For the full minute she stayed silent, James thought she’d failed, but realized he was wrong as an alarm wailed through the windows.
“I’ve blocked the system from alerting the police. I have eyes on you through the cameras. When you’re in, I’m going to turn it off. Good luck.”
The sun wasn’t completely set, and it was clear they couldn’t use darkness to conceal their presence. Instead, they left the car and dashed through the gate. It was the riskiest part of their invasion. Once inside, they used the trailers to their advantage to move as close as possible to the central warehouse.
Men ran around as the alarm continued to blare, and one man exiting the building provided them a chance to enter.
After going through the office area, Nick gestured for James to slide between a corridor of pallets. It was soon clear they were searching in the wrong place. At the back of the structure, the alarm finally turned off, and once his hearing stopped buzzing, James heard people returning and milling around.
It was apparent the men inside the space were regular workers, so if Mercy was being kept in the building, it wasn’t in this section.
Going back toward the offices, Nick took a position beside a door large enough for a lift to cross, meaning this was a brand-new section.
It only took a couple of minutes to make sure nobody was around. James slid inside, followed by Nick. The place was dark, only the high windows providing defused light from the sunset. At first glance the place looked empty, but they couldn’t take the risk of being discovered.
There were large refrigerators on one wall, the rest of the space was full of empty storage racks.
“Is there anywhere else they could be keeping her, a second floor maybe?” James kept his voice as low as possible.
Nick looked around. “Possibly. This place is huge. We still have a lot to check. Maybe Imari can give us a hand with the cameras.”
As he took out his phone, James turned to look. There were eight units along the wall, but one had a steady green light that caught his attention. Leaving Nick to his call, James went to check the units. The doors were open, and a quick check confirmed they were empty. Only the unit that had a padlock on it was left. James turned to look at the vast, noiseless, and open space. Apart from the faint whirring of the only working refrigerator, James was at a loss. He tried to visualize the building and where to go next.
Nick was still whispering on the phone and relayed their conversation to James. “Imari says the remaining employees are slowly leaving, but there’s a group waiting outside by the main gate. She can’t make out their faces, so I’m guessing they’re the men waiting for the buyer.”
Fury spread through James, but he shook it off. Mercy didn’t need that now. “None of the cameras have shown Mercy so far?”
His voice must have carried to Imari as Nick stayed silent a few seconds before shaking his head. “There are too few of them, especially inside. And as for outside, there are too many trucks and vans going in or out to know which one carried Mercy in.”
A soft thumping sound resonated inside the warehouse. On full alert, the two men looked around, but didn’t hear the sound again.
Nick hissed through his teeth. “We can’t stay here forever, James. What do you want to do?”
If only he knew. The only idea he had was to retrace their steps to the office. It was the only logical place where they’d be keeping her.
He was about to propose that solution when Nick went stiff as a rod. “Two armed men coming our way.”
If they were armed, they weren’t ordinary warehouse employees. It was the fact they were coming their way that made him pause, but they were out of time. He and Nick took position on either side of the door, and with a nod, prepared to attack. They had to do this as discreetly as possible.
The two guards never suspected they were in danger and were killed without a sound, apart from a few scuffles and their bodies hitting the ground. Quickly, they dragged both men behind a rack, it wasn’t a great hiding place, but it would have to do.
“Why did they come here?” James looked at the two men before turning to Nick, who was on his phone once more.
“Imari said the others are still outside. She’ll tell us if there’s movement.”
It was all good, but James didn’t believe the men were just checking their surroundings. And they hadn’t gone to the offices first, which meant that wasn’t their focus. His eyes went to the refrigerator block once more. He didn’t want to think it, but an idea snaked through his mind and made him move.
With an ear against the metal door, he listened and didn’t hear anything. With his fist, he banged twice—still nothing.
Nick came to his side. “You don’t think…”
“We need to get the padlock off.” James looked around for any kind of tool, but not before seeing the look of horror on his friend’s face.
Nick raced to the two men and searched their pockets. He found two sets of keys, checking them in the dim light.
All James wanted to do was shout Mercy’s name, but doing so would bring too much attention. Instead, he pressed his palms on the cold metal, praying he was wrong.
Just as despair started to seize his chest, Nick found the key, and they opened the door. It appeared empty, but when their eyes adjusted to the blackness, they saw a still form huddled in the corner. James had no memory of entering, only Mercy in his arms, cold as ice, her eyes closed.
Tears blurred his vision as he cupped her cheeks. A slight frost was melting from her lashes, and his hand went to her throat as Nick worked on releasing the bindings on her legs and searched for the key to the handcuffs.
A thump vibrated against his fingers, followed by a slow inhale. She was alive.
“Mercy? Baby? Can you hear me?”
Nick finally got her free. “We need to get her out of here. She’s hypothermic and barely breathing. We need to get her warmed up.”
James had difficulty breathing himself and looked around. “We can’t go out the way we came in. And we’re too far from the car.”
Nick opened his mouth but closed it as Imari spoke. “A car just arrived. They’ll be at your location in a few minutes.”
James picked up Mercy’s unconscious form and signaled for Nick. “The side exit before the dock. We can get out there.”
Nick sprinted, gun out, as he was the only one capable of protecting the three of them. Luckily, the door unlocked from the inside and Nick made sure the coast was clear and held the door open for James.
Once outside they had the choice of delivery trucks or trailers. The men didn’t have to speak, they had the same idea and went for a delivery truck.
James tightened his hold on Mercy, willing her to open her eyes and give him hell for taking his time in finding her, but she remained still. His only comfort was that she was still breathing.
Nick unlocked the truck and helped James inside. It was only a two-seater, so he had to keep Mercy on his lap, not that he minded. Honestly, he didn’t know if he’d be able to let her go beyond the reach of his arms ever again.
Lying under the dashboard, Nick cursed profusely, working on jump starting the car. James rearranged Mercy to reach his gun, eyes trained on the door, waiting for the men to discover their hostage was no longer there.
The moment the engine roared to life, two men came out and fired in their direction. James fired back as Nick sped away as fast as the truck could go. If they could get out of there, and back to civilization, they’d be safe.