After she hung up the phone, she turned to me and said, “Seth has been monitoring Derek’s GPS. He’s been moving around a bit today, but right now, he is at the warehouse.”
“And what about the other three?” Stitch asked.
“As far as he can tell, they aren’t with him, but he’s still trying to find their exact location in case we need it,” she responded as she opened the glove box and pulled out her handgun.
As soon as Stitch spotted it, he took it from her hand, and even though she hadn’t offered it to him, he gave her a quick chin lift and said, “Thanks.”
Sara shook her head and smiled as she started the car. She put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking lot. Thirty minutes later, we pulled into a parking garage next to a high-rise office building in the middle of Anchorage. When we walked through the main door, Sara was greeted by a security guard. After a brief conversation, he escorted her over to the main elevator. Once the doors opened, she motioned for us to follow.
When Stitch approached her, she said, “This shouldn’t take long. Seth has everything you will need waiting for us in my office. You can check everything out before we go.”
“You aren’t going anywhere, Sara,” I informed her. “You’ll stay here until this thing is finished.”
“But…” she mumbled as she crossed her arms.
“This isn’t up for discussion. You need to stay here where I know you’ll be safe.”
“Fine,” she mumbled.
“Gonna need the keys to your car,” I smiled. Before she had a chance to argue, the elevator doors opened, revealing the hallway to her office. We followed her through the main doors. As usual, Stitch was right at my side, monitoring my every step. As we walked inside, I glanced around the room and wasn’t surprised to see how contemporary it was. There was lots of gray and steel, giving the place a masculine feel. It was simple, but it suited her. Sara was never into all that girlie shit most women were into, and from the looks of her office, that part of her hadn’t changed. As we continued to walk further into the room, my attention was drawn to a small photograph sitting on one of her bookshelves. I walked over to it and saw it was a picture taken when Sara and I were just kids, not long after she’d graduated high school. We were sitting on my bike outside the clubhouse, and I’m sure we were about to head out on one of our crazy adventures. Before we left, her mother stopped us to take a picture. I hadn’t seen it in years. I couldn’t help but notice the smile plastered on my face. It was a time long before Uncle Saul had died and I’d become President. It was a time when I was happy… really happy.
When I finally turned around, Maverick was standing there beside me. “We’ve got everything we need and more. Stitch has already checked them out, and they’re locked and loaded,” he explained as he handed me two of the handguns.
“Good. We need to check with Seth before we go. I want to know Derek’s exact location before we leave,” I explained.
“His office is just down the hall,” Sara told me as she turned and walked out of the room. When we walked in, he was sitting at his computer and never even looked up until Sara spoke.
“Hey, Seth. Can you pull up Derek’s GPS for me?” He looked up at her, and his face instantly softened when he caught sight of her. Anyone could see he had a thing for Sara, but she didn’t seem to notice or care.
“Sure thing,” he answered and quickly started typing on his computer. Seconds later, he said, “He’s left the warehouse. He’s out on Dunbar Road. That’s a new location. We haven’t had a chance to have the team check it out. Maybe you should wait until he goes back to the warehouse.”
“What’s the full address?” I asked.
“22 South Dunbar Road,” he answered.
I nodded then turned to Sara and said, “Need your car keys.”
She placed them in the palm of my hand, and with Maverick and Stitch following close behind, I headed out to her car. It took us almost thirty minutes of driving through the outskirts of town to find Derek’s location. Once we made it through a small, wooded area, we came up to an old, dilapidated house. The lot looked deserted; even the neighboring houses looked abandoned. When we got out of the car, we noticed there were locks on some of the windows, and the front door was also bolted from the outside. Hoping to find a way inside, I followed Maverick to the back of the house. Stitch went around in the other direction, making sure there were no surprises. The back door was closed, but it wasn’t locked. As soon as we stepped inside the house, it was obvious the house was vacant. There was no heat, little to no furniture, and no sign of life anywhere in sight.