Chasing Honey Chapter Two
Natasha Raulerson | Posted on |
He’d found her. It had taken three months. He’d called in almost every marker he had. No one thought she’d just left. Least of all Cap. Honey wouldn’t do that. Not to Sin or Flick…not to him.
Something was wrong. He could feel it so deep in his bones it was almost conscripted into his DNA.
Something. Was. Wrong.
Looking at the dilapidated house across the street with its missing shingles and peeling paint, that feeling only grew. If his contact was right. If this is where Honey was, then his search was finally at an end. Answers were just within reach.
Honey was within reach. His heart pounded in anticipation. The warmth of the sun on his head reassured him.
Cap could walk up to the door. The windows had been blacked out by tinfoil and the lawn needed maintenance three months ago. He could knock, but he didn’t know the circumstances. Just that Honey had been seen entering the home soon after she’d disappeared from Ft. Lauderdale.
Her last text had been hurried. Vague.
She had to go. She was sorry.
Three months since then and not a word. Nothing else that had given him a clue. And Honey was the person anyone went to when they needed a trail followed. She knew digital footprints and tech better than anyone.
But there were a few others he knew that could give her a run. One had done just that, tracking her here with the use of traffic cams and security feeds. It has been a struggle. After landing here…nothing.
He checked his Glock and the backup pistol in his ankle holster. Then he got out of the car and slipped between the house and the one next door.
The space was narrow. Close enough to hear the neighbors fart. More scattered rocks than grass crunched beneath his boots as he moved. No cameras that he could tell.
None of the houses on this street seemed to have security cameras in place, but still, he was careful. Treating this like an op for the SEALS.
He came to the side kitchen door and looked through the small, dirty, and cracked window. He’d hoped. Every small atom hoped he’d see her.
But the kitchen was empty. Half open cabinet doors, dust lingering the counter tops. It’d been that way for a while.
Invisible teeth gnawed at his heart. He had to be close.
So what was he missing?
Cap tested the knob. Locked, but it shook so loosely he didn’t need the lock pick set in his back pocket. It just took a stiff turn, and it gave way. The wood splintered. A few termites rushed out. The place was one strong wind away from being leveled.
He drew his Glock. Methodically moved from room to room, finding each one empty. Deserted.
The house didn’t have a basement. Central Florida was still Florida. But he could go up. Past the second floor, he’d already checked. He looked up.
Just in front of the master bedroom door was a rectangle in the ceiling with a small cord hanging down. He held the butt of the gun right in the palm of his hand.
With his other hand, he pulled the stairs down. He winces at the creaking sound of it. Anyone up there would have heard it. No element of surprise.
But nothing short of death would stop him from finding Honey. Nothing would stop him from bringing her home.
He walked up the stairs. Each step echoed his pounding heart. It felt like each step was a bomb. Over and over until he made it to the top.
But the wide open attic was empty.
Defeat nauseated his stomach.
Light glinted off of something on the floor near the window. It had been so slight, hidden behind a broken chair turned on its side. Dust littered the chair, but whatever it shielded had enough shine for the sun to grab onto.
Instinct made him look. Made him pay attention.
And hope swelled inside him. Dust and dirt swirled around it, but the vertical rectangular-shaped amethyst pendant laid there on the silver necklace. He walked over and picked it up. The silver clasp had come apart.
Had she’d known she’d lost it?
Had she left it there as a clue?
He pooled the chain into his palm. Tucked the necklace into his pocket.
It was something. He didn’t know what it meant, except she’d been there.
And if Cap knew anything, he knew one thing for certain.
Honey was in danger.