Chapter 70 – Charlie
CHARLIE
Pulling up in front of the large, rusted iron gate, Mitchell turns the car off and I study the abandoned property in front of us.
Of course this is where he took them. Why didn't we think to come here first?
Unlike this morning, we have next to no information about this house.
No cameras or floorplans to guide us. All we know about this place is what I’ve read about the basement from Bonnie’s posts and Mia’s reports.
Both were brief, Bonnie’s for obvious reasons, and Mia…
she was just trying to protect us, to spare us the details.
But right now…those details would have been very useful.
We have about twenty minutes to gather as much information as we can from the outside while we wait for the twins to get here after dropping Brayden, Sammy and their mother off at the safehouse.
The plan is for me and Dad to walk around the property while Mitchell looks up what he can from my laptop. Then we’re going in.
We’re not waiting. We’ve waited long enough. They’ve been gone for more than two days now, and we have no idea what state they’re in. We can’t afford to wait.
“That chain isn’t new,” Mitchell comments and my eyes follow his, noticing the rusted over chain wrapped around both halves of the gate, likely to try and keep the public out once the police were finished with their investigation.
Though, by the graffiti across the front of the house, I’d say it wasn’t very effective.
Surveying the front yard, I take in the long, overgrown grass that has swallowed up the rest of the driveway on the other side of the gate, as well as any paths that may be hidden underneath.
There’s several windows that have been smashed, whether from people throwing stuff through them or the weather is anyone’s guess. The brick looks as though it’s started cracking, moss and mould growing along the base and climbing up as nature reclaims the building.
A small tree has fallen over at some point, most likely from a storm, and has taken out half of the garage. I point it out to Mitchell, “Should be go in through the garage?”
“I’d prefer we didn’t,” Dad answers for him from the backseat. “The garage doesn’t exactly look structurally sound. Besides, I highly doubt they carried two unconscious bodies inside in full view of the road, even if this place has been abandoned for years.”
Fair point. Unbuckling my belt, I go to climb out, but Mitchell stops me. “Do not approach or go inside the house.”
“I know. I won’t.”
“And if you see Johnathan,” Dad adds. “Shoot to wound. We may need him to find Bonnie and Jace.”
Right. Because there’s still a possibility that they aren’t here. Despite how well it fits. Despite the irony of him taking her to the place she not only escaped her husband, but him too.
They have to be here. It makes sense. This house isn’t all that far from Johnathan’s. It would have been convenient and easy for Michael to call on him when he went too far.
They’re here. They have to be. I can feel it.
But…how many times have I felt the same thing over and over again over the years? How many times was I wrong?
“Unlike this morning, we’re not splitting up. We're staying together. Between squatters, the weather, and who knows what else; there’s no telling what state the inside is in. "Be careful where you step, and-” Ryan looks pointedly at me. “-do not go off on your own.”
“Everything he needs to keep them is down in the basement, so that’s where he will be,” Elijah takes over. “From her posts, we know there’s no source of light down there outside of what was likely halogen lights given her description and they would have died a long time ago.”
“It’s gonna be dark as shit down there so everyone gets a flashlight.” Caleb holds up a shopping bag from Bunnings, pulling out a couple of flashlights and handing them around.
“She also mentioned that when Michael wasn’t blaring music, she couldn’t hear a thing from outside the basement. That will work to our advantage,” Ryan says. “If he’s in the basement when we go in, he won’t know we’re there until we open the basement door.”
“The second we have eyes on all three of them-” Mitchell shuts the boot of the twins’ car after grabbing the pair of bolt cutters they also grabbed on their stop at Bunnings. “-who ever has a clean shot, kill him.”
Walking through the backdoor, the first thing I notice is the thick level of dust coating the floor with the exception of a set of footprints marking the way inside.
I start coughing uncontrollably as dust hits the back of my throat when we walk further into the house, unintentionally kicking up more and more as well go.
“Breathe through your nose,” Eli suggests, his eyes sweeping the kitchen and I follow his advice. It helps, but I still reach under my vest and pull my shirt over my nose to try and filter the dust.
I step into the kitchen behind him and take in the complete chaos of the room. All of the cupboards and drawers are bare and left open. There’s remnants of rubbish and food on the floor, a broken microwave on the stovetop and the oven door is by the fridge.
The main bedroom isn’t much better. The drawers and wardrobes have been raided, no clothes in site, and the doors are busted. The mattress as been torn up and the bedframe has a corner disappearing inside a wall.
In the loungeroom, the couch has been overturned, the cushions ripped to shreds and if there was a tv and entertainment unit, they’ve been stolen. Then there’s the graffiti painted onto the wall labelling Michael as a rapist, woman beater and a list of other derogatory slurs.
So much for the chain on the gate keeping people out.
Once the rest of the house has been cleared and confirmed empty, we gather around the basement door disguised as a bookshelf, just like Bonnie mentioned.