Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes
Page 85

“I know! That’s the amazin’ part, huh?” I opened the door and Muffy hopped in. She’d gotten me this far; it didn't seem right to leave her out now.
Opal pointed to Muffy. “I know for a fact Mildred don’t let no animals in her car.”
I had turned the key, the engine roaring to life. “Thanks, Miss Opal. You have a good day, too!”
She shouted as I pulled away. I turned to Muffy. “I’ve shot right on past the Seven Deadly Sins and moved onto breakin’ the Ten Commandments. We’re surely goin’ to hell now.”
Muffy answered by lifting her chin and turning her head. I was sure she told me she had nothing to do with the car stealing; she was letting me take all the blame for this one.
In about ten minutes I reached the country road where Weston’s Garage was located. I passed The Trading Post, my Nova still in the parking lot. If I had my keys, I would have switched cars. I wasn’t used to driving an ocean liner between driving lanes.
I didn’t have a plan, but I was smart enough to realize I needed the element of surprise. I couldn’t just drive the Titanic up to their front door; then again, maybe I could knock the building down with it. Last time I’d seen the old metal building, it looked pretty rickety. It would probably only take two, maybe three, good rams to knock it down. But Joe was inside, and I couldn't risk it.
I parked the car about two hundred yards down the country road, after I turned the car around to face the highway. Common sense told me we needed a getaway plan. So far, this was it.
I expected to see guys with machine guns or at least shotguns outside guarding the place. But the only thing I found were the tractor parts, even rustier than the last time I saw them and more dangerous since I was old enough to recognize the tetanus risk.
I grabbed the gun out of the car. Woods surrounded the building on two sides. A giant parking lot lay between the back of the building and the woods, scattered with delivery trucks like sprinkles dropped on a cupcake. Several luxury cars sat in the lot in front of the entrance. Crocker’s business partners, I guessed.
The woods had worked well for me the last twenty-four hours, so I returned to what I knew. Muffy insisted on joining me, jumping out of the car when I opened the door. I told her she could come, but she had to be quiet. It seemed like a stupid thing to say, but I felt the need to tell her something. We couldn’t very well synchronize watches. I stopped wearing mine when I got my cell phone.
We crept through the brush, between the trees, and I prayed I didn’t crawl through poison ivy. I still wasn’t sure it was the right place, until I saw Joe’s car was parked in back. The lack of guards outside concerned me.
A metal chain-link fence surrounded the property. I considered scaling it but Muffy would never make it. Besides, I had just mastered climbing out windows, fences were still on my to-do list. I walked along the perimeter looking for any gaps. Muffy found one toward the rear, big enough at the bottom for both of us to crawl under. I knelt down to face her.
“I’m not sure it's a good idea for you come with me, Muffy. Maybe you should wait for me here.” But I secretly hoped she would come.
I lifted the fence and Muffy scooted through first. I crawled through but scraped my side on the metal wire. If that was the least of my injuries today, I’d consider myself lucky. We emerged next to a delivery truck and hid behind it while I figured out what to do next. Since I couldn’t go waltzing through the front door, sneaking around to the back seemed like the best option.
We dashed across the lot and walked the length of the building to the back corner. Open doors gaped in the middle of the back wall, big enough to drive a truck through. Next to me was a metal door, propped open with a brick. I inched toward it and peeked in. Metal shelves lined the room, stocked with plastic bins. I didn't see anyone so I took a deep breath and opened the door wide enough to slip through. Muffy followed.
Edging along the shelves, I made my way toward the center of the room. It looked like a parts room with a door on the opposite wall. I knelt by the door and opened it just a crack, peeking through the one-inch gap. It was a large room, like the warehouse I’d seen in Joe’s vision. Two delivery trucks were parked in the center and men moved stacks of small packages. Joe stood to the side, watching. I didn’t see any sign of Daniel Crocker, which was fine by me.
I wanted to tell Muffy we were just going to wait, but she sensed it and sat down beside me. I sat with my back to the wall and Muffy laid her head on my lap. I scratched her neck while I listened to the voices echoing in the warehouse.
Probably a good ten minutes went by without anything happening. I was beginning to think that we’d make it out of the warehouse without any trouble. I wasn’t sure why I believed that. I had yet to have anything happen without any trouble.
It started with shouting in the distance, echoing throughout the warehouse. I jerked at the noise and looked through the crack. The stack of bundles in the warehouse was nearly gone, now inside the delivery trucks. Joe was carrying a package. Daniel Crocker descended metal steps with two other men. It looked like they came from an office above the warehouse floor.
“McAllister!” Crocker shouted.
My blood turned to ice. My vision was coming true.
Joe swung his head in Crocker’s direction. Rage engulfed Crocker’s face and he literally growled as he reached Joe and slammed him against the wall.
“Where is she?” Crocker screamed. His eyes were wild and even from my location, I saw the veins and tendons bulge on his neck.