The Secrets We Hide (The Four 2)

I sped up, focused on that door.

The glint of something shiny caught my eye, and I stopped, crouching down to get a better look, careful not to disturb anything. Scanning the floor, I squinted into the corner where the stone wall met the ground. I stretched out, and my hand closed around a small oblong object. Pulling it into the light, I flipped it over.

Winter’s phone.

Shit.

“That explains why we couldn’t track her,” I muttered under my breath as I traced my finger over the cracked screen, the phone completely unresponsive as I attempted to power it on.

Clambering to my feet and pocketing the phone, I stared at Cassius, trying to stop the fucking panic that was trying to rise up inside me. This was why I didn’t get close to people. After my mum died, I swore I wouldn’t let any woman have that power over me. Not for the first time, I asked myself how Winter had managed to slip through my defences.

I shook my head, straightening up, ignoring Cass’ curious look. These thoughts had no place here. All that mattered was finding her. Everything else could wait.

“Let’s check this door, yeah? We need to find Winter.”

Cassius nodded, all business, slipping around me and moving forwards a few paces until he was in front of the door. “You ready?”

I joined him, keeping to the side, all my senses on high alert. “Ready.”

He grabbed the door handle and pushed.

The door opened, to the surprise of both of us, especially considering there was a number panel to the side of the door, clearly there to unlock the entry to the room. We exchanged glances; then I nodded to Cassius, and he pushed the door all the way open, his muscles straining with the effort as he threw his weight against the thick, heavy metal.

The room was dark, and Cass and I both turned on the flashlights on our phones, illuminating the space.

It was completely empty.

Fuck.

There was nothing to give us any clues about what it was used for. Dirty, damp stone walls and floors, boarded-up windows, and old, rusting iron rings cemented into the stones, probably there since the place was built.

“Where’s Winter?” Distress bled through Cassius’ voice, and my stomach tur

ned. Where was she?

Had she been taken somewhere?

The thought sent bile rising in my throat.

“Winter!” My shout bounced off the walls, echoing around us.

“Keep it down, will ya?” Cassius hissed. “We don’t know if anyone else is around. Whoever was in the guard hut had to have gone somewhere.”

He was right. We had to proceed with caution.

“Alright, mate. We need to check out the rest of the area. She was here—we’ve got her phone as proof.”

“C’mon. Z called for backup, didn’t he? We should wait for them to get here; we don’t know who or what else might be here. The last thing we need to do is get into a dodgy situation.”

I nodded, stalking out of the room, back down the corridor, and out into the cool night air to wait for Zayde’s contacts to turn up, Cassius right beside me.

We crossed the docks and reached the entrance, where Zayde and Weston waited, just as a blacked-out, nondescript van pulled up, a guy with a balaclava obscuring his face in the driver’s seat.

“Z. Show us where to go.”

Zayde looked between us. “Keep a lookout. We’ll do a sweep of the area. Catch up with you after.” I nodded at him, and he swung himself into the van.

I turned to my brother. “Did you sort the security footage?”