The Callahan Archives (In The Shadows)

four.

"This is operations, what do you have to report? Over."

"Scratch marks on a wooden desk, with a dark stain on the carpet next to it. Over." I reported, taking a closer look at the scratch marks.

"This is operations, thank you for reporting, keep searching. Over."

"Over." I ended the transmission.

"So that's all we got, have you found anything Cam." I sigh.

"Actually I did." She replied and I quickly shuffled over to her. She then opened a drawer to reveal an ID of a young woman.

"Call it in." I told her as I examined the IDs. She pressed her earpiece.

"This is Agent #43, I have evidence to report. Over."

There was a pause. In of that pause I looked around the room more. As she reported the evidence, I found something else. She finished with report and I waved her over.

"Look at this." I said opening wooden the door and crouching by the doorframe.

"Some kind of mark?" She questioned, with a hand resting on her chin.

"Yep, signs of a struggle. Those people were definitely taken." I sigh, looking down slightly. Honestly so fucked up that someone would do that.

"Wait, there's more marks like that on the carpet. They're very light though, hard to see." Cam whisper talked and pointed to the hotel hallways.

We had to be quiet or else the workers would find it suspicious.

"Losers.. didn't even clean up after themselves." I mumble, then rise to be standing again. "Shall we follow it then?"

"Yeah but lock your door once we leave, and make sure they don't notice us." She said in a hushed tone. I give her a nod and quietly lock the door.

We followed the barely visible marks on the carpet, around a corner and to a strange door. It wasn't a room. I could tell seeing as it didn't have a peephole, and it didn't have a card insert to be able to unlock it, just a normal keyhole.

"Basement?" I asked Cam in a quiet whisper.

"Maybe, are we going in?" I quietly tried the doorknob. Locked. "Dammit," I whisper.

That's when delicate footsteps were heard coming from the around the corner, where we originally came from.

I scanned my surroundings, looking for an area to conceal ourselves. After a moment I couldn't find anything.

"You got a bobby pin?" I asked Cam. She swiftly reached up into her hair, that was pulled up in a ponytail, and handed me a slightly bent bobby pin.

I took the pin and quickly worked at the lock on the door, twisting a pushing on it to open. Then it suddenly clicked. I immediately pushed the door open as the footsteps got increasingly louder and closer. They sounded angry, just what we don't need.

We walked down the stairs quickly, to avoid confrontation. There was a large storage shelf that me and Cam quickly took cover behind. We sit shoulder to shoulder while we wait for the man to leave.

The door erupted with a voluminous creak, but no footsteps making their way down the stairs could be heard.

"Where'd you learn to pick locks so well?" Cam asked from beside me. Her breath almost visible in this dark frigid basement.

"Long story." I responded. We don't have time for me to explain. I nudged her with my shoulder, and we both started forward. Cam peered out the side of the shelf and gasped. I grabbed the small keychain flashlight and shone it in the direction she was looking at.