Bone and Blood Volume I

36 - Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1927

Since they had already drawn attention to themselves, Torani nixed Errek's suggestion to reach the warehouse through the fence gap. Instead, they moved on and doubled back, approaching the building from behind. The fence was unbroken there. Getting Errek through it would be difficult. Torani kindly offered to let Errek stay behind.

Errek declined. He explained that watching Torani figure out an inside hunt would let them both learn at the same time. In truth, he did not trust Torani to fairly judge the risk. He wanted to see it for himself.

Errek won that battle.

Torani dug a hole under the fence and pulled Errek through. The warehouse's back wall was solid brick broken by occasional windows. Like those in the front, the windows' glass had been broken in and the frames boarded over. Torani cruised past them to the left side wall. No doors or windows. The right side was no better. The only entry point there was a crooked, roll-up garage door. A locked one.

Torani sighed. "I assume you know it's a bad idea to barge in through the front door."

"Yeah... Most of the time anyway..."

"This is most of the time."

"I mean, if it's just Eddie in there, it would work out... Maybe we can look inside from the windows?"

"I can try. Can I put you down while I look?"

"Sure. But leave by one so I can help."

Torani went to the nearest window and kneeled. Errek pulled himself up using the window frame. His arm rested there, so his weight balanced between it and his right leg. That left him leaning hard into the building, but at least he was painlessly upright.

Torani looked uneasy. "Are you sure you should be standing? You don't look stable."

"I'll sit down if I have too. Don't worry about me."

"All right..." Reluctantly, Torani moved on to the next window.

Errek peered through a gap in the window's boards. Darkness. He moved down to the next gap. Still dark. The third one was no better. Each opening on the window's left side revealed nothing. Frowning over the wasted effort, he leaned back to assess the right side. Several more out-of-reach openings. He hobble-hopped over to check them.

A large triangular gap revealed nothingness until Errek glanced down. A gentle, orange glow danced across the floor underneath something. A long, dark something that continued unbroken to the left and right as far as Errek could see. In other words, the view into the warehouse was blocked. Great. Hopefully, Torani was having more luck.

Errek looked to his left. Torani stood at the third window. He seemed unimpressed. What if all the windows were blocked?

Errek drummed his fingers on the wall. He remembered that hole in the front door where the handle should have been. Surely, they could look inside from there. Assuming he could convince Torani to try. Yeah. That was not happening.

Sudden creaking startled Errek. Torani was frozen in place with his arms outstretched at the window. Slowly, he lowered something that whined.

Errek pushed away from the window to see what on earth Torani was doing. A board shaped gap appeared in Torani's window. Torani reached for another board, jiggling it until it came loose on one side. He lowered the free end to the ground, widening the opening.

A grin spread across Errek's face. He reached for the boards blocking his own window. As he tested each one, the smile faded. No give. They were all solidly fixed to the wall. Whatever. Torani had found a way in. That was all that mattered.