We heard a door unlock, and a detective held it open. “You have five minutes.”
I narrowed my eyes and stood. Manic came walking in wearing a hoody and sunglasses. “Thanks, man.”
The door closed, and I grabbed the steel bars. “Manic, what the fuck is going on? Did you find Alyx?”
He pulled the hoody off his head and removed the sunglasses, worry lines creased on his forehead. Even the goddamn scar on his face seemed more prominent than usual.
“No, dude. Sorry. There’s no goddamn trace of her.”
“Fuck!” Like a maniac, I slammed my head against the bars. I didn’t even fucking feel the pain. “And Dutch? He okay?”
Manic rubbed his chin. “He’s fine. While you two made a scene outside, Ink and I managed to get him in the basement. Police searched the house, but they didn’t find us hiding.”
“Thank God for one thing.”
“Yeah. The doctor got him sorted. Just a shoulder wound.” He looked at me, his eyes brimming with remorse. “Listen, man, Ink and I, we’re sorry we couldn’t help you and Onyx.”
“No.” I held up my hand. “You did the right thing by getting Dutch to safety and keeping them from finding Neon.”
I pressed my fists against the bars and stretched, letting my head hang down. “Where the fuck is Alyx, man?”
“We don’t know.” Manic glanced at his wristwatch. “But there’s something else.”
I snapped my head up. “What?”
“Tanit. She’s gone too.”
I shot up, and Onyx stepped in next to me. “Where the fuck is Tanit?”
Manic shrugged. “We don’t fucking know. But Trick said she hasn’t seen Tanit since this morning.”
“Maybe the same guys who took Alyx took Tanit?” Onyx looked at me questioningly.
“No.” I shook my head. “I only saw Alyx. Tanit wasn’t there. Plus, Manic just said Trick hasn’t seen Tanit since this morning.”
Onyx stared straight in front of him. “Are you sure the police don’t have Alyx? Maybe they took Tanit as well, I dunno”—he shrugged—“maybe to see if they can get some information on us.”
“No.” I pushed myself away from the bars and started pacing. “They don’t have Alyx. Her father was pretty fucking upset. He didn’t seem like a dad who just found his daughter. No, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the police who took her.”
Onyx stepped up to the steel bars and held his hand out to Manic. “Dude, gimme a smoke, would you?”
Manic pulled out a pack and gave Onyx a cigarette before lighting it for him through the bars.
With arms still dangling over the rails, Onyx let out a long breath of smoke. “Either someone spotted us out here, or we have a snitch.”
Manic and I stilled. Talking about a snitch was big shit. That wasn’t the kind of accusation one idly flung around. If you went around accusing someone of being a snitch and you were proven wrong, you kissed your motherfucking patch goodbye.
“A snitch?” I walked closer.
“Yeah, man. It’s the only thing that makes sense. That, or we were followed to the safe house. How else?”
I shook my head, rubbing my beard. “No one would have followed us. We never used the same way to the house twice in a row. Plus, Manic had been doing runs, like, ten times a fucking day. No,” I shook my head again, “we couldn’t have been followed.”
Onyx leaned to the side, facing me. “Then the only other option is we have a snitch.”
The detective came back in. “Hurry your asses up. We got company coming this way.”
“Manic.” I pressed against the bars. “Find her.”