two lanes of traffic, pulling the truck over to the side of the road.
“Hey!” Megan shouted. “A heads-up next time?”
Keene shushed her with his hand and said, “Hold on. I’m putting you on speaker.” He put the truck in park and pushed the little speaker icon on his screen. “Go ahead.”
“Okay,” Artie said. “What I was trying to say was, listen to me before you just start yelling and geting mad at me.”
Keene pinched the bridge of his nose.
Please
, he thought,
please don’t make me have to go back there and kill him.
“What?” he said impatiently.
“Okay. So I kinda made a copy of the video.”
“You did what!” Taylor screamed.
“Artie,” it was Keene now, “you better—”
“Hey!” Artie shouted over them. “You can come back here and shoot me if you want. But after I’m done telling you what I found.”
Keene looked at Taylor. He could see the curiosity in her eyes, too.
“Go ahead.”
“Okay,” Artie continued. “So like I said, I made a copy. Don’t ask. Trust me. I’m just that good.”
“Speed it up!” Keene’s voice rose.
“Okay, okay. I’m getting there. So I went back and just looked at some different things. First, I just watched the dude sitting on the stool. Then I took time to zoom in on all of the monitors behind him. They’re all national networks, so I figured that’s not going to help. But I kept looking anyway, ‘cause, you know, never know what you may find right? Right. So, I kept going and still didn’t find anything.”
“That’s it, I’m turning this car around!”
“Okay, okay. Jeez, hold on. I’m getting to it. So I started to just look around the room. And I noticed something.”
“What?” Keene asked.
“So, like, there’s not a lot of light around this guy. Just what looks like natural daylight. But I noticed that it wasn’t coming from any of the sides. It was coming from above.”
“How did you see that?” Taylor asked.
“‘Cause I threw a couple gamma ray filters in there and diffused it. I can see sunlight rays coming from above and at an angle. Like skylights or windows up high. So I used a couple other filters I have, and I was able to get some shadows. Looks like a tic-tac-toe board shadow being cast over the wall of newspapers.”
“So?” Taylor said. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“It’s a warehouse,” Keene said.
“It’s a warehouse!” Artie repeated. “Exactly! So I got back on the net and started looking for warehouses around Racine Station. Turns out, there’s a whole neighborhood of them there.”
“That doesn’t help,” Keene said.
“Yeah, but maybe this will,” Artie said. “So this neighborhood only has a few small buildings like the one this guy is in with that kind of blueprint. Don’t ask. I pulled the records. So anyway, there’s like twelve of these warehouses that were built with plans that match what we were looking at. All of them have been renovated in the last ten years. And all of them were either turned into some kind of boutique store or apartment building. In the last couple years, with the bad economy, four have been abandoned.”
“Okay,” Keene said, his interest rising.
“Only one of them is close enough for us to have been able to get that audio,” Artie said.
“So you found it,” Keene said.
“I found it!” Artie said.
“Good job,” Keene said. “I told you there was something. Text me the address. Oh, and—”
“Yeah, I know. Delete the video. I already did.”
Keene clicked off the call and put the truck in gear. He stepped on the gas and shot out into the street, pulling a complete U-turn.
“Hey!” Taylor shouted again. “I thought you were going to warn me when you did that.”
“Sorry,” he said.
“Where are we going?”
“Your place.”
“For what?”
“To pack a bag. We’re going to Chicago.”
“Why Chicago?” Director Preston asked.
“Found a lead,” Taylor answered, gripping the handle above
“Hey!” Megan shouted. “A heads-up next time?”
Keene shushed her with his hand and said, “Hold on. I’m putting you on speaker.” He put the truck in park and pushed the little speaker icon on his screen. “Go ahead.”
“Okay,” Artie said. “What I was trying to say was, listen to me before you just start yelling and geting mad at me.”
Keene pinched the bridge of his nose.
Please
, he thought,
please don’t make me have to go back there and kill him.
“What?” he said impatiently.
“Okay. So I kinda made a copy of the video.”
“You did what!” Taylor screamed.
“Artie,” it was Keene now, “you better—”
“Hey!” Artie shouted over them. “You can come back here and shoot me if you want. But after I’m done telling you what I found.”
Keene looked at Taylor. He could see the curiosity in her eyes, too.
“Go ahead.”
“Okay,” Artie continued. “So like I said, I made a copy. Don’t ask. Trust me. I’m just that good.”
“Speed it up!” Keene’s voice rose.
“Okay, okay. I’m getting there. So I went back and just looked at some different things. First, I just watched the dude sitting on the stool. Then I took time to zoom in on all of the monitors behind him. They’re all national networks, so I figured that’s not going to help. But I kept looking anyway, ‘cause, you know, never know what you may find right? Right. So, I kept going and still didn’t find anything.”
“That’s it, I’m turning this car around!”
“Okay, okay. Jeez, hold on. I’m getting to it. So I started to just look around the room. And I noticed something.”
“What?” Keene asked.
“So, like, there’s not a lot of light around this guy. Just what looks like natural daylight. But I noticed that it wasn’t coming from any of the sides. It was coming from above.”
“How did you see that?” Taylor asked.
“‘Cause I threw a couple gamma ray filters in there and diffused it. I can see sunlight rays coming from above and at an angle. Like skylights or windows up high. So I used a couple other filters I have, and I was able to get some shadows. Looks like a tic-tac-toe board shadow being cast over the wall of newspapers.”
“So?” Taylor said. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“It’s a warehouse,” Keene said.
“It’s a warehouse!” Artie repeated. “Exactly! So I got back on the net and started looking for warehouses around Racine Station. Turns out, there’s a whole neighborhood of them there.”
“That doesn’t help,” Keene said.
“Yeah, but maybe this will,” Artie said. “So this neighborhood only has a few small buildings like the one this guy is in with that kind of blueprint. Don’t ask. I pulled the records. So anyway, there’s like twelve of these warehouses that were built with plans that match what we were looking at. All of them have been renovated in the last ten years. And all of them were either turned into some kind of boutique store or apartment building. In the last couple years, with the bad economy, four have been abandoned.”
“Okay,” Keene said, his interest rising.
“Only one of them is close enough for us to have been able to get that audio,” Artie said.
“So you found it,” Keene said.
“I found it!” Artie said.
“Good job,” Keene said. “I told you there was something. Text me the address. Oh, and—”
“Yeah, I know. Delete the video. I already did.”
Keene clicked off the call and put the truck in gear. He stepped on the gas and shot out into the street, pulling a complete U-turn.
“Hey!” Taylor shouted again. “I thought you were going to warn me when you did that.”
“Sorry,” he said.
“Where are we going?”
“Your place.”
“For what?”
“To pack a bag. We’re going to Chicago.”
“Why Chicago?” Director Preston asked.
“Found a lead,” Taylor answered, gripping the handle above
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