This Wicked Sin

Chapter 14: Dane

“This is such a drag,” Rayan said through the comms. For days since we’d gotten the information from Rowan and the Ravens, we’d been staking the warehouse. So far nothing of note had happened.

A few people came in and out but had done nothing more than guard the warehouse. No one but low-level grunts had come. Through the surveillance we ran on it, there seemed to be crates of stolen goods packed up in there and nothing else. Nothing else had been brought and nothing else had been transported out of there.

The task force or Chimaera, as Rayan had taken to calling it, took turns keeping an eye on the building. So far, it was our only lead. Another shipment, this time from the Scorpions, had gone missing. However, no more people were taken. It was only a matter of time though.

“Stop complaining,” Reda said from beside me, “You know we’ve all taken turns keeping watch.”

“Yeah, I know. That doesn’t stop it from being boring as f**k. I don’t know why we can’t just storm the place and get those assholes talking. It would be way faster than what we’re doing.”

“There was a geas placed on the previous guy. It stands to reason that it was placed on all those people working the warehouse. We’re waiting for someone higher up on the hierarchy to show up. Either that or for them to ship out that stolen cargo. So far, none of those things have happened. So we keep the watch,” I said, exasperated. Rayan was a trigger-happy maniac. Being patient wasn’t his forte.

“Yeah, yeah. It seriously sucks that I’m out here freezing my balls off while you guys party it up there,” he grumbled some more.

“Do you want us to get caught?” another voice said over the comms. It was Shamira. She was also on watch duty with Rayan. “Now stop complaining and do your job, asshole. I’m freezing too.”

“And we’re not partying it up. We’re doing recon,” I said. Reda and I had decided to scout out the new club, simply called Stygian, that had opened in the abandoned warehouse district. A club opening out here, while not necessarily common wasn’t unheard of. It was the timing of it that had made me suspicious. It was also relatively close to the warehouse Rowan had led us to.

It was all a little too convenient to be coincidental.

It was dark out here in an old parking lot. There were a few cars parked around, no doubt trying to avoid the packed one in front of the club. A few people loitered around the area even though this was a little further from the club.

It was still relatively early in the night but there was already a buzz in the air. We passed a few people who paid us no mind. Some were smoking around the trunk of their car. Another was leading a drunken friend away.

Something prickled at the edge of my awareness.

“Dane,” Reda said quietly enough that my hackles rose. I had sensed it too. I looked behind me at the man we had just passed. It looked like any common sight of someone helping their friend who had overindulged but… there was something off.

“Stop him!” someone screamed behind us, “Someone stop that man!”

Reda and I didn’t hesitate. We turned and ran after the man. The man, now sensing that whatever plans he had were not going to work out started running. He dragged the person he had been supporting across the ground, not caring if he hurt them.

He was heading for a truck a way off. I picked up my speed, my instincts telling me that letting him get away would be a mistake.

I leapt for him when I was close enough. We fell to the ground hard. My hands moved to immediately apprehend the man but he was a surprisingly good fighter. He surprised me with a right hook to my jaw that left me stinging. It wasn’t much but the tiny moment of my distraction was all that was needed for the man to slip away from me and run. I immediately got up to get after him but I could tell it was already too late. The motherfucker was fast.

He sprinted for his truck. He drove away before I could get to him. I stared at the truck in frustration as it disappeared at top speed and rubbed at my jaw.

I turned back to where he had dropped the person and found Reda already at their side. The person he had been trying to drag away was a woman. As I got closer, I realized I had seen her before around campus. She looked shell-shocked and out of it. Her curly afro was a mess of dust and dirt. I knelt down beside her.

“Are you okay?” I asked. Before she could answer, I was shoved out of the way.

“Aren, are you okay? Please answer me,” the person said. His voice was frantic and panicked. It was the guy who had screamed for help before. The light of the moon hit his face. I realized I knew him. It was one of the Cross brothers from the Ravens.

“What’s going on?” I asked. Nix Cross looked back at us and did a double-take.

“What the f**k are you two doing here?” he exclaimed. To his credit, his question was more shocked than anything.

“Same thing everyone is doing,” Reda said.

I knelt again beside his friend, “What’s going on here? Where was he taking her?”

She was awake but didn’t seem to be very aware. Her pupils were blown wide.

“Someone drugged her,” Nix said.

Reda came beside us and checked her over, “She seems fine for now. We need to move her though.”

“Was he someone you know?” I asked.

He shook his head. His hands ran all over his friend, trying to find injuries, “She called us a short while ago. She said she’d been drugged. We came here as soon as we could.”

“We?” I asked. But he had already moved on. He was muttering something under his breath and he lifted his friend up. She was shaky but she managed. Walking seemed to be too much coordination for her. Reda stepped in and picked her up in his arms with no trouble.

“Thanks,” Nix said. He looked exhausted. I followed behind him as he pulled a phone out of his pocket.

“I found her,” he said.

I kept a close watch on our surroundings. I wasn't entirely convinced this was a case of a date rapist. If the girl had been anyone other than who she was I would have considered it. But she was clearly a close acquaintance of someone from the Cross family; a well-known family with close ties to the Corvins; a high-ranking family in the Raven Clan. There was no way this was a coincidence.

I cursed the fact that we hadn't been able to capture that asshole.

“-are you? I want to get out of here and wipe this night from my mind,” Nix’s voice drifted back to me in the night.

“Did you come here only to help your friend?” I asked.

He huffed. “Are you trying to imply something? What business is it of yours? And anyway, what are you two doing around here?”

I rolled my eyes, “It's a Friday night. Where else would we be?”

Nix eyed us critically. His eyes moved between Reda and me before huffing again.

“Whatever. My Friday has been ruined enough as it is. There's the car,” he said. He pointed out a sleek black SUV.

“Nice car,” I said.

“Thanks. It's not mine.”

Nix opened the door for Reda in the backseat. He lay Nix’s friend there and stepped out.

“I know I don't seem it but seriously, thanks. I don't know what would have happened if y’all weren't here,”

“No problem,” I said.

Nix looked at his phone again. Something on his face made me ask, “Is everything okay?”

He frowned some more. “This can't be right?”

“What's wrong?”

“I just got a message from Gabriel. He says he's decided to stay and hang out for the night but…”

I couldn't even be pleased with the idea of Gabriel being around because of the worry in Nix’s voice.

“There's no way he wrote this,” he murmured.

I stepped closer to him and read over the message. It looked normal. Gabriel was a well-known party animal. I didn't think it was out of the ordinary that he had decided to stay after making sure his friend was okay. Definitely a shitty thing to do, but then, I barely knew him or his character.

“How do you know this isn’t him?” I asked.

“Trust me, it’s not. Especially not after… look it's just not him, okay? I think something has happened to him,” Nix said in a rush.

That warning sense that hadn't left me the whole night was ringing in my head. A moan from the car broke the silence. My decision was made swiftly.

“Reda, escort him and the girl to the hospital. We need to make sure she's okay,” I said.

Reda nodded just as the girl started panicking in the car. She seemed more aware than before.

“No! No hospitals. Please, no hospitals,” she wailed, her voice panicked.

We eyed each other.

“I don't like this. If she gets worse, I'll take her to one no matter what,” Nix grumbled. He tossed the keys to a surprised Reda. “I don't like driving. You do it.”

“Take her somewhere safe for the night,” I said. “I’ll go look for Gabriel.”

“No worries. My apartment should be fine,” he said. Nix eyed me with a serious look. “I’m leaving Gabriel in your hands. If anything happens to him-” he didn’t finish the sentence but his warning was clear.

I simply nodded. I patted Reda on the back and left them to it.

I rushed towards the back of the building. Nix had said Gabe had told him this was where he was looking.

There were a few stragglers around the area. I entered a dark alleyway that led to the back door.

My hackles immediately rose. I could smell blood. It was not that old. Following the scent led me to a certain spot on the ground. I crouched down and assessed the scene; there had clearly been some kind of struggle here. The ground was disturbed, the air smelled of fear and of course, the blood.

I tried scenting for some more clues but it was no use. The blood carried no underlayer of a scent. My stomach knotted. Gabriel was as scentless as this blood. It most likely belonged to him.

I saw some stragglers at the mouth of the alleyway. I had passed them earlier in my rush here. I approached the group.

“Did you see anything unusual around here?” I asked.

“Unusual? Like what?” One of them answered.

I debated on how to phrase this. “Did you see anyone being…taken from here?”

“Nah, man. The only people who passed through here, other than you, of course, were Phillip and Gabriel.”

“Did you see where they went?”

“Not really,” another shrugged.

“They probably left. Gabriel was blackout drunk already. The drinks here must be real good.”

My stomach knotted in a combination of worry and anger. Just then, the Comms unit buzzed and Rayan spoke.

“Dane. I need you here stat,” he said.

“I'm a little busy right now. Find something else to keep you occupied or actually do your job keeping watch,” I snapped.

“You're gonna feel like an asshole in a few seconds. You might want to get over here. Like now.”

I paused at the tone of his voice. “Why?”

“Because I just saw some men carry a passed-out guy into the warehouse. It was Gabriel Corvin.”