Dead Shot by Jack Patterson (adventure books to read .TXT) 📕

got to hold it together. If these guys hear us, we’re done.”

Kelly quietly sniffled as she nodded. They both knew what was at stake—and it was far more than winning some writing award that seemed rather trivial considering the new ante.

For more than 30 minutes, Cal and Kelly sat motionless as the warehouse whirred with the sound of normal commerce. Every sound of approaching and fading footsteps created a series of emotional highs and lows for them. Would this be the moment someone would discover them before putting a few bullets in their defenseless bodies? Despite all the near misses, nobody seemed concerned with mopping the floor at the moment. What mattered was getting those mysterious deliveries out the door and onto their destinations.

Finally, the last audible footsteps faded and it was quiet again.

Cal was curious—and impatient. He pressed his face flat against the cold concrete floor and squinted one eye closed. With his other eye, he peered into the warehouse, looking for feet. He saw none. But he did see a stack of boxes just 10 feet outside the janitor’s closet.

Without a warning to Kelly, he jumped up and dashed out the door, grabbed a small box with a Cloverdale Industries logo imprinted on the side and ran back to the closet, re-securing the door.

“Are you nuts?!” Kelly shouted in a whisper.

“Yes, I am. But if these goons are gonna kill us, at least I want to know why.”

Cal took out his house keys and slid it across the tape that held the box together. Except for his moment of insanity, he had been careful to do everything as quietly as possible.

He opened the box and pulled out the packing material. Inside the box was a bottle of “Clean and Clear.” Instead of containing a cleaning liquid, it was filled with white crystals.

“That doesn’t look clean to me,” Cal whispered, shining the light of his cell phone on the foreign substance.

“It’s not,” Kelly said. “It looks like crystal meth.”

Cal attended plenty of wild college parties in his day, but he never stuck around long enough to see any drug usage beyond guys smoking weed. It was the first time he had seen it, much less held enough to guarantee him a 20-year prison sentence if a cop walked in on him now.

“What is this place, Kelly?”

“I’ve heard rumors but nobody ever told me anything for sure.”

“Rumors of what?”

“Oh, crazy stuff, like what you might hear at a sleepover party.”

“Like what?!” Cal was growing impatient and nearly let his voice rise above a whisper.

“OK, OK. I’ve heard a couple of times that Cloverdale Industries produces all these cleaning products and vitamins as a cover for its drug operation.”

“Drug operation?”

“Yeah, I haven’t heard much other than that. You know, kids talking in middle school. I never really believed it. I’ve got relatives who work here. They’re not those kind of people.”

“Well, I’ve got a bottle of crystal meth that says your middle school pajama parties revealed something more than who had a crush on Bobby Jackson.”

“Bobby Jackson?”

“Every school has a dreamy Bobby Jackson, right? Oh, forget it. The point is, I’ve got evidence in my hand that this is indeed some type of drug operation. Now, we need you to take a picture to give us some evidence to take back that isn’t going to get me thrown in jail for the most promising years of my career.”

“You want me to take a picture?”

“Yes. Just get out your camera. I’ll pour this on the floor and you can take a picture with the bottle.”

“Cal, that’s not going to prove anything.”

“Maybe not, but it might be enough to get the feds interested in investigating what’s going on here.”

Cal turned the light on and Kelly snapped a couple of pictures. Then back to darkness. Cal returned the contents to the bottle and was about to repackage the box when the sound of heavy footsteps began getting closer. This time, it didn’t sound like it was somebody who was going to pass by.

The footsteps stopped just short of the door. The clinging of what was undoubtedly a large keychain sounded like the chambering of a bullet to Cal and Kelly. They both held their breath. Cal didn’t think it mattered as he was convinced his heartbeat was audible.

A key slid into the lock. The doorknob turned.

Chapter 37

Only 90 minutes until press time for The Register. Guy paced in his tight office space, trying to digest the news Mindy had just delivered.

She returned to the office 20 minutes before and gave Guy a full report. It was so thorough and marked with details that he wondered if she might be interested in being a reporter. After all, he was about to have an opening. Her work in gathering information at Cal’s apartment was a full three pay grades above making coffee.

When Mindy arrived at Cal’s apartment, she found Kelly’s car in the parking lot with two smashed in side windows. Broken glass littered the adjacent empty parking spaces.

Cal’s front door was wide open. The wood around the door handle splintered in several directions. Even the back door was open. And in between? Chaos.

Books, newspapers and magazines strewn across the floor. Chairs lying on their side. A smashed TV, likely as a parting gesture of good will. Cabinets were open. Smashed dishes covered the kitchen floor.

“Cal? Kelly? Are you guys here?” Mindy timidly called, hoping to not hear a sound as she maneuvered through the wreckage. She didn’t.

She ventured upstairs and saw more of the same. It was as if Cal’s bachelor pad had developed a stomach bug and vomited. At least she hoped the second floor was the work of intruders and not an indication of Cal’s sloppy housekeeping.

After Mindy swept through the house to ensure there wasn’t a clue for where Cal and Kelly might have gone, she found nothing that made much sense. Only an open shed door and what appeared to be fresh black motorcycle tracks on the neighboring