Page 71 of Stray Cat

Again, Dean ignored him and kept up his conversation with the imaginary Diego. Obviously he didn’t consider Lindsay capable of doing any damage, more fool he.

“I only want AC,” Dean said loudly as he pushed Xav toward the aisle from which they’d heard the sound. “I’ll let him go if you put my brother in front of me.”

“Diego couldn’t have gotten here so fast,” Xav said in a reasonable tone. “It has to be someone else messing with you. Maybe those guys from California want their money back.”

By Dean’s tightening grip on Xav’s arm, he saw the logic in this point. He jerked Xav directly in front of him. “You’re going in first and flushing them out.”

“You mean the two of us against whoever managed to break in here and take out all your guys?” Xav asked incredulously. “Good plan. How about we get the hell out of here and drive to the rendezvous, instead?”

“What about your girlfriend?” Dean sounded surprised. “You’d just leave her? You’re cold, dude.”

“They’ve probably already nabbed her.” Xav shrugged as though ready to cut his losses. “Linds,” he called. “You all right? Answer if you can.”

There was a long moment of silence. Just when Xav thought Lindsay wouldn’t respond, they heard her voice from the depths of the darkness. It was weak, pleading.

“Xav, honey? They say to stay back.”

Xav tried not to sag in relief. Lindsay Cummings would never, ever cry out to anyone so pathetically, no matter what the situation. If someone truly held her, she’d be either snarling obscenities or teasing her captors into confusion, as she had with Dean and his henchmen in the office.

“Okay, you’re right, they have her,” Dean said quietly. “We’re going.”

“You’d just leave all your guys?” Xav asked, mimicking Dean’s earlier question. “That’s cold, dude.”

“If they could help, they already would have. Let’s go.”

Dean turned Xav around and half pushed, half dragged him toward the locked outer door. Xav heard a faint scratching sound behind them, maybe claws across a floor, then the squeal that sounded like a door that hadn’t been opened in a while, followed by a slight draft that quickly cut off.

Dean whirled, pointing his gun into the darkness. Xav readied himself to disarm him, but Dean almost immediately turned back and continued shoving Xav at the door. At some point, Dean would have to undo the padlock or reach for a key to have Xav unlock it, and Xav would seize his chance.

Something clicked above them, and then static buzzed through whatever speakers had once been this place’s intercom system.

“Oh, wow,” Lindsay’s voice came to them. “This is like the control room for the whole warehouse, isn’t it?”

“Where is this control room?” Xav demanded instantly of Dean. “Come on. We can still help her.”

“Nope, she’s screwed.” Dean continued propelling Xav onward. “So are we, if we stay. I have other resources. You just make sure I get my meetup with AC.”

“Lindsay.” Xav tried once again to sound like the concerned but resigned boyfriend. “I’m sorry.”

Something gurgled deep in the recesses of the building. Dean halted, his gun solidly on Xav, his gaze darting everywhere. Xav braced himself for whatever Lindsay was about to do.

The broken pipes above them began to shudder and groan.

With a loudbang,water burst from them, cascading in haphazard fountains and raining down to shelves, crates, and the cement floor. The sudden pressure found weak joints in other pipes, and soon more jets of water spurted forth, spraying Dean and Xav in an abrupt shower of cold water.

“I think I found the sprinkler system,” Lindsay said through the speakers. “Hope that stuff is potable.”

Gee, thanks,Xav said silently.

“What does this do?” Lindsay went on. “Oh, it opens the loading docks. Cool.”

With a creak and a squeal, the three large garage doors near the exit Dean had been making for slowly rose and folded back to reveal the cold darkness outside.

Dean swiped at the water running down his face. “What the hell?” he snarled.

“Forgot to mention, Lindsay’s a little crazy,” Xav said smugly.

“Let’s go.” In his single-minded need to confront his brother, Dean started pushing Xav toward the rising doors.

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