Page 59 of Defender
“I’ve gotta lock the gate. Sorry. And I don’t feel right letting you in without the owner’s approval or a warrant or something. He’s big on his rights and such.”
A bright-yellow vehicle caught Michael’s eye. Shrubs blocked most of it, but it was the right color for Princess Buttercup, which Dani had just gotten back from the shop with the new transmission yesterday.
Maybe it was for the best that he let the janitor think he was leaving. The chain-link fence was tall, but climbable.
“Thanks for your time.” Michael went back to his car and left. He pulled into the parking lot of the furniture business next door and killed his lights.
The janitor locked the entrance gate and got back into his truck. Michael waited until the taillights were out of sight. He kept his car parked where it was and quickly found a shadowed corner to scramble up and over the fence into the SL Trucking compound. No doubt if Dani was hiding in the office, she could’ve avoided detection, but she wouldn’t have left her purse and phone out. Best to start in the big warehouse building with the loading docks and large bay doors. Michael avoided the pockets of light around the parking lot poles and ran to the car he’d noticed earlier.
Yup. That was Princess Buttercup all right, with its new transmission, sitting next to two sedans with the SL logo on them.
But where was Dani? He found a cargo-bay door with a broken latch. It slid up enough for him to crawl under, making way more noise than he wanted.
He stopped inside. Listened. Nothing.
The huge warehouse area was dark, lit only by red Exit signs on the other side of the building. One section was set up like a mechanic’s shop, lifts and tools divided around three different bay doors. Michael used his phone flashlight and checked all the areas. One section of shelves held automotive parts. No trace of Dani there. Two trucks had been backed into a loading dock. They were both locked up tight. One was plugged in, humming like an air conditioning or refrigeration unit, but no other sound, really.
He jumped down off the open loading dock and headed back outside. Road noise carried over from the interstate. The sky rumbled with a promised storm.
Michael looked up.
God, I need some help here. Where is Dani?
Dani shivered. She needed to get out of here soon, but she was getting sleepy. Her fingers were numb and too clumsy to work on the door latch anymore. Probably hypothermia setting in. Dani tried blowing on her hands, but the icy air stole whatever warmth her breath tried to give.
She slid down to the floor of the truck bed, wrapped her arms around herself.
What was it Yelena Belova said in the Black Widow movie? “This is so not a cool way to die.”
Tell me about it, Yelena.
What would this headline be? “FBI Agent Fails First Mission, Locks Herself in Refrigerated Truck and Dies.”
Her father would probably say she was being too dramatic. She was just seeking attention by getting into trouble. Trying to stand out.
All she wanted was for him to see her. To notice her. To embrace her. She’d never meant to ruin his work presentation and cause him to lose his job. She never meant to get into any of these situations.
Maybe if she’d think things through before jumping in, then she wouldn’t be here.
She really thought this was her God-given purpose. To fight the darkness and corruption of this world. But she kept running headlong into disaster. And while she had been focusing on her career and future ambitions, right now it all seemed futile.
Maybe she needed to stop worrying so much about how everyone else saw her. Maybe her father would never approve. Maybe the headlines of her life story were nothing heroic. She just wanted to hug her nephews and make sure they knew she loved them. She wanted Josh to know that he was an amazing brother and she was so proud of him. She wanted to thank her mom for loving her and tell Maria that she was sorry for losing touch after moving away.
And if this was the end, she really hoped Michael would find peace. Knowing him, he’d feel like this was somehow his fault. And it broke her heart to think of him hurting in any way.
If she ever got out of here, she would try to keep relationships her priority. Try to be okay with telling people how much she really cared about them. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to let them see the hard stuff.
But that was a big if.
Lord, I could use yet another rescue.
She adjusted her arms, her elbow accidentally banging into the side of the truck. For a second, releasing the frustration brought a smidge of warmth.
Why not? If she was gonna go out, she might as well release it all. She pounded on the side of the truck as tears fell. She was sick of being alone. Sick of trying so hard and yet still finding herself in scrapes and causing disasters. She was just trying to do a job and make this world a better place.
Energy spent, she stopped pounding and curled into a ball.
“Hello?” A muffled voice sounded on the other side of the wall. Two knocks. Okay, call her crazy, but it sounded like…
