It never occurred to me.”

  Dillon bit his tongue until they passed the warehouse, then he laughed. “Seriously? I guess it’s the military training in me. Hard work and tenacity gets you out of a ditch, not hardware and technology.”

  “OK, Captain Yoda. Take a look at that.” Lou discretely pointed to the yard, just past the warehouse. “You think that’s a coincidence?”

  “I do not.” Dillon said as he noticed the eight containers sitting completely separate and isolated from all the others. They had been concealed from view until they passed the first warehouse. “Let me find a place to ditch the car. Keep yelling at me. I think the first one is our target though. That one is on the corner, too many entry points to the road.”

  “Agreed.” Lou said as she flapped the map around like she was trying to fold it. “Wait a minute.”

  “What?” Dillon asked.

  “I see a camera on the corner warehouse. South end, under the rain gutter.” Lou scanned the roofline of the building but she didn’t see any other cameras.

  “Looks like it’s fixed on the containers.” Dillon said as he made a right turn onto Sardine Street rather than continuing down Barracuda. “I’m going to swing wide then come in from the cross street down there. If someone is watching it will look like we are lost and going around in circles.”

  When they turned right onto Sardine, Lou noticed a different building that stood on that corner immediately and something slithered up her spine, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. It was a substantial two-story industrial building with several large garage doors that ran it’s length. By the even spacing, they must have once served as cargo bays. The building looked abandoned but not at the same time.

  “Look at this place on your left.” Lou instructed her partner. “Something is seriously off about it.”

  He tried to look without turning his head. “You see something?”

  “My gut does.” Lou told him. “The windows on the top floor, they look obscured but not blacked out. The place looks too clean to be abandoned. Make your loop and lets get another look at it. Maybe we should swap places so you can take a look while I drive.”

  Dillon’s head whipped around so fast that Lou thought she felt a breeze. He stared at her wide eyed. “You want to drive my car?” Apparently he was not comfortable with the idea.

  “You don’t want me driving your car?” Lou looked wounded.

  “No! It’s not that! It’s just...” He took a moment to think carefully before continuing. “I’ve never let anyone drive it before. And Vinny was super specific about me picking you up, you having issues with driving in the morning and all.” He realized how he reacted and instantly felt bad.

  “I’ve been awake for over twelve hours ya jerk! I’m not going to crash your car!” Lou barked.

  Dillon was at a loss for how to save himself so he just shut up and proceeded to the end of the street and stopped at the stop sign. They needed to make a turn unless they wanted to go straight and into the water. He put the car in park, got out, walked around and opened the door for her.

  “If you think you can do better, then you drive!” He shouted at her, loud enough that anyone within a few dozen yards would hear. She knew he was playing up the fighting lost couple bit for cover so she ran with it.

  “A blind man could do better than you!” Lou shouted back at him and tossed the unfurled map in his face as she got out. Without saying anything else, she walked around and got in the driver’s side. Lou stared down and noted there was well over a foot of distance between her feet and the pedals. Dillon had seriously long legs compared to her. She looked up and saw that he was watching her intently so she proceeded to adjust her seat and everything else she could touch just to annoy him. She had to make a serious effort not to giggle out loud when she noted the horror on his face.

  Dillon got in the passenger’s side and slammed the door hard which Lou thought was out of irritation rather than for dramatic effect. “Go left and I’ll scope out the building.” He told her as he smoothed out the map and pretended to be comparing it to their location, looking around then at the map over and over again while Lou headed west on Ways Street. “See this embankment on my right?” He asked her quietly.

  “Looking.” She said as she casually glanced over. The rickety fence that served as a poor-man’s guard rail was gone and there was nothing but a slope of earth leading down to the water. “Easy boat access. This street is so narrow no one would see someone being carried and loaded in the dark of night.” Lou saw a dock about fifty yards up ahead. “Easy peasy to use one of those small fishing boats up there.”

  Dillon nodded in agreement as they passed the dock. “These are all commercial fishing vessels. No one would bother questioning one coming in and out at night.”

  “Not sure it’s going to be that simple.” Lou thought about it. “That may have been the routine before, but this time I think they may used more sophisticated methods. We’ve got the Salazar brothers, Esterhuizen and at least one more coming out together. The Salazars and Esterhuizen wouldn’t have known how to get out of here on their own. Someone had to help or they were killed here. The blood found at the Arcano house doesn’t support that though.”

  “It’s only seventy miles by road to Point Magu Naval Air Station from here. By boat it would be less then that.” Dillon was examining the map carefully.

  “Your thinking these guys got shipped in, waited in the warehouse then were transported to the air base then stealth helicopter to Arcano’s place and killed there?” It was convoluted but Lou thought it made sense too.

  “The hangar that was leased by Onus at Point Magu was big enough to hold all the furniture and stuff from Arcano’s house. Keep it there until a big-rig could come and load it up.” Dillon was working it out loud. “A truck like that coming in here wouldn’t look out of place at all. I’ll bet that container is on a trailer, unhitched just sitting in that warehouse right now.”

  As Lou moved further west on Ways Street she noted that Bass Street was gated off and she couldn’t make the left turn they had planned. “Crap. Not a through way. Turn around or go straight?”

  “Go straight. Make sure there isn’t another way out further down.” He pointed west. “I don’t think there is though. If memory serves, the Del Monte complex is at the end of this road. Nothing that our guys would have access to, but we should verify that.”

  “Forward ho.” Lou smirked and continued west on Ways until they came to a dead end at the wharf. “OK, so no way through here. That’s a logistical advantage. I thought we would be able to drive all the way around that warehouse but it only has two sides with street access.”

  “Maybe. We need to go back and try the other side to make sure.” Dillon suggested and Lou immediately started making her u-turn.

  “We are losing light, fast.” She noticed.

  “I see that.” Dillon was wondering if Agent Callahan was at the warehouse by now.

  Lou drove back up Ways and turned right, back on to Sardine. “This gives you a chance to check out the building carefully.”

  “Yeap.” He n
odded and held up the map to obscure his surveying the warehouse. “Go as slow as possible when you turn right back on Barracuda.”

  “You got it.” Lou came to a stop at the Sardine-Barracuda intersection and looked around to see if she could spot Callahan anywhere. There was only one eighteen-wheeler parked up the street, no other vehicles in sight and no Callahan. “With our luck Callahan was car-jacked and ain’t coming.” She joked.

  Dillon snorted. “I don’t think that’s likely. There may be a pile up or something.”

  Lou turned right and made it as far as the end of the warehouse where it technically ended. It continued further down but as a private roadway that looked to be part of the Del Monte complex. She inched further down but saw a gate up ahead that was clearly marked as being closed to the public. There was no way through from this point and even making a u-turn was going to be tight.

  “OK, we need to back-track.” Dillon stated the obvious and Lou rolled her eyes at him. “Do we go back to the waterside, Sardine or back up Barracuda?”

  “Barracuda and Sardine are our only access points, realistically, right?” Lou asked but recalled seeing a walkway off Sardine. “Let me check something real quick.”

  After making the tight u-turn, Lou drove back up Barracuda then hung the left onto Sardine. Sure enough, there was a tight alley halfway up with a sliding chainlink fence blocking it off. The coil of barbed wire on top, heavy-duty padlock and chain securing it shut made it a less likely entry point.

  “You see that?” Dillon asked.

  “See what?” She tried to look but couldn’t so she drove a little further down, pulled over and tried to look via the rear-view mirror.

  “The fire escapes, on our building and in that alley.” He specified.

  Lou snickered. “Sorry, I was too busy noticing the barbed wire and ginourmous padlock on the gate.”

  Dillon grumbled. “That’s nothing. Don’t worry about that, its the fire escapes that I am interested in. Both ladders are down and rusted in place. That’s our entry point.”

  “I am not seeing any sort of security cameras.” Lou told him. “On any of these buildings for that matter. You’d think there would be some kind of security down here.”

  “I think this area is pretty much reserved for fish and produce.” Dillon said as he scanned for any surveillance anywhere. “I guess there isn’t much of a theft racket for those things.”

  “I guess not.” Lou couldn’t argue with him. “It’s dark and shadowy enough that we could go in and take a closer look. You up for it?”

  He knew that was coming. “Will you let me lead?” He looked at her with all seriousness. “I know you are the boss but if I get hit, we know I’ll recover. Plus, I can hear better. It’s just smarter for me to take point.”

  Lou thought about it carefully for a moment. He was right. If he took a hit, his Sanguinostri genes, or whatever it was, would kick in and he would be fine. She also knew that he would be able to hear pretty much anything going on inside before they even made it up the fire escape. There was also the small fact that Lou was still not at one-hundred percent. If truth be told, she was currently in a good amount of pain. She hadn’t been sleeping well or taking it easy enough between workouts and it was starting to take a toll on her. She wasn’t about to admit that so rather than put her and Dillon at risk playing tough-chick, she agreed to let him take point. As a rouse, she put on the hazard lights to his car and popped the hood. It would look like the car had broken down rather then just parked and out of place. They both checked their weapons before getting out of the car and put their cell phones on silent. If someone called them it wouldn’t give them away while they were sneaking around.

  While Lou raised the hood of the SUV, Dillon walked around to the back and started rooting through a large duffel he had in the cargo area. Discretely, he stuffed a few extra magazines for his Glock into his pockets as well as a few m84 grenades, known as flashbangs, just in case. Dillon had a kevlar vest in his duffel that he needed to get on to Lou before they headed in. Putting it on out in the open was a little obvious so he tucked it inside his jacket, closed the hatch then headed towards her.

  “Get back in the car for a minute, please.” He was firm but polite.

  “What’s up?” She asked and noticed he had something tucked in his jacket so she did as he asked. When she got in, he reached across and dropped the vest in her lap while grabbing the map off the seat. He nearly gave her a paper cut straight across her face in the process. “Hey! Watch it.”

  “Sorry!” He apologized then unfurled the map again so as to block site of her from anyone that might be looking. “Put that on please.”

  “Oh for crap’s sake!” She protested. “Seriously?”

  “Lou, do you understand what will happen to me if you get hurt and our Dominor learns that I failed to get body armor on you before we went in to a potentially deadly situation?” Dillon glared at her from over the map.

  Lou only had to consider for a moment. “OK, fair point.” She admitted as she pulled off her jacket and strapped the vest on over her t-shirt. After checking the straps, she put her jacket back on and stretched to make sure she had good mobility. “You always carry female gear with you?” She snickered as she shoved him out of the way so she could get out of the car again.

  “Nope. Just since I became your partner.” He smiled and shut the door. “So let’s walk like we are looking for an open business to borrow the phone. Like our cell’s are dead and the car is stuck. OK?”

  “On your six.” She replied, indicating she was following right behind him.

  They crossed the street casually and walked down the sidewalk until they reached the padlocked gate to the alley. Lou studied the lock then gave him a disgruntled look but he just smiled at her. Dillon turned his back to the lock, which came up to about his waist. Both hands slid behind his back and after just a second, Lou heard a quiet popping sound. When he moved, Lou could see that somehow he had popped the beefy padlock open in less than two seconds. Her eyes went wide as she looked up at him.

  “I work out.” He said with a wink then carefully he slid the gate open just enough that they could get through. Lou didn’t bother to respond, she just followed him.

  Dillon walked about ten feet down the alley then sidled up against the wall and approached the first fire escape. He furrowed his brow as he tried to hear what was inside the building. There were several motors running that seemed to drown any other noise out. Clearly the building was not abandoned if there was an active power supply. Lou tapped him on the back and when he looked, she was pointing out the power poles at the end of the alley. He saw that there was an erroneous cable jury-rigged to one of the distribution transformers running to the roof of the warehouse. Someone was illegally tapping in to the power lines.

  Dillon leaned down and whispered in Lou’s ear. “There are some motors running inside. I can’t hear anything besides them. Let me give you a boost up to the ladder but duck down and wait for me on the landing, OK?” He looked at her carefully to make sure she understood and when she nodded, he carefully grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up like she weighed nothing at all.

  When Dillon raised her as high as he could, she was able to grab hold, then put her foot on the bottom rung without too much effort. As quietly and carefully as she could, Lou climbed up the ten rungs or so it took to get to the metal landing. She hesitated a moment after looking at the old rusted frame and planking that made up the cage-like balcony that was bolted into the side of the building. Gingerly, she stepped onto the slats and prayed the thing didn’t pop right out of the wall and crash to the ground as soon as she had her full weight on it. Fortunately, it only creaked a bit so she ducked down and inched away from the ladder to make room for her partner. Dillon, who weighed at least a hundred pounds more than her. She tried not to think about it and held on for dear life with her eyes clamped shut in case the thing gave way. Realizing they were safe only after he tapped on her nose, she o
pened her eyes to see him grinning and giving her the OK hand signal. Lou exhaled, felt her heart slowly lower from her throat and gave him a thumbs-up. She could tell he was trying not to laugh as he shook his head at her. It took Dillon almost a full minute to compose himself but when he finally did, he peeked up into the window of the warehouse. He took his time peering in, then even more time inspecting the window itself. He ran his hand along the frame as he inched his body back over to the ladder side where he stood up completely. Dillon looked cautiously through the filthy glass, from side to side, then down and up. Lou figured he was looking to see if there were any security wires connected to the window or some other device that might alert someone to their presence if they just jimmied the thing open. After he was sufficiently convinced it was safe, Dillon retrieved a pocket knife from his jacket and carefully wedged it into the seam between the upper and lower window frames. Lou heard a small metallic squeak then watched as he stuffed his knife back into his pocket. With his thumbs, Dillon pushed up on the lower pane and the window finally started to move stiffly. At a snail’s pace, he inched the window open bit by bit, stopping every so often to listen inside. There was the odd creek and squeak as the window opened but nothing too loud or obvious, at least not to Lou’s ear. Finally, when he had the thing completely open, Dillon stepped through the window. It was only then that Lou realized how dark it had gotten when Dillon disappeared into the black of the building’s interior. It made her a little twitchy. When he suddenly popped his head out the window with a grin, she had half a mind to punch him in the nose. Instead, she flipped him the finger and once again he had to seriously focus on not laughing out loud. Lou put her hand on Dillon’s head and shoved it back inside before she climbed through. Once inside, she squinted as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. There was a little glow of twilight left but it wouldn’t be long before she wouldn’t be able to see her hand in front of her face. She poked Dillon in the ribs and made a hand gesture for him to move but he held his hand up for her to stop and wait. As her eyes finally acclimated to the dark, she could see they were in what appeared to be a small office that looked to Lou like it hadn’t been occupied in fifty years. She could see Dillon move ever so slowly towards a closed door on the opposite end of the room. Lou watched as small clouds of dust billowed at his feet with each slow step. Rather than sneezing and announcing her presence to anyone that might be inside, she tugged at the collar of her t-shirt to loosen it from underneath her kevlar and pulled it over her mouth and nose before the dust hit her. When Dillon looked back to check she was behind him, he doubled over. Yet again trying not to laugh at her. Lou figured she had to become boring to him eventually but in the meantime, this hilarity might very well get them killed.