The drive took minutes but lasted an eternity in his head. The building looked worse than he remembered. Rotting wood lined the walls, and the roof tilted as if the whole thing could shift and fall any second. The door had a padlock, but the windows high on the walls of the two-story structure were smashed and broken.
He didn’t go right up to the place. He parked and let the engine idle, figuring that might make anyone hiding out here come running.
When the day stayed quiet except for the brush of air over grass and leaves, he turned the engine off. This would not be his choice to hold someone in. In this day with internet videos and all the crime shows on television, the criminals had grown more savvy. This building looked hard to defend and easy to escape from. Just as Holt liked them.
He slipped to the front door and obvious entrance. A quick walk around the place uncovered few other options. Holt decided to go with the door where the ceiling looked the sturdiest.
He thought about what Lindsey’s fear level must be, and his temper raged. She sat around here somewhere, alone and afraid. Possibly injured thanks to Todd’s manhandling.
Holt vowed he would rip every building apart and question every person on campus if needed. He had to get her out no matter the cost.
After a quick visual check of the inside through the slim crack in the wall, Holt moved. He pushed on the door and the wood creaked. At least it moved. He could work with that.
Large boxes of equipment, now old and useless thanks to the ever-present Oregon rain, blocked his path. He tried to ease his hand inside. He shoved and worked until he could move his fingers and raise a latch. Breaking in didn’t matter to Holt, but this proved quieter and preserved the scene. If his calculations were off or the tracker misfired, Holt didn’t want to leave a trail leading back to him.
He used his shoulder to move the door the rest of the way. The hinges squeaked but the door moved. Holt only needed a small space to slip inside. Once he had it, he disappeared into the building.
It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the fading light. The inside was open, with scaling walls and piles of debris in each corner. Dirty windows set up high blocked most of the light and made breaking in or out through them impossible.
The location did not make any sense. No way would Simon keep a valuable asset here. Not with the sorely lacking security.
Holt had walked a few steps before the wrongness of the situation hit him. The quiet bothered him. So did the potential of a tracker malfunction. He was about to turn around or back his way out when he saw the sliver of light. Barely identifiable right there in a small space where the walls supposedly met.
He visually traced the edges. Thought about the layout of the building and the possibility of a room being behind this one. Seemed like an odd choice, but then again nothing should surprise him. He’d been on a wild ride since he got to Oregon. Nothing went as expected and death fell all around him.
Holt went in to investigate. There were boxes stacked and blocking a better look. He lifted everything aside, all while making zero noise. Not an easy task, but he’d do just about anything for Lindsey.
He’d sell his soul for a promise of her safety right now. Anything to keep her from the inevitable confrontation with her uncle. The man who should be dead and if Holt had any say would be soon.
The transformation from sidekick to leader didn’t make all that much sense. Usually a big thing had to happen for that sort of change. Holt made a mental note to see if there were any weapon dumps around that time. Somehow, somewhere, this guy caught everyone’s attention. If most people never met him, that ruled out charismatic speaker. Very few other alternatives made sense.
Holt slipped his knife out of his pocket to match the gun in his other hand. He’d burst through the wall if he had to. Go in firing as soon as he located Lindsey’s position and could account for her safety.
He ran his fingers over the wall, looking for any mechanism to open it. Nothing happened. When he finally ran the tips up and down the outside of the molding around the door, he found it. A small button. He clicked it and heard the grinding of gears. A ticking sound and a thunk and then the door in front of him opened.
Lindsey, behind a thick see-through partition, sitting in a cell that spanned about eight-by-eight. She sat there on the floor with her arms around her knees and her forehead resting on her arms. It took a second to realize she was unhurt. Holt didn’t see blood or the signs of pain.
Just as he was about to call to her, her head shot up. She blinked a few times and her mouth dropped open.
That fast, the look of relief on her face turned to horror. She motioned and he started to turn, but it was too late. The unexpected elbow shot nailed him in the back and sent him to his knees.