There, between a tire recycling plant and an old warehouse, sat an ancient storage facility, the metal exterior dented and rusting. It almost looked deserted. But a single cargo van sat parked in front.
Zach cruised past, or tried to. Someone stepped in front of his van.
He cursed, swerved, and slammed on the brakes, narrowly missing the man. Zach’s already pounding heart ramped up a notch. Where the hell had the guy come from? Zach would’ve sworn the road and surrounding gravel lots had been empty a moment ago.
It wasn’t just the man’s sudden appearance that surprised him. Zach barely sensed him. Not calm like Cara. She was like a forest pond. This guy was like the ocean. A roiling pit ofhostility, but not overwhelming. It boiled at the fringes of his consciousness, but didn’t scream, like most people’s.
As the man made his way to Zach’s side of the van, details became more apparent. Like the fact that the guy was well over six feet tall and built like a bear.
Zach rolled down his window.
The suicidal individual had close-set, pale-brown eyes. Their intensity sent a chill down Zach’s spine.
“You lost?” the man asked. His voice was a rumbling growl. Andsuspicionrolled from him.
Any doubts Zach had vanished in that instant. Jessie was in there. And this man was responsible. He wanted nothing more than to leap on the guy and plow his fist into his face. But Zach was no fool. This guy looked like he could break any human in half. If Zach tried and failed, the man might kill Jessie and the others.
He needed to bring help, not act like the hero. That only worked in the movies.
The big man’ssuspicionwas sharpening. Beyond the warehouse was nothing but farmer’s fields. Zach had driven to the edges of the industrial park. He had no reason for being out here, but he gave it his best shot.
“I’m a courier,” he blurted, gesturing to the magnetic decal on his door. His mind groped wildly for the companies he’d delivered to in the past. “Looking for Penner Enterprises?”
The man stared at him as if he were trying to dissect Zach’s soul. Zach was grateful he had a cube van. Behind him was a solid wall. The man couldn’t see he was, in fact, empty.
The pale eyes narrowed. “You took a wrong turn,” the man said. “Go back the way you came. Penner’s on Roy Roche Drive, closer to Inkster.”
“Oh, thanks.”
The man didn’t immediately step back. His pale eyes remained riveted on Zach for a moment before he spun and left.
Zach’s hands shook as he drove to the warehouse’s access. It wasn’t the snarly man that made them shake. It was the continuous assault of emotion pouring from the storage facility.
Hurry, hurry, hurry.He used the warehouse’s driveway to turn the cube van around. The man had walked to the cargo van parked outside the facility and now leaned against it, watching Zach as he offered a cheerful wave and drove past. His heart thundered almost as badly as his head.
Dare he just stop and call the police?Suspicionstill hammered at him. What if the man wasn’t acting alone? Was someone staring at him, even now? Jessie’s life could hang in the balance, based on what he did in these next few moments.
He drove to Penner’s. It had an extensive parking lot, and Zach pulled around the side of the building to park near the delivery entrance. He was well away from the storage facility, but he still sensedintent. Like someone watched his every move. How was that possible?
He scanned for the cargo van. Had the man followed him? There was so sign that he had. Was there more than one person involved? Theintentwasn’t his imagination. But with all the chaos in his head, he couldn’t pinpoint it.
A casual observer might simply be wondering why his van had pulled into the lot. Or it could be the kidnappers watching him.
No way to know for sure.
Instinct compelled him to leave his vehicle and climb the stairs to the walk-in door. He kept his hand beneath his jacket, as if shielding an envelope.
The man at the receiving counter was obviously finishing up for the day, and he wasn’t paying much attention to a lost courier.
“Looking for Trans-Y,” Zach said.
Fortunately, the guy wasn’t who Zach had last delivered to at Penner’s. So he looked like an idiot, but not an idiot the guy knew.
He left with directions. The moment he walked out the door, he once again sensed theintent. Zach barely stopped himself from looking around. He got back into his vehicle and picked up his iPad. Instead of examining the screen, his eyes scanned the lot.
Nothing unusual.
Hurry, hurry, hurry.He backed out of his spot and drove away. As he did so, he checked his side mirrors. He’d just written himself off as paranoid when movement caught his eye.
