Page 95 of Mad Rivals
We head back to his place, and we head to bed early since tomorrow will be an early morning.
And early it is. It’s half-past four when the alarm goes off, and I’m snuggled into Madden’s side and don’t particularly care to get out of bed.
He jumps right up, though, eager to get to this warehouse and check things out.
I follow suit, throwing on a pair of leggings and a black shirt. We head out, park a few blocks away, and walk the rest of the way. The anticipation is killing me, and I’m one part terrified and one part thrilled he asked me to be here with him.
This is trust. This is a big step for us.
We stop a block away again to take a peek at what we’re getting into only to find it’s deserted at this hour. We check all around us as we make our way toward the warehouse, both for safety and to make sure we’re alone.
We are. We get to that same facial recognition panel by the door, and Madden pulls up the video the hacker guy sent him. He flashes it at the screen, and we both wait with bated breath for a moment before we hear the click of a lock and neon words light up beneath the device.
Access Granted.
He pulls open the door, and we both look around as we step inside. Madden shines a flashlight. It’s a quiet, deserted warehouse, just like it was the first night we walked in.
Rows and rows of shelves containing various flooring materials are before us, and Madden starts to slowly walk through the aisles.
I follow closely behind him, certain I don’t want to get lost in here without him. This is actually sort of scary, to be completely honest, and my heart is racing and beating so loudly I can hear it echoing in my ears.
We continue walking the aisles looking for anything out of the ordinary, but there doesn’t seem to be anything. “Do you think this really is just a warehouse?” I finally whisper.
He presses his lips together. “No, I don’t.” He glances back at me. “There’s something here, and we’re going to find it.Maybe it’s not in the aisles at all, but maybe it’s…” He trails off as we round the corner and start down the next aisle.
There’s a patch of carpet on the floor, almost as if it fell off a shelf. We walk toward it, and he kicks it out of the way.
And when he does, he reveals a manhole cover.
In the middle of a warehouse.
Our eyes lock as we both wonder what the hell that manhole cover is covering.
On closer inspection, we see a keypad on the cover. Madden taps six digits into it, and the cover pops open.
“How’d you know?” I whisper.
“My parents’ anniversary. My dad uses that PIN number for everything. It was the same as our home security system growing up.”
It’s not the smartest move, but I think about my own parents and their penchant for living in the past. They use the same password on every account despite the warnings given to create unique passwords.
He pulls open the cover, but it doesn’t lead anywhere. Instead, we hear a clicking sound near the far wall, the one opposite the entrance of the warehouse. We walk over in the direction of the sound, and we see that a hidden doorway has popped open right out of one of the concrete walls of this facility.
“What the fuck is this?” Madden murmurs, and he pulls open the door only to be greeted with another facial recognition device blocking our way through a heavy, wooden door. He flashes his phone with his dad’s image at it, and the deadbolt on the door slides open. He tries the handle, and the door opens to reveal a staircase.
The contrast between this stunning, luxurious staircase and the concrete warehouse above it is striking. The stairs as well as the walls surrounding them are all made from black marble with white and gray veins, and I slowly follow Madden down thestairs. We move to turn the corner, but we’re stopped by a rather large, burly fellow with his arms crossed.
“How’d you get in here?” he grunts at us. He must be the bouncer, here to guard whatever is on the other side of this wall.
“I’m Madden Bradley,” Madden says confidently, as if that explains why he’s here.
“Thomas said none of his kids know about this place. How’d you get in?”
“My father gave me the credentials.” He tries to look around the man at what we’re dealing with here, and I would love to try to look around Madden, but I’m behind him, and he’s blocking my view completely.
“We’re closed.” The man’s tone is firm and finite.
“I know. My father asked me to let you know that I was welcome to take a look around. He asked me to wait until off-hours, but since I’m the incoming Bradley CEO, this is all part of my legacy.” He sounds convincing enough to me, and meanwhile I’m shaking like a leaf back here. We’re caught! We’re not supposed to be here! What the hell is this place? What is the Bradley family caught up in? Are we going to get in trouble?
