“Mads,” she hissed after me. I didn’t have time to stop and explain what I was doing. If I did, I would lose them. “Fucking hell,” she growled, her thumping feet following me.
Inside the front entrance of the rowhouse, I grabbed the first set of keys my fingers touched from the bowl sitting on the table. I twisted back around, bumping into Kenna. “Don’t try to stop me.”
She shadowed my movements. “I’m not. I’m going with you.”
The movie played in the other room, Josie and Kenna reclining on the couch. I didn’t waste time arguing, just bolted outside, hitting the Unlock button on the key fob to identify which car the key belonged to. It was Grayson’s—one of my cousin’s many vehicles. I was sure he wouldn’t mind if I borrowed it. This was an emergency, after all. An emergency to me, that was.
If Kenna planned to go with me, she better hurry her ass up, because I wasn’t waiting for anyone. I’d take off without her. I had to. It was the only way to ensure I caught up with the guys. The engine in the Jeep rumbled to life, and I rammed the car into Drive just as Kenna opened the door, hopping in. She dropped a bag onto the floor of the car, settling in as I hit the gas, the Jeep lurching forward from where it had been parked on the street.
Gripping the steering wheel, I searched the road for another set of headlights. “Help me find them.”
“They couldn’t have gone far. Go to the school’s main exit,” she directed, pointing slightly to the right. “Hopefully they got stopped at the light.”
Luck was on our side. I rolled the Jeep up to the stoplight, seeing the rear end of the black Rover. Three cars separated us, but I still proceeded cautiously as the light turned green. I didn’t have a cousin who raced cars and not pick up a thing or two. Two cousins, actually. Sawyer, the triplets’ older brother, died while street racing. It was a very triggering topic in the Edwards’s household, one we all avoided in front of my aunt and uncle.
Moving through town wasn’t hard, not with the other cars, the bright streetlights, and the city glowing on either side of the road, but when the Rover steered into a more rural part of Elmwood, I had to put more distance between us. If the guys knew they were being followed, they gave no signal.
“Kill the lights,” Kenna instructed. We were about to make a turn onto a somber street without a single lamppost. Nothing but darkness stretched out for miles.
I flipped the headlights off before I turned after them.
This took backwoods to a new meaning. The starless sky, the eerie darkness, and the canopy of trees all sent uneasy tingles through me. It seemed just a little too perfect for a murder scene.
“Remind me never to come to this part of town alone,” Kenna muttered, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.
“Did you bring your Taser?” I asked, glancing at her before looking back at the road.
“Of course.” I couldn’t see her face, but she definitely rolled her eyes.
I should have guessed. She’d brought her fun bag of toys. God only knew what else was in there.
The occasional glow of the Rover’s taillights acted as my guide. We eventually pulled onto a gravel road. Another five minutes and the SUV came to a stop. I steered into the woods surrounding the road, tucking the Jeep behind a tree.
Kenna and I waited until the guys exited the Range Rover; then we quietly opened our doors, lifting the handles and pushing them shut with a soft click. We walked around to the front of the Jeep, and I shoved the key into my back pocket, thankful I’d put on jeans today. If I would be traipsing around in the woods, then at least I didn’t have to worry about ticks.
Ducking and twisting, I peeked through the branches to get a glimpse of the building. It was indeed a warehouse, a run-down one at that, complete with broken windows, missing planks of wood, peeling paint, and overgrown weeds. The place was the perfect hideaway for the homeless and junkies. Secluded and forgotten. Unless someone actually owned this shit hole, no one would bother checking on it.
What the hell had this place once been? And how did the Elite know about it?
I leaned a hand against a branch, needing something to hold on to, but the tree wasn’t having it. A hunk of bark broke off, tumbling to the ground. I froze, Kenna shooting me a you’re-going-to-get-us-caught glower. I didn’t blame her; if the roles had been reversed, I would have given her an identical glare.
Grayson’s head lifted, turning to the trees where we were hidden. “Did you hear that?” he asked the others.
A long stretch of silence proceeded, and I held my breath.
“Don’t be paranoid,” Micah said, clasping Grayson on the back. “It’s probably a fox or a raccoon.”
Kenna and I stayed in the trees, watching the guys move into the warehouse. “What do you think they plan on doing to him in there?” she whispered.
I batted a leaf away from my mouth, ignoring the mosquito buzzing in my ear. “Only one way to find out.”
She raised a brow. “Do we really want to know?”
She had a point. It might be healthier for my mental state to not know what would happen inside the shambled warehouse. Yet my feet were moving. Crouched, I trotted across the road to Brock’s SUV. Kenna was at my side, peering through the window. She adjusted the bag, securing it higher on her shoulder.
Clang.Click, click, click.
Something had dropped out of Kenna’s bag, the small noise sounding like a gun going off in an empty field. I jumped, whirling toward her. The spray can rolled to my feet, hitting the toe of my shoe.