Page 14 of Pitbull
He looked around the apartment, trying to find anything that would tell him what happened to Claudia. Anke had been correcting in sounding the alarm. The place was torn up well and good. But if they—whoever they were—had his sister, there would be no need to rip the place apart. There especially wouldn’t be a need to stand guard over the apartment.
In the bedroom he came across a closet with newspaper clipping on him. There were a few from some of the high-profile busts CIRO had done. The team tried to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible. But sometimes, they had to tarry at a scene because of protocol or to ensure it was clear before handing it over to the cops. Those were the moments reporters snapped pictures of them—often times they wore their masks but other times, not.
He frowned and continued perusing the clippings. She had when he was chosen out of thousands to join CIRO. Claudia even had clippings from the raid they’d done when Miracle was kidnapped. Getting her back had been an unsanctioned job but after she was safe the news broke. A part of him softened then but another part of him knew she wouldn’t have had to save those if she’d shown more interest in him when she had the chance.
The room was plain enough—no pictures on the walls, not much in the closet. The only furniture was a chair in one corner with a robe strung over the handle, one beside table and the large bed. Aside from the mess the intruder had made, the room was clean.
Irritated, he walked away from the closet and to the side of the bedroom window. He eased the curtain aside slightly and peered out. The car was still there, the figure in the front reading.
Allowing the curtain to fall back in place, he ventured out to the kitchen where he found Anke leaning against the sink.
“Well?” she asked.
“I don’t think she was kidnapped,” Pitbull said. “She left in a hurry, yes, but when the place was rummaged through, I don’t believe she was here.”
“How do you know?”
“My sister always kept a travel bag under the bed. It’s a habit she picked up from our father who was constantly travelling for work. It’s kinda like a go bag.”
“A go bag?”
“Yeah—it has the bare necessities, a change of clothes, money, meal replacements, nutrition bars...”
“Why would she keep that?”
Pitbull shrugged. “Like I said, a habit she picked up from our father. But, it’s gone.”
“How do you know? It’s been a while since you’ve seen her.”
Pitbull said nothing. He simple pushed to the tips of his toes and felt along the top of the cupboards. When his hand finally hit something, he pulled it down and showed it to her. “Old habits die hard.”
“What’s that?”
“Her rainy day fund.” He dropped the jar on the table. It then rolled and fell to the floor. “Some habits we never break.”
“It’s empty.”
“My point exactly.” He was already pulling out his cell phone. “She has everything about my life in her closet for the past seven years. So, she’s been living here for a while. Why pick now to run? Something spooked her—something she knew wouldn’t end well.”
“What do we do now? Do I need to warn Ruby?”
“Who is Ruby?”
“A friend of ours. We are always together. I mean, thinking like a cop she could be in danger, right?”
Pitbull exhaled hard as he pressed the phone to his ear. “Tex…”
“At your service, brother.”
“Anke was right. Something did happen to Claudia.”
“It’s Anke now?” Tex drawled. “You move fast.”
“You’re an ass.”
“I’ve been told.”
With a shake of his head, Pitbull put Tex on speaker. “Okay, horn-dog. You’re on speaker, so behave.”
