noticed that too,” Barry confirmed. “No wonder they didn’t pick up anything. Management is probably afraid of a lawsuit.”
If something else bothered Casey, she wasn’t saying.
“Can you track the car using the antifreeze?”
“Let’s find out,” she put on her sunglasses.
The pair hurriedly walked back to the valet stand in time to see an attendant pull up the Dodge. Casey tipped the man while Barry placed the duffel bag into the trunk.
“You drive,” she ordered, getting into the passenger side and rolling down the window. The sun shined on her face.
Barry slid in behind the wheel, closed the door, and put on his seatbelt. He drove the vehicle away from the hotel and stopped at a red light. “Where to?”
“When the light turns green, go straight. And drive under the speed limit. The vehicle went in that direction.”
Barry complied, going at a speed of thirty miles per hour. Five minutes later, he took a left turn and made his way to 193 South going into Wolforth County. Casey’s directions weren’t complicated, but once in a while he had to stop to allow her to pick up the scent again. Thankfully, there was no wind and the temperature held at a mild eighty degrees. There was still an hour of daylight left.
“Exit here,” she pointed.
Barry turned the vehicle onto FM 1585. A few miles later, Casey instructed him to drive into an abandoned warehouse district, park the car, and shut off the engine.
“Do you hear that?”
“Hear what? I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly,” she replied. “Pop the trunk.”
Barry pulled the latch next to the driver’s seat. They exited the vehicle and walked to the trunk, where Casey unzipped her duffel bag and produced her katana.
“Do you really need that?”
She didn’t answer. “The smell of the antifreeze is coming from that last warehouse on the right.”
“Great, we can call the police.”
“And tell them what? We need to know if he’s in there.”
“He? Don’t you mean she?” he asked.
“That’s what I meant,” her words were slurred.
“Meant?” Barry became worried. “Casey, are you all right?”
Ignoring him, she fumbled with the duffel bag’s zipper before closing the trunk. “Stay close.”
They made their way to the back of the warehouse. Several loading docks were sealed off. The area hadn’t been used in years, but a brand-new padlock securing an old door appeared out of place. Barry watched in awe as Casey used her bare hand to snap the lock open before dropping down on one knee to recover her sunglasses, which fell from her face.
“Whoa!” Barry grabbed Casey before she hit the concrete. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t know. I’m dizzy.”
Her gaze alarmed Barry when she looked up. “Oh God!”
“What is it?”
“Your eyes,” Barry stuttered. “They’re chalk white.”
“Damn. I’m dehydrated. Been out in the sun too long.”
“How? It’s not hot out here.”
“Doesn’t have to be,” she reminded him. “It’s the sunlight, not the heat, that affects me.”
“Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
“Earlier I was fine. Now I’m not.”
Barry feared the worst. “What do I do?”
“I need blood.”
Now his fear turned into terror. “How much are we talking about?”
“More than you’ve got, so don’t go there with me,” Casey grimaced in pain, clutching her stomach.
Dumbfounded, Barry didn’t know what to do. Inside, a child predator might have his latest victim. Right next to him, a vampire needed blood to survive.
She picked up her sunglasses, put them on, and stood up. “Let’s get inside.”
“You’re in no shape to go anywhere,” he argued.
“I can’t stay out here.” Casey leaned against the wall. “Once inside, I’ll be okay. I just need to get out of the sun.”
“And if we run into trouble?”
“I’ll handle it.”
Before he could stop her, she opened the door, entered the warehouse, and stumbled a few feet inside.
As Barry walked in to help her up, he was struck from behind and collapsed on the dusty floor.
Chapter 9
The pain swirling around inside his head made Barry feel like he had been run over by a train—twice. With his vision slowly returning to normal, he lay on the ground, trying to survey his surroundings.
The fading sunlight stretched across the warehouse floor. An odor of spoiled meat mixed with vapors of diesel fuel polluted the air. In the shadows, he could make out the Dodge parked next to a cargo van at the other end. Barry sat up and discovered his wrists chained to a cinder block wall. The homemade iron shackles cut deep into his skin when he reached up to feel the back of his head. The bruise hurt, but he wasn’t bleeding. Out of reach, he saw Casey lying motionless with her back to him. A few feet away from her, a five-by-five-foot steel cage was elevated above the floor on a wooden stand of makeshift pallets. Someone’s voice whimpered out to him from within the cage.
“Mister, are you okay? Mister, can you hear me?”
Barry shook his head and narrowed his eyes to adjust to the light. It only increased the pain. “Do I look okay?”
The voice didn’t reply. Barry knew that if they were going to get out alive, he needed information. “Hey, what’s your name?”
She hesitated. “Lashonda.”
The name brought a glimmer of hope.
“What’s yours?” she asked.
“Barry.” He took a moment to let the pain in his head subside. “Lashonda, how did you get here?”
The frightened eight-year-old whispered her story. Her parents wouldn’t let her go swimming this morning. When they went to check out of the hotel, she asked to go to the bathroom. Instead, Lashonda sneaked outside. Next thing she remembered, she woke up inside the cage.
“Did you see who took you?”
“No.”
That didn’t make sense.
“But I saw who chained you up. He’s a really big man. The biggest I’ve ever seen,” Lashonda said.
He glanced over at Casey. “Do you know why my friend isn’t chained up?”
“The man got real scared when he couldn’t wake her. He thinks she’s dead. Is she dead?”
Barry didn’t know how to answer the question, since he wasn’t sure if Casey’s condition could be permanent. “Lashonda, I don’t want you to worry. We’re going to get out of here.”
“No, we’re not. We’re going to die,” she sobbed.
“Lashonda, I need you to be strong. Can you do that?”
She smeared away the tears running down her cheeks and whispered,