“It's here.” It disturbed Cage how excited he felt to see the dirty white car.
Unfortunately, it was parked directly in front of unit 104. Had it been on the other side of the small lot it might have been easier to surreptitiously check out the tires. But no.
He pulled into a spot far away from it, grateful that late lunch in San Antonio had been good. A much needed break, not that either twin had actually managed to stop thinking about Sarah being gone. But they did hit up a store and had each gotten a pair of good, comfortable walking sneakers. Though neither of them said anything, it was clear now that Sarah had made it further than the car had.
Though they’d looked and looked, no one had found her phone, even the crime scene techs. Cage didn’t know if they ever would, but looking for it remained high on the list.
Dr. Murasawa had called and said, “Look, we have four drones and they're going to be left just inside the trailer. I believe you still may have a key?”
It would be the same trailer from their previous jobs, a portable classroom that Helio brought with them to the job site. Because he and his sister were on leave—and not gone from the company—they’d not been asked to give back any of their shirts, keys, or any Helio Systems equipment.
Dr. Murasawa continued. “I can't officially give them to you, I’m not authorizing the use. But if you return them before Monday morning, likely no one will notice and there won’t be anything anyone can or likely will do.”
Hence the phone call. Cage understood that she had to tell them this information directly, that she didn't want any of it in writing. So, they could get drones to do aerial surveillance. It wasn't completely on the up and up, but it shouldn't get any of them in too much trouble. And if he was the one missing, Cage would want Sarah to take the chance.
The twins had swung by the job site on the way back—the long drive had put them plenty past when everyone had left for the weekend—and now there were four drones sitting across the backseat of the car. Joule had buckled them in, suggesting they didn’t want to explain any damage from a sudden stop.
Stepping out of the car now, Cage had his phone in hand, ready to get pictures of the tires on Salvador Torres’ car.
“Where are you going?” Joule slammed her door behind him.
He motioned with one hand, as if to ask why was she even asking?
“No. Like this.” She pulled her phone out and went to the opposite side of the parking lot. Crouching down, she obviously got a horizon shot. Then she stood at the front of the building, snapping pictures of that next.
Smart. She’d work her way around the entire lot, and Salvador Torres might not figure out that they were here specifically to ID his tires. Also, it wouldn't hurt the twins at all to have a full spate of pictures from here. Maybe there was something they would spot later or need to know and these “extra” pictures would help.
Three minutes later, Joule stood up from where she’d once again crouched at the edge of the lot and walked back to her brother. “I've got it.”
Cage turned a full three-sixty, though they'd come here to find the white car, the stop made him realize there was value in more information.
Was there anything about the building that was an issue? Maybe there were other cars in the lot that they hadn't paid attention to, and they should have.
Sarah hadn't disappeared from here, but something was definitely going on.
Climbing back into their own car, he found himself once again at the wheel after a long day of driving. At least it was near the end. He'd make Joule drive next time.
As he backed out, she sat in the passenger seat, her head down as she cycled through the shots she’d just taken.
“Wait until we get home,” He admonished. The phone was too small, the road too bumpy, the day too long.
She nodded, neither of them questioning that he just referred to a little rental house that they'd barely been in for a few days as home. Had they gotten so nomadic?
The answer was yes.
They moved from place to place with Helio Systems Tech. And they didn’t tend to stay in hotel rooms. Usually, they were housed in small apartments, rental homes, or temporary housing. Likely a place they would live for anywhere from six weeks to six months.
Home hadn't felt like home for some time. He didn’t mean their house, where they’d lived since moving to Rowena Heights from Curie. That feeling had changed the day their mother had died.
Now, when they’d tried to go back, to actually make it a home again, it was all derailed. The whole point of the leave of absence from their jobs had been to go home to grieve their losses. To settle in.
The twins had talked about furniture, paint, rearranging things. Joule might even take over the largest bedroom that their parents had once occupied. They’d thought that even a small investment into the tasks would help them. But they hadn't gotten past the first few weeks of getting over Dr. Brett being gone.
Now having Sarah disappear was too much. Cage was getting whiplash from it all. The only thing that would stop this would be finding Sarah. And he wasn't even sure that was possible anymore.
Every day that passed was an exponential drop in the likelihood of finding her. Beyond even finding her was the now very slim chance of finding her alive.
He pulled into the little gravel driveway. The pale blue house was not really to his liking, but nothing about this had been to his liking. None of the homes they’d lived in had really been what he wanted. They'd all been rentals, places he'd stayed where he lived out of a suitcase, sometimes for months on end.
He usually roomed with his sister. Though he should have grown up and become more independent, he’d become less and less willing to let her out of his sight. They’d been through too much. He’d learned more than once or twice that lives could change in a heartbeat.
Their lives had been more and more threatened each time they encountered something dangerous. Now Joule walked into the little house as though nothing were bothering her. As though this were just another job, this time the task was “finding Sarah.”
But Cage knew that her feelings ran stronger and deeper than that. She simply kept them locked up better than he did.
Evidence of her driving need to quell her own fears was that she had her laptop open in a moment. She was seated at the table, pictures loaded, ready to work, even before he’d made it fully through the door.
He had other work. Cage headed into the kitchen, grabbing a bag of carrots and a plastic container of hummus. They needed something to eat. It had already been hours since they'd had lunch and he could hear his mother's voice telling him to eat a vegetable.
He put the food in front of her and even motioned for her to eat it.
But two bites later, she pointed at the screen. “Look.”