Page 55 of Mine To Possess
We go up to the front door and I stand back and smash my foot against it, just below the lock. It’s an old, cheap looking wooden door and it splinters and crashes open on the first kick. I shake my head. Some fucking safe house.
I know kicking in the door has gotten the attention of both the group of teenage girls in the garden opposite us and the boys kicking the ball around down the road. This doesn’t strike me as the sort of neighborhood where the neighbors get involved in each other’s businesses, or the sort of place where people call the cops on someone else’s behalf, but I don’t want to risk getting caught here, so we have to move quickly. I estimate if there’s a good Samaritan kicking around, we have about fifteen minutes tops.
“You do the upstairs, I’ll do the downstairs,” I say to Jerome.
He doesn’t waste any time responding, he just runs up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I kick open the first door I see. It opens into a dingy little living room which I quickly see is empty. There’s nowhere for anyone to hide. A tiny TV stands in the corner. I come back out of the room and check the kitchen. It’s smaller than the living room and equally depressing. Again, there’s no sign of anyone.
I hear Jerome jogging down the stairs, and I come back into the hallway.
“Anything?” I demand.
“Nothing,” he says. “No clothes. No toiletries in the bathroom. We’re too late, boss. He’s already moved on.”
“Fuck,” I shout, slamming my fist into the wall and leaving a gaping hole in the plaster. White dust rains down onto the grubby once cream carpet. “Let’s get out of here.”
Jerome and I leave the house.
The boys have gone back to their football game, unconcerned with our business and the teenage girls, although they watch us, don’t seem particularly worried about what we’re doing. One of them, one of the braver ones I assume, shouts over to me.
“You looking for the big dude?”
Igor is pretty big. Chances are I’m indeed looking for the big dude. I nod.
“He left about an hour ago with a suitcase. I don’t reckon he’ll be back. He was driving a white, battered looking Ford,” she says.
“Thanks,” I shout, tipping her a wave as I get back into the car. “Take me back to the office, Jerome. I need to collect my car from there. See if you can find anything about this battered white Ford. It looks like he’s heard we were coming for him and split, so there’s a possibility he might end up spending a night or two living in it.”
Jerome nods, then we pull away. There’s still no sound of sirens, nothing to suggest anyone called the police on us.
Jerome heads back to my office. The roads are still busy, but it doesn’t matter now. There’s no rush to get back. After nearly forty-five minutes, Jerome pulls into my office parking lot.
“Sorry. I really thought we had him there, boss,” he says.
“Yeah, me too. But he’s running out of places to hide now. He’ll fuck up sooner or later, hopefully sooner, and when he does, we’ll be waiting,” I say. “Keep looking for him. Don’t let the trail go cold. And call me the second you have anything.”
“Got it, boss,” Jerome says.
I get out of his car and walk towards my own. I check my watch. So much for being early. Never mind. I can still get a curry delivered and try to salvage some of the night. The adrenaline is leaving me now, leaving me feeling pissed off and vaguely uneasy. I’m sure some quality time spent with Amelia can soon make me forget my troubles though.
I get into my car and head towards my estate. I put the radio on, but it instantly frazzles my nerves. I turn it straight back off again and drive in silence. I bang on the steering wheel as I quietly fume that Igor has evaded me once more. He’s starting to make me look like a dick and no fucker gets away with that.
I’m near home when my phone rings. I almost ignore it, but it could be Amelia and so I pull it out of my pocket. It’s not Amelia. It’s Lenny, my chief of security up at the estate. He only ever calls me if there’s a problem. I feel dread seize me. Something bad must have happened for him to be calling me, and Amelia is at the estate.
“Hello,” I answer, then switching the call to speaker and dropping my phone onto the passenger seat.
“Viktor, it’s Lenny. Where are you?”
“I’m almost home. What’s going on?”
“There’s been a breach. We believe there’s an intruder in the main house. Please stay away until we get the situation under control.”
“What the fuck?” I demand, furious and frightened beyond belief. “How did this happen, Lenny?”
“I don’t know right now, Viktor, and I’m more concerned with containing the situation right now,” he says.
Amelia is in that house. And I’d be willing to bet my last dollar that I know who the intruder is. The feeling of ennui is gone. My heart is hammering in my chest as I slam my foot down. I have no intention of staying away. I want to make sure Amelia is safe.
And deal with Igor once and for all.