A Heaven for Toasters

CHAPTER 10: Warehouse

4:53 a.m.

"Leo," I hissed, "you nearly gave me a heart attack."

He raised his hands in apology. "Sorry. I thought you'd heard me."

"I was panting too hard for that, wasn't I?" I gasped. The red dot blinked at the edge of my vision. The drone was fast approaching us. Whoever was controlling it must have figured out my destination. "We don't have long. That drone will soon be here. We need to do it now."

Leo's eyes popped wide as I took a stone and threw it at one of the warehouse windows. It broke with a loud crash that I thought would wake up the whole island. The sound of glass shards crashing against the floor filled the air for longer than I thought possible.

"I'm sorry, Detective. I have to call it in," Leo said.

Just then, a warning flashed in my vision. The clothes' batteries were running low, and my arms shimmered into focus, losing the chameleon imprint.

Ta ma de! I whirled around and dashed off, cursing myself for not checking the power left on the clothes after buying them. I tapped my temple. "Emergency power." My arms disappeared again. A red bar flashed into my vision, its length rapidly diminishing. I had less than five minutes before the clothes became fully visible. My lungs barely had time to recover from my previous sprint, and now I had to cover the distance back to the hotel in even less time than before.

I ran away from the warehouse like it held the world's largest spider. After a couple of minutes, the tracker app beeped in warning. I pressed myself against a door and waited for the drone to appear. The red bar was about half-full by the time the drone zoomed over my head, rushing to the warehouse. Thankfully, I was heading in the opposite direction.

As soon as the tracker app indicated the drone was out of range, I sprinted toward the hotel again. I took a turn and a wave of relief flowed through me: the hotel entrance was now visible.

The tracker app flashed in warning. I panted as I continued running as fast as my heavy legs allowed, not daring to look back. Probably anticipating my destination, the drone was approaching faster than I could possibly run. Within a few seconds, it would be within range. My only chance was for the batteries to last.

The red bar flashed twice, an alert bleeping in short, shrill tones. It disappeared from my view as my clothes turned visible. I gasped. My gaze darted around. With the drone almost upon me, I noticed an empty doghouse in a corner of the hotel garden. I jumped into the doghouse as the tracker app alerted me to the drone's rapid approach.

A small, brown dog let out a small yelp as I slid inside. "Sorry, little guy," I hissed. "I need your house."

He darted outside and started to run in wide circles in the garden, barking.

I dared not look outside, relying on the app to notify me of the drone's trajectory. It paused for a moment to examine the dog, then zoomed past me and hovered over the hotel entrance. I gulped air hungrily, waiting for my lungs to stop burning. My stomach wanted to hurl its contents, making me regret the late dinner.

The drone stumbled undecidedly over the street for a couple of minutes, then headed back toward the warehouse. The tracker app's red crosshairs faded. I was safe.

I cautiously popped my head out. The dog finally stopped barking as I crawled out of his house. He sniffed my face and licked my nose. I stifled a relieved laugh. Just the reassuring chirp of a sleepy cricket broke the still of the night. I patted the dog's head and dashed off, only allowing myself to relax when I finally reached the hotel and barreled through the entrance.