Page 49 of Zero
“That’s not what I was worried about. I—” He paused and stared at me.
The way his gaze burned through me, I gave in and broke eye contact to stare out the window.
“Dakò.” Bòkò shifted back into position. “But whatever it is, don’t let it sit in the silence for too long. These things have a way of festering and by the time you realize what’s going on, it’s too late.”
Rei spared him a glance as I turned to stare at him. But I had no time to react.
“We’re here.” Rei pulled the vehicle into the parking lot of a hotel across the street.
He picked up a pair of binoculars from between the seats and lifted it to his eyes.
“Anything?” Bòkò wanted to know.
“Two cars in the lot.” Rei reported. “The property looks like a bit of a warehouse—not too big. Aside from the cards, it has three windows—not sure of the other sides. We’re going to have to take a closer look.”
“What about water access?” Bòkò asked.
“Um—nothing from this side.” Rei told him. “We’re going to have to see the back. But I’m going to guess there’s a spot large enough to moor a boat—maybe a yacht. Men like Morena travel in style—always.”
“We should approach from another angle.” Bòkò leaned forward as though trying to see through the building’s walls. “The windows could pose a problem—”
“Cameras.” Rei spoke up. “Left corner of the roof and over the windows. “State of the art. You’re right. We definitely have to approach from a different angle.”
“The only way they’ll have so many cameras is if they’re hiding something.” I told them. “People down here don’t mess with that kind of stuff and even if they do have a camera, it’s not state of the art.”
“Okay.” Rei put down the binoculars and reversed from the parking lot. When he exited, it was to drive along the strip while Bòkò checked the place out through the binoculars.
“We can get in through that parking lot.” Bòkò reported.
Rei made a sharp left turn into the parking lot of a fried chicken place and parked.
We snuck from the car, climbed over a slight bump and we were on the property of the warehouse. Just as Rei and Bòkò thought. There were no cameras at the sides of the place or the back. The back also led down into a slope into the water and there was a yacht tied up there.
“I’ll take the boat?” Bòkò asked, while unclipping the strap over his weapon.
Rei nodded and motioned for me to follow him. “Stay close,” he said simply.
Chapter 11
Rei
My mind switched gears the moment we had boots on the ground. I moved in through a backdoor, feeling Bailey close behind. I paused at the foot of some stairs and looked around.
The sound of a television or radio echoed through the space coming from what seemed to be a large upstairs section. Where we stood, led out to a massive open area that had nothing but boxes and a couple of broken, overturned chairs.
Unclipping my gun, I edged closer.
The room was cleared.
I could only go up from there.
I glanced back to see Bailey was still with me before turning around and heading up the metal steps. At the top of the stairs, I moved back to the wall leaving space for her while I trained my gun down the corridor. There was one door in the center of it but other than that the hall led all the way down to a railing. I assumed there was space on either side of it.
Taking a deep breath, I inched down the hall, stopping to press my ear to the door. Hearing nothing, I tried the handle to find it open. Easing the door open, I cleared the room. It stunk as if it hadn’t opened in a while. Mould and wet dog filled my nose and I frowned. The room was empty aside from a small cot sitting in a corner.
Leaving that behind, I continued to the railing, checking both directions then hunched down to peer over.
The space was open, boxes piled up against one wall. Someone was tied to a chair in the center and there were—I stopped to count—about eighteen armed men located around the space.
