Page 25 of Ozzie

Lightning and Harding are already there.

“Let’s go,” Harding says once she sees me.

She bends down at the back door and pulls a tool from her pocket. I glance around, and by the time I look back, she already has the door open. Slowly, we file in, scanning everything.

Display cases line the walls, but they are empty. There are stands near the front door, but they, too, have nothing on them.

“They used to sell pottery here,” Harding says. She walks toward a door, and we follow.

She opens the door slowly. The room is dark, but myflashlight is ready. It’s a small room with a few boxes. A muffled sound comes from behind the boxes. I walk around them, and that’s when I spot JB.

“He’s here.”

The man’s hands and feet are bound, and he has duct tape on his mouth. I rip that off, and he yelps loudly.

“Shh!” Harding says. “We’re here to get you out, but you have to remain quiet and follow our instructions. Understand?”

The man nods.

I use my knife to cut the ties binding him. “Can you stand up?” I ask.

“Yes,” he says as he slowly stands. He teeters a bit. “Did my father send you?”

I glance at Harding. She’s frowning at her phone.

“He did. Now, let’s get you out of here before they come back,” I say.

Harding pockets her phone. “The storm is arriving earlier than they forecasted. We need to get to our extraction point ASAP.” She leads the way out the back door.

JB follows with Lightning right before him. I take the rear to watch our back.

The storm has moved up. If we get to our pickup, we should be fine. With any luck, I can be back home tomorrow.

We make our way to the front of the building, but once we exit instead of going back the way we came, we go the opposite way.

“That’s them!” JB shouts as he points at two men walking in our direction drawing their attention.

Once the two men see JB, they begin shouting, and one has his phone to his ear.

“I thought they were supposed to be gone all day,” Lightning says.

“This way.” Harding turns and runs.

We try to follow, but JB stays planted as he glares at the men getting closer. Lightning picks him up and tosses him over his shoulder as we all follow Harding.

“Hey! Why aren’t you guys arresting those men?”

Since JB is looking at me from his perch on Lightning’s shoulder, I answer the obvious question. “We don’t have jurisdiction. If anything, they will arrest us. Now shut the hell up!”

We run as fast as we can through the crowded street. Those men are close behind us. Harding ducks into a store. We follow and go out the back and to another building and out to another street.

The incoming clouds have darkened the sky considerably, and there are no streetlights on this road. Harding continues to lead us as we weave our way around until, finally, Harding herds us into a room and closes the door. It’s dark, so I turn on my flashlight. She holds her fingers to her lips, indicating we must be silent.

She gets down on her hands and knees. I aim the flashlight to illuminate the area in front of her. She presses at the floorboard. It opens up to a hidden staircase. I go down first, shining my flashlight around the room. It’s no bigger than four feet by four feet. I spin and light up the stairs. Harding comes down last and closes the floorboard.

Lightning sets JB on his feet. JB opens his mouth, butLightning is fast and has his hand covering it before he utters a word.

Harding puts her fingers to her lips, again repeating her warning to be quiet. Then she points to my flashlight, so I turn it off.

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