Page 44 of Reclaiming Chaos
“Not over the phone. I’ll meet you in the park by the swings in an hour.”
I pulled into the park’s parking lot and into an empty space where I could see the woods, the playground, and the entrance. Amy’s car was already parked in the distance, as if she were in the secret bunker. “I remember where it is. I’ll meet you there.”
I leaned my seat back and sipped my cooling coffee, watching everyone come and go from the location. Two of Carlee’s colleagues had emerged from the trees and drove away in the same car. A family with three kids was packing up to leave as clouds started to roll in and the sky turned dark.
I glanced at my watch once again. I still had thirty minutes to kill for Amy to surface when a car turned in. The same car the security guard had been driving, which I’d pulled over for following me days ago.
The FT security guard got out and headed for the trees. The wind caught on his trench coat, giving me a glimpse of the gun he had hidden beneath. Instead of going toward the secret tunnel, he moved toward the swings and stepped inside the tree line. I vaguely glimpsed his gun as he pointed it at the swings.
“Seriously?” I growled, frustrated I would have been walking into a trap had I not been early. The only question was, who in the hell had set it up? Amy? Carlee? Or was Mr. Russell on to this game already? “Fascinating.”
I hit redial on the number Amy had called from. She answered on the first ring. “Hello.”
“Amy, this is Ridge Bennett. We need to change the meeting place.”
“Really? Why is that? I was just about to leave,” she said.
“It’s not convenient,” I said without answering.
“Fine. There’s a coffee shop on 26thand Fredrickson. I’m in the bunker, but I was just about to leave anyway. How about we meet there?”
“Much better. I’ll see you soon,” I said and hung up.
Within seconds the man with the gun was on his phone and hurrying through the playground and heading out of the parking lot. Either Amy’s phone was bugged, as mine had been, or she was the mole.
Five minutes later, Amy scurried out of the woods and slipped into her car. She looked frazzled, clutching her purse close to her chest.
When she pulled out of the parking lot, I stepped out of my car and headed toward the woods back to the bunker’s entrance.
Carlee had several hours after she left before she’d probably have showed up at Russell’s. With her apartment secured and locked down, this would have been her closest place to hide out.
I pulled the door open and stepped inside. Grabbing a flashlight, I jogged down the tunnel until I reached the door. I didn’t bother knocking. I pulled it open. There was one dim fluorescent light on in the middle of the room.
I flicked the light switch, flooding the area with light as I stepped inside and called out, “Hello.”
Silence. My gaze darted around the outer sanctum, where these people liked to relax.
The place was set up like a living room with a kitchen-dinette. Nothing remotely interesting in this room. I crossed the expanse and opened the door to the dark work area.
I flicked on the light, illuminating the unknown, and stepped inside. My gaze darted around the room. “Hello,” I called again.
No one answered.
The scent of something being burned caught my attention as I stepped inside the almost empty room. I refrained from reaching for my gun. Where there had once been desks and workstations, the room was now empty and lacking furniture, and the walls were empty of pictures. The board in the middle of the room had been stripped of pictures and names. A trash can sat in front of it. The inside was covered in black and soot. Nothing was left of whatever had been thrown away but embers. I lifted the top item. It was a charred picture of my sister that had been posted on the board. One of my secrets to be exposed.
“What the…”
“When she brought you here, it changed things,” Veronica, Mr. Russell’s assistant, startled me. I spun to find her standing in the doorway. “We had to destroy the room and any remaining evidence. It was no longer valid or useful.”
“Changed how?” I asked, meeting her gaze.
“The viewers and predictors, as I like to call them all, knew change was coming even if they couldn’t pinpoint the catalyst. It was only Carlee who figured out that you’re the one domino that makes everything fall down.”
“She might be right. Too bad she didn’t share her little plan before returning to work for Russell.”
Veronica took a tentative step and stilled. “She returned? She hadn’t told us she planned to do that.” Veronica’s brows dipped. “That wasn’t part of the bigger picture.”
“So, what was her plan?” I asked.
