Chapter 2: Not Too Careful

Angela knew her dad would be outraged if he could see her now. As the former police chief and current mayor, he constantly worried about her safety. It certainly didn’t help that she would purposely put herself in harm’s way if it meant getting the story.

At that moment, for instance, she was breaking into a warehouse that she believed to be housing roughly a million dollars’ worth of cocaine. She had two bobby pins pushed into a lock, fiddling around until she heard the gears click. With the lock undone, she carefully eased open the door, conscious that there might be someone inside.

It didn’t occur to her to be afraid of what she was doing. She took several careful steps into the dark warehouse but paused to let her eyes adjust. The warehouse itself was little more than one large room. There were workstations set up all around, remnants from some abandoned industry. These days it sat empty, collecting rust and dust.

There were certainly plenty of places to hide drugs around the room, but the owner of this warehouse was too cocky to think like that. Based on everything she knew about him, he didn’t concern himself with petty things like getting caught. Still, she took the time to meticulously look through every nook and cranny, just in case.

After she’d searched through the entire place twice and found nothing, though, she was on the verge of giving up. She felt defeated. She saw her future slipping away. Her life-changing story was gone. The love of her life was gone. And it was the fault of the man who owned this place, and all the coke inside. The thought caused a sharp pang in her chest, so sharp she wanted to scream out. She hadn’t come all this way for nothing. She wanted to close this chapter of her life once and for all.

Germaine Fuentes was a name that was spoken like a curse in her home growing up. As a young teenager, he’d been the monster in her nightmares. Her father had taped his picture to a dart board. He once told her that one way or another he needed to nail the man to a wall. She hoped she could find the evidence in the warehouse to do just that.

She was ready to give up when she noticed a portion of the wall that didn’t quite line up with the rest. Most of the imperfection was hidden behind an empty filing cabinet. It looked like it could just be bad craftmanship, but she hoped beyond hope that it was more. She carefully moved the filing cabinet and knocked on the wall. It was hollow.

She put a little pressure on it and it swung open, revealing a small room behind. It was a clever hiding place; one most people wouldn’t have thought to look for. Germaine would’ve counted on that. He was the cockiest son of a b*tch.

There, behind the false wall, was row after row of dime bags. She quickly grabbed her camera, taking as many pictures as she could. She made sure the geolocation of her pictures was on so that there could be no doubt.

This was all the proof she would need to get him put away, as long as the police could get there in time. She pulled out her phone to call the police chief, when she heard the large garage door of the warehouse open.

“Sh*t,” she cursed under her breath. She hadn't counted on this.

She crawled through the wall and quietly shut the hidden door. Maybe the person who entered wouldn’t notice the way the filing cabinet in front had been shifted. She could only hope she was that lucky. Just for good measure, she hid behind one of the stacks. Even if someone looked into the room, they wouldn’t be able to see her right away. That would be enough to satisfy them.

She did hear the door open and saw the glow of a flashlight. Thankfully, she noticed, the light didn’t penetrate the spot where she was hiding. She held her breath, praying they would just take a cursory glance and move on.

The light went out and she heard the door shut and lock. She breathed a sigh of relief, stepping out from her hiding place and going back to the door, ready to make her escape as soon as the person was gone.

Unfortunately, the stack she was hiding behind was set up on an unsteady pallet. As she stood up, the pallet slipped, sending the entire stack crashing to the floor. Before she could process what was happening, the door was slammed open, a bright light was in her eyes, and she could hear the sound of a gun being cocked.

She was literally facing down the barrel of a gun. And while all of this would have been enough to send her into a panic, it was the owner of the gun that truly set her off. She knew that hand, that arm, that chest. She blinked against the harsh light, looking directly into his dark brown eyes.

“Daniel?” she breathed out.