CHAPTER 10 ARCH #2
They both smiled, and Harrison bounced on his feet. “Sounds fun. Let’s do it!” I hoped he still felt the same when he realized the warehouse wasn’t air conditioned.
Both Harrison and Cassandra voted to walk through the warehouse before eating, so we got in my SUV and headed there first. If we found anything suspicious, I’d come back on another day with a 3-D imaging camera to take actual measurements of all the rooms. But for now, just looking around without the distractions and scents of the abductees would be useful.
We’d installed a keypad lock on the main door, and I let the wolves precede me inside.
“We’ll shift if we can’t get a good enough scent in this form.
” Cassandra put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the first floor.
This open area acted as a sort of lobby, with three hallways leading toward blocks of cells, and one that led to an office and stairs to the second floor.
We hadn’t found much up there, only a basic kitchen and a bunch of storage shelves, mostly empty except for food.
We’d traced the ownership of the warehouse to a defunct import company. We were working under the assumption that the traffickers had recently moved into the abandoned building, not intending to occupy the space for more than a couple of months.
The warehouse, even though it was empty of prisoners, still felt oppressive, though that could’ve been my subconscious disliking how hot it was in here. The odors of blood and other bodily fluids remained strong, which was definitely due to the lack of air conditioning.
After handing out nitrile gloves, I pointed down the hallways. “Go wherever you like. We searched the place after all the Wonders were out, but we weren’t thinking about hidden rooms.” I’d add that to the protocol going forward though.
Cassandra eyed me. “You’re looking for something specific. What is it?”
I sighed and ran my hand over my head. They should know, so they could search more effectively.
Fuck. “This is not to be shared with anyone, okay? Not even all of the Hunters will be read in on it, so I’m serious.
” They both nodded. “One of the Wonders didn’t get thoroughly interviewed after the rescue, and he’s come forward to say he saw the head guy of the whole operation walk through here a few times.
And he’d bring his ‘pet’ who the Wonder described as a ‘monster’. ” I made air quotes.
“Whoa.” Harrison spun in a slow circle, sniffing.
“Yeah. The monster was kept in a large cell next to a metal door, but that’s all we’ve got.”
They walked together down the first hallway, one of them on each side. I headed for the office. As I walked past one of the hallways leading to more cells, I caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye. I stopped to look and listen, but nothing stirred.
The office hadn’t been disturbed since I’d been in it last. We hadn’t found anything in the desk, which wasn’t surprising.
The auctioneer had to have money, and someone like that wouldn’t voluntarily work out of a place like this, especially when it was full of Wonders making noises and smells.
Maybe he only visited when his pet needed to eat.
Still, I went through the desk again, checking the drawers for unexpected sizes and false bottoms. Nothing. The walls were painted industrial gray, and all I could see was drywall under the paint. I knocked on each wall at various heights, but nothing sounded like a hidden passageway.
Harrison and Cassandra appeared in the doorway. They walked inside and both of them wrinkled their noses. “Human.” Harrison walked around the desk and leaned over the chair behind it. “Yep, human. Don’t know if that’s your auctioneer, but a human sat in here for a significant amount of time.”
I frowned. “Would you be able to tell if it was a magic carrier?”
Their dual gasps were almost comical. No one, especially a Wonder, could imagine a magic carrier betraying Wonders like this.
“No, we can’t tell that by smell.” Harrison’s voice was thin. “Do you really think it’s a magic carrier?”
Yes, I did, for multiple reasons, but I didn’t want to disillusion them so soon. “I have no idea. I just wanted to see if we could eliminate the possibility.”
After doing a full-body shiver, Cassandra closed her eyes. “Let’s find out where he liked to go.” She left the room, taking a sharp left out of the doorway. Harrison hurried after her, and I followed.
She went down the hall past a large metal door that I remembered led to the loading docks at the back of the warehouse.
Once again I caught a flash of movement, this time from slightly ahead.
It was gone when I blinked and looked more closely.
Harrison, who’d been nearer to it than I was, hadn’t reacted.
Cassandra stopped next to a blank part of the concrete wall that lined the hallway. Leaning over, she sniffed some more, then pointed and turned her head to address me. “I’d bet this is a trigger plate for a door.”
I glanced at the metal door next to the wall she pointed at, and my scalp prickled. I was pretty sure I knew what was behind that secret door. I gestured. “Go on.”
Harrison went to stand behind her, practically vibrating with excitement.
Cassandra slowly but firmly pushed on the concrete, straightening up and stepping back when we heard a loud click.
A huge section of the wall lifted slightly, then rolled into a gap in the wall to the right.
Behind the door was a cell, similar to the rest of the cells in the warehouse, but bigger.
Nothing inside except some stains on the floor, a built-in bunk, and a toilet.
At the rear of the cell was a regular-sized metal door with a window in the top half.
“I smell blood and...” She took a deep breath through her nose. “Some kind of Wonder I haven’t run across before.”
Harrison nodded. “Same.”
I sniffed as well. My Hunter senses were strong, but not as strong as a wolf’s.
I reached into my pocket for the set of keys we’d taken off one of the guards.
We’d used them to open the cells and free the Wonders.
I handed them to Harrison, who skipped up to the lock and swiftly but methodically went through all the keys on the ring.
The last one worked, and the cell door swung open.
I waved the two wolves forward.
“Multiple people bled in here. Wonders.” Harrison pointed at the dark brown stains on the floor and walls. “Not enough to kill them, or at least what landed here wasn’t.”
Cassandra went to the door in the back, which had a big deadbolt lock.
The window was reinforced glass. When she turned the knob, the door opened freely, revealing a much smaller hallway beyond.
She gestured at the hallway side of the door.
“The human from the office would stand at this window. His scent is all over it.”
“He brought captives in here and fed them to this other Wonder?” Harrison shivered. “And he watched.”