•°•°•Grayson•°•°•
There was a tiny town right by Route 502. I had my notepad sitting in my lap and I drove off the rode and onto a side street. Small houses sat closely packed together on fat expanses of land.
I had his license plate number and the description of his car sprawled on my arm in purple Sharpie. The last time I looked at my phone, there was an Amber alert out for him with the same information I had. But why weren't the cops where I was now, looking for Sienna?
The first places I stopped by was a cafe and a dusty comic book shop. I asked a few of the the people there if they've ever seen a navy Ford truck. No luck.
I stopped by the grocery store for an hour and a half and then drove to a quiet cu-de-sac.
First house, no luck. Second house, no person there. Third, some luck.
"Um, yeah. I think I sometimes see the truck driving around. It looks like Bill's truck to be honest."
"Bill?"
He narrowed his eyes at me and started running his fingers through his beard.
"Yeah, who's askin'?"
"The cops."
"Hmm..what he do?"
"We think he kidnapped one of my...friends. I need your help in order to find where he lives."
"I ain't no snitch."
"What about this?" I took out a hundred dollar bill and wiggled it in his face. He snatched it from me and gestured toward a tiny pickup truck parked in the driveway.
"Bill comes to the wood shop sometimes. He likes to pick up plain wooden boards. Says it's for some 'project he's workin' on."
"How long have you known him?"
"Maybe two years. You know he has a thing for brunettes."
Sienna is a brunette.
"What's your name, boy?"
"Grayson."
"I'm Tommy. Are you gonna arrest Bill or some shit?"
"Not me. The cops."
"Hmm...so you're some sorta vigilante?"
"No. I just wanna save her."
"How do you even know she's missing? What if she ran away?"
"She didn't, okay?"
Tommy fell silent and turned onto a busy street. I gripped the seatbelt.
"His house is on this street." He turned onto another street more quiet and abandoned. Some houses were torn down, some were nice and the lawns were manicured. "Right here." Tommy said. He stopped in front of plain white house with rose bushes and the truck I was looking for. My heart leaped and beads of sweat formed at my temples.
"Oh God." I whispered. I was almost to Sienna.
"This is who you're lookin' for?"
"Yeah." I said almost inaudibly.
We waited five minutes and watched Bill get into his truck and start down the street.
"Follow him!"
"What?"
"Follow. Him."
Tommy glared at me and veered into one of the lanes, a car behind his truck. I tapped my fingers, determination etching onto my face.
"What if he sees us?"
"Well try to be incognito."
And that's what we did as we followed him back onto Route 502. It took half an hour for the "Bill" guy to finally move off the rode and down a dirt path and towards a huge building with smashed windows.
"This is it." Tommy said nervously.
"Yeah. Stop the car. He'll see us." He obeyed.
I observed the way Bill kept looking around and then disappeared into the warehouse.
"I got a shotgun in the back." Tommy offered.
"No." I said, jumping out of his truck and jogging towards the warehouse. "What the hell?" I heard him say.
Tommy's voice drained from my mind and all I could feel and see was Sienna. Sienna. I was going to come for her.
I crept inside behind Bill and just as he turned around, I landed a good one square in the jaw.
"WHERE IS SHE?" I snapped. Bill grabbed his jaw and scowled at me.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKIN' 'BOUT?"
"You know who I'm-"
Bill ran towards me using all his strength to barrel me into the ground. I groaned, feeling something in my shoulder snap.
"This is trespassin' son. I can kill you." Bill sneered. His foot went back and collided with my rib.
BANG.
I looked up through blurred eyes and saw Bill lying on the ground, Tommy standing over him with a metal chair dangling in his hands.