Chpt. 8

Luke still wasn’t sure if what he did was a mistake or not even as he pulled back into the parking lot of Section Thirteen headquarters. On one side Madeline’s life was in immediate danger and after seeing that Kayla could appear anywhere as anyone made up Luke’s mind. On the other side Madeline would probably hate Luke for a while but he could deal with that for the time being. What was important was the immediate situation. After what had happened staying for any length of time by himself was completely out of the question. That was why he began staying at HQ at all times because it was a twenty-four hour working place. The building was never empty and there were always over a dozen or so people in the office area where Luke worked.

Luke walked through the door and immediately knew there was something wrong.

Where the hell is everyone? The building was completely vacant by what Luke could see. There was no sign that suggested a struggle.

“Everyone is gone out on call.” The voice behind Luke made him jump. He spun around and recognized it was Brad, the man that came with Madeline when Kayla was at the projector room.

“Why are all of them out on call at the exact same time? Didn’t anyone find that a little bizarre?” Brad shrugged.

“I did. But you know most of the people here. They do what they’re told and without question.”

“Do you know where they were called to?” Brad shook his head and sighed.

“Everyone was called to a s**t load of places. There were about hundred people in this facility and every single one of them were called out to one place or another.” Luke nodded trying to assess what was going on when something immediately came to mind.

“And why aren’t you out?” A confused look played across Brad’s face at the way the question was asked.

“Hell, I should know. It might be because I’m not even on duty yet. What about you? Where’d you get back from?”

“A crime scene.”

“Anything to do with that weird case of yours?”

“Unfortunately, yes it does. The b*****d got the chief’s daughter.”

“No, s**t. At least tell me you have a lead or something.”

“The only thing I know is that the suspect is branching out a little but who knows if that is legit for long. I can’t seem to get the connections together for her victims.”

“Maybe you could ask your partner for help.” Luke remained quiet for a moment.

“She’s no longer on the case. I kicked her off.”

“What the hell for?”

“She was in immediate danger.”

“Everyone is in immediate danger.” Luke eyed Brad.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Everyone I’ve talked to and even me can tell that we’re being followed when we go home at night. I don’t even feel safe inside my own home.”

“Who’s following you?” Luke asked.

“I don’t know. Some black vehicle but it’s the same one every time I head home. I have some weird feeling that this is connected with your case somehow.” Suddenly, the lights went out making the building virtually dark due to the rainy weather not providing sunlight. Luke reached for his weapon but was hit in the back of the head and instantly blacked out.