Finally Free - Alex Rider

Chapter Three

Less than 20 minutes later, I was crouched down behind a ditch next to the supposedly 'abandoned' warehouse. This was where the terrorists were... and, annoyingly, the documents.

I just had to get them. Then get out before I got seen... Or killed.

Suddenly I saw a flash of headlights and I quickly threw myself down into the drain, not caring about the mud or filthy water surrounding me. In this business, the dirt was the least of your worries.

A split second later, a car pulled out from the warehouse and drove my way. Then it passed me and I let out a sigh of relief. Man that was clos-

The screeching of tires interrupted my congratulation thoughts and I held my breath as the car skidded to a stop and two men got out. Had they seen me? ...No. They merely got something out of the boot of the car, it was too dark to see what, even in the cars dim headlights. They were talking to each other, quietly, but loud enough for me to hear but not in English... What were they saying?

I listened for a few seconds, before grinning despite the current situation. They were speaking in Arabic. This, I could understand. Thank fuck.

"How do the English do this? The rain? The cold? It's horrible." Guy 1 said and Guy 2 nodded.

"I honestly have no idea... But come on, we better get rid of this car before Abdul gets back."

"That Nasser can be pretty scary when he wants to be"

My mind translated it in a split second, but by then they were already in the car.

Counting to 10 in my head to make sure they were gone, I got back to my feet, double checked my bag was secure, before running silently into the yard. I quickly scaled the 10ft fence and landed in a crouch on the other side.

The building was on my left, a forest on my right, and the road behind me. In front of me however, was a small group of Arab men talking quietly to one another. Thankfully though, they hadn't seen me yet, and I silently crept past them and climbed in through a broken window. In was in. All I had to do now, was to find the papers.

I don't know how long I'd been searching the warehouse for. Seconds, minutes, hours, who knows? It was fucking huge and I kept getting lost. Plus it didn't help that every few minutes a guard would pass and I'd have to dash into the nearest room to avoid capture.

I had been wandering the halls for what felt like an eternity, stepping over broken furniture, avoiding pieces of glass, and checking every room for the documents. There was nothing that even resembled the file I was looking for. And there was only one room left.

Taking a deep breath, I silently pushed open the door, my gun at the ready. But nothing happened. There was no one inside. At all. And I was certain this was the last place to search so if it wasn't here... I would need to get out. ASAP.

I quickly entered the room, looking around for anything out of the ordinary. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Frustrated, I punched the wall next to me. It send a stab of pain up my arm and the concrete gave off a loud 'Thud'. Swearing quietly, I grabbed my hand, ignoring the blood slowly pouring from my knuckles. I was such a moron. Hitting a concrete wall? Seriously?

I stopped suddenly, looking up at the wall. Concrete walls don't make loud 'Thuds'... Unless that concrete wall was, in fact, not concrete at all...

Grinning, I straightened up and gave a shape tap on the wall again. It made the same hollow noise as before. In fact, that I was actually looking at it up close, it wasn't 100% concrete. It was more like... Panels... Wooden panels. Which would explain the hollowness. And also how I didn't break my wrist when I punched it. For once in my short miserable life, I was thankful of my harsh temper.