The Law of Motion (Law Series) (4 page)

             
The air was musty and thick with dust motes, a fine film of it covering just about everything. I shined my light down below us; the place was what I would call an ‘organized mess’. It was filled with boxes and crates, but they were spaced out making aisles for walking and easy access.

             
"Damn," Ross snorted, shining her light around the room. "What in the blue fuck is all of this?"

             
"Maybe he’s a hoarder," I guessed sarcastically, walking slowly to the other side of the balcony. I tried the door, but it was locked. "Yet...
this
, they lock."

             
Doc immediately got to work, pulling out the little pouch containing the tools she always kept on her.

             
"The whole place looks like the Apocalypse ravaged the joint, but they made sure to lock the fucking office," I muttered, smirking when Adrian chuckled softly behind me.

             
"Perhaps they are hiding something," he snorted, nudging me with his elbow.

             
A soft click rang into the empty space, and Ross opened the door, letting it glide open. All three of us peered inside, not knowing what to expect. Like the rest of the place, the office was dark, but unlike the rest downstairs it wasn’t covered in a thick layer of dust, the office was in damn nea
r
perfec
t
order.

             
File cabinets lined the back wall, right behind a generic metal desk. There was no computer equipment, but a calculator and a desk pad still sat on top. Two folding chairs sat just inside, a jacket slung haphazardly over the back of one of them, and two small bookcases were along the wall right by the doorway.

             
"Okay," I sighed, shaking my head, but walked straight to the first file drawer and tugged it open.

             
Doc took the desk, opening drawers, careful not to stir up too much noise. Adrian knelt down by the bookcases, reading the titles. Ross took another filing cabinet.

             
The first drawer I looked through was nothing but financial stuf
f
taxes, purchasing, bills. The second drawer was the jackpot.

             
"Bingo," I sang to myself, pulling out the file containing payroll information. I pressed my earpiece. "Tink..."

             
"Talk to me. What'cha got for me?" she asked, typing away, and I could hear Juan in the background.

             
"Is he singing?" Doc laughed, and Adrian snickered, standing up from the bookcases.

             
"Yeah, Jackson's teaching him some old cowboy song," Tink told us with a giggle.

             
"
Nice
," my Adrian drawled, rolling his eyes. "I'm going downstairs to look for the video equipment," he said, pointing to the upper corner of the room where an old camera sat completely still and covered in an impressive cobweb the only one in the office.

             
"Okay," Ross and I told him at the same time, and she came to look over my shoulder when I turned my attention back to Tink. "Tink, I'm going to read you some names and social security numbers. I'll need profiles on each of them."

             
"Easy-peasy, Japanesey," she chuckled, typing away. "Okay...hit me."

             
I read off the names and their socials taking the contracts and a few questionable sheets, putting them in my bag. "Thank you, Tink," I said over the radio. "How's that facial recognition thing coming for Doc?"

             
"I've pulled the pic, mapped the face, and just started the search," she answered. "Like I told her, it will take time."

             
"Okay," I sighed. "I'm not sure why she's worried. It wasn't like the man tried anything."

             
"Because Doc can’t remember him," Adrian answered, instead of Tink. "It won't hurt to find out who he was..."

             
"True," Tink and I said at the same time.

             
“I never forget a face, and it is going to bug the shit out of me until I know where it is.” Doc responded.

             
"We should be home in plenty of time for Juan, Tink.” Ross said. "Could you let Dario and Jackson know?"

             
"Sure, sure, sure," she chanted in her usual three time manner.

             
"Tink," Adrian started with a grunt. "I've got...fucking old ass VHS security tapes dating all the way back to when this place opened. Can you do anything with them?"

             
"Ancient shit," she mumbled, and I could hear her rifling around on the other end. "Yeah," she huffed. "I still have my converter. Can you take them?"

             
"I
am
taking them," he countered gruffly, and we heard tapes being picked up and slapped back down. "This room hasn't been touched in ages, but I'm only taking the most recent ones."

             
"Cool," Ross snickered. "That's really helpful, pretty boy," she said sarcastically.

             
I grinned, shoving at her a bit, but I did love it when she teased him.

             
"Shut up," he growled into the radio. "I'm more than just a pretty face. Ask Alyssa."

             
His amusement could not be missed, especially when I cracked the fuck up over the radio. "Aw," I crooned over the earpiece as Doc and I gave the office one more rifle-through. "He does have a pretty face, though... Hmmm...What’s for dinner, baby?" I purred, smiling at Doc's chuckle, because his gift of cooking wasn’t at all what he was referring to.

             
Adrian was an awesome cook and damn if I hadn't benefited from it, with all of those late night cheater stings.

             
Adrian snickered sexily over the radio. "Homemade pizza, but I'm not telling you what dessert is, Alyssa." His voice took on a low, dangerous tenor, the tone that screamed sexiness and carnal promises.

             
"Ooh, hot damn," Ross grinned, shoving me out the office door.

             
"Dessert indeed, Adrian," I snickered, shaking my head. "We're done up here. What about you?"

             
"I'm good," he chuckled, coming out from underneath us on the first floor. He held up three tapes, before tucking them away into the bag slung across his shoulder. "I can't imagine they'll be missed."

             
"No, probably not," I agreed, making sure that the office door was locked behind me. "Well, we've got a decent amount on this case. As soon as Tink has those profiles, you know who to talk to next." I sighed, following Ross and Doc toward the door in which we came in, but looked over the railing to see Adrian staring back toward the door.

             
"We've got company, girls," he breathed over the radio, motioning us to get out the door as he bolted silently but quickly for the stairs. "Get out. Get to the car. I'll be right behind you."

             
We never argued in the field, but I hated leaving the building when he wasn't at my side. The three of us slipped out the back door and practically slid down the outside metal stairs. We both gave the door a glance for a brief moment, before slipping around the corner, but I found myself tugged back.

             
"Boss, we've got...one, two cars outside. Looks like cops, and they're between us and the car," she whispered into her headset. "Get your ass out of there."

             
"Probably the industrial park's security," he breathed. "Rent-a-cops...because they're not actually coming in yet. They're just shining a light through the window of the front door. They'll see movement if I move."

             
"Then stay still, Adrian," I whispered.

             
"Damn it," he growled, and my eyes met Ross's as we waited. "They're coming in."

             
"Shit," Doc hissed, looking around. "What we need is a distraction..."

             
I peered around the corner and saw that we were clear to the car. "I've got an idea," I told her, but knew that everyone was listening.  "Three girls with car trouble should be enough to give him time to get out, huh?"

             
“Maybe, but it’s risky, especially with your files on you.” Tink cautioned.

             
“I like my odds.” I shrugged standing upright.

             
"Don't break my fucking car, Chance," he growled, but even though I wasn't looking at him, I knew he was smiling by the tone of his voice.

             
"Heaven forbid," I chuckled, tugging Doc's shirt. "We have to do this right. Come on..."

             
We ran as quickly as we could to the car, and I unlocked it, popping the hood. I knew just enough about cars from  Kristen to know what I could fiddle with and make it look like it wouldn't start, without actually breaking Adrian’s precious Dodge. One loose wire later, and we were three girls that were stuck with a broken down car.

             
I turned to look at the front of the building that we'd just come out of, the same one Adrian was now trapped in, and I could see the two security boy
s
one shining a light in the front window, and the other pulling out a set of keys.

             
I smiled at what Doc did next.

             
"Ummm... Excuse me," she called loudly, sounding like a vapid, helpless girl. "Can you help us?"

             
Two heads spun like they were on a swivel, and I snorted softly to myself, because from the look of their open mouthed stares, this was going to be all too easy.

             
"Oh Lord, we just made their day." Ross chuckled low.

             
One guy was skinny, with bad skin and a crooked smile. The other one was a little bigger and was sweating heavily through the armpits of his shirt.

Doc huffed a laugh, and then looked up at me. "This will be way too easy," she muttered under her breath as they came closer, mirroring my thought from just mere seconds before.

              "Now’s your chance. At least get the fuck outside, okay?" I whispered in a rush, falling down into the driver's seat.

             
"Yes, ma'am," he grunted, and I could hear him running along the metal catwalk in the background.

             
"Ladies," the skinny boy crooned as he ogled the three of us. "What seems to be the problem?"

             
Now that the two young men were closer, we could see their name tags. One was O' Brady, and the other was Donaldson.

             
"We took a wrong turn. The car was acting funny, and now it won't even start," I huffed, pouting like a spoiled rich girl, which was the only way to do it, considering the type of car we were dealing with and the fact that the three of us looked younger than we actually were.

             
Adrian’s late model Dodge Charger was decked the fuck out. He got it when we bought our house and it had every bell and whistle known to the automotive industry. He went back and forth with Kristen for days trying to find what the best upgrades were. It was just one of the many, many things they had in common, they loved their cars.

             
"Well, let's see what we can do about that," the bigger boy, Donaldson, sighed, looking under the hood.

             
"I'm out, I'm out," he huffed in my ear, and a quick glance towards the back corner of the building confirmed it. "Battery cable?" he asked.

             
"Yeah, and he's about five seconds from finding it, so run to the end of the street, and we'll pick you up at the stop sign," I mumbled, looking up when Donaldson peeked around the hood.

             
"Try it now," he said, after fiddling with the very cable I'd just loosened.

             
The car rumbled to life smoothly, of course, and Donaldson closed the hood, dusting off his hands. "Your battery cable was loose. You might want to have someone tighten that for you before it happens again."

             
"Thank you," Doc, Ross, and I sang at the same time, and I could swear I heard Adrian chuckle as he ran.

             
Doc started to get into the passenger side, when O' Brady stopped her.

             
"Where were you girls headed that you were lost?" he asked, tilting his head at her. His blush could not be missed.

             
"We were looking for Aquatic Motors," she answered smoothly, knowing we'd passed that warehouse on our way into the damn complex. "I have to pick up a boat part for my boyfriend before they close. The guy said he'd stick around for us."