Sleeping With the Enemy

Chapter Forty Six

"Fuck!" I bellow, boiling over with frustration and anger and an unfamiliar feeling of helplessness. I slam the butt of my gun into a window of the house we're standing in, sending glass cascading down around my feet. My throat gets tight with emotion, desperately reaching for my next move. This is the third place we've searched and I'm no closer to finding Sadie. Each one of Herrera's properties has been completely scrubbed and he basically has us running in circles wasting precious time that Sadie and our child don't have.

Herrera has proven to be every bit as conniving as we thought, and then some. He's quick and efficient, and hasn't left a single trace behind. He doesn't want to be found, which is terrifying. If he was just using her as bait, to get to me, he wouldn't be so thorough. He'd want to leave me some kind of clue to find him. This reads much different. Like his only intention is to hurt us, and then disappear into thin air. If that's the case, I may already be too late.

I can't let myself go there though. There has to be something I'm missing. There has to be something that will lead me to them and help me save Sadie.

"Brandon, why don't we go back to the warehouse and regroup a little bit? Maybe Jav has found something else." Alex offers, looking back at me cautiously.

"I don't have time to regroup. Who knows what that bastard is putting her through right now."

"Alex is right, Brandon." My dad says. "We can't just keep ransacking random buildings. It does us no good unless we've got something concrete. Herrera is smart, we're not just going to stumble across her. You know that's true."

As much as I hate to admit it, they're right. I have to be smart about this, and right now, that means heading back to the warehouse and doing some research so we don't waste any more time.

I nod, wiping at the sweat on my forehead. I'm trying my hardest not to lose me cool, but on the inside, I'm coming apart at the seams. I don't even recognize this version of myself. This uptight, irrational, and compulsive version who is putting everyone around me in danger with my blind rage. I have to refocus myself somehow.

We head out of the house, not even bothering to close the door behind. We tore the place apart and if he comes back, it will be clear we've been here. A woman stands in her front lawn, pretending to water her flowers, but I can see her keeping a close eye on us.

"You looking for the owner?" She asks, both her tone and her body language tense.

"Yes." I approach her slowly. "Do you know where we can find him?"

She shakes her head. "He left in the middle of the night a week or so ago with his things. I remember because the kid that was helping him move had a miserably loud truck. Damn thing woke me up, and I couldn't fall back asleep."

I pause for a minute, absorbing her observation. Why does that....

Jesus Christ. The revelation hits me like a brick wall.