Deadly Discern - Book Three ✔️

Chapter Thirty - Dirty Laundry -

Alex POV

Following my gut instinct, I casually reach out and put a hand on Dex's shoulder, he turns to me with raised eyebrows. I point out the sliver of gray while I whisper to him, "Let's check it out."

He frowns once, looks back the way we'd been heading before I spoke and then shrugs his shoulders and turns in the direction I'd pointed to. I'm happy he didn't ask more, instead he merely followed suit.

I let Dex lead, and I am doing all that I can to act relaxed and not in the least bit interested, but still slightly curious. Dex grips his rifle a little tighter to his side as we get closer, the shape of the object becoming clearer as we get closer to it.

The suspense builds as we gain ground and when we're within ten feet of it, my heart starts to thud a bit harder in anticipation.

Is this it?

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Following closely behind Dex, I peer over his shoulder and watch as the trees began to part before us, giving up the hidden shed and my main objective, Seth's hideout.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is the place.

The outer shell is exactly the same, though it's definitely aged over time. Rust has built up in the corners and layer upon layer of leaves coat the roof, sodden and gunk covered. Aside from that, only a few overgrown trees and fallen branches lie nearby, the immediate surroundings of the shed has been cleared away, yet only a couple of feet beyond the walls.

With the knowledge of having found this place settled in my head, I blow out a breath of relief and Dex turns to stare at me, but I act as though I'd done nothing, instead averting my gaze to further survey the scene ahead of us.

And here it stands before me in plain sight, Seth's secret hideout. The more that I stare at it, the more I can see that the cops won't be hunting this place down anytime soon. It's not on any residential lists, there's no paper trail to this place, it might as well be non existent. And Seth knew it.

This trip has turned out to be much simpler than I'd ever imagined, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that it's right here, in front of my eyes. I thought I'd have to come back on my own, venture deeper and spend hours upon hours seeking it. A child's vague memories doesn't ascertain anything, yet here we are.

It's a load off my shoulders. The one thing I thought I'd struggle to do. Okay, it's not the only thing, but we will circle back on the other issue later. For now, we will focus on the here and now.

Dex is beginning to circle the structure, taking wide yet slow strides along the outskirts. Not that it's vast in any way, it's only a five by four size shed, nothing to boast about, and definitely not something I'd want to live my life in.

I follow his lead, taking each step carefully and still acting as though he is in charge of the decision to check the place out. Keeping my knowledge to myself is most vital right now. Dex knows me well and hiding something this big from him is near impossible, but I think I can get him to play along how I need him to.

When we return to the front of the shed, he heads over to the door, slowly and quietly, rifle now at the ready, just in case. He stops by the sheds outer and leans his ear against it, listening hard, focussed.

Then he looks at me, speaking quietly he says, "I don't reckon anyone's in there. Want to go in?"

I shrug, "Yeah, why not?"

He takes that as his cue, grasping the flimsy handle and pries the door open with a noisy scrape, metal on metal, the sound grates on me and I visibly cringe from the disturbance to the dead quiet around us.