Miss No One by Mark Ayre (interesting books to read TXT) 📕

Orion had disappeared. Unlike the police, who had an agenda, Abbie never believed he was gone for good.

Despite the police’s fund seizing efforts, Orion would have access to lockboxes and offshore accounts all over the world. If he never acquired another penny, he'd be comfortable for the remainder of his days.

But from what Abbie knew of the family, money in and of itself had never interested the Beckers. They had lived lives of comfort, never excess. Each job added to the cash stocks. Most of the money they would never spend.

To the Beckers, armed robbery was a game. The cash was how they kept score.

Abbie couldn’t believe Lucky Draw would keep the quantity of cash on site that Orion was used to stealing, but did they have something else that made them of interest to the crook?

Of one thing, Abbie was sure. Orion Becker hadn't been hiding but waiting, always on the look out for the next job. A job that made sticking his head above the parapet and risking slipping onto the police radar worthwhile. A job that would make his mother and siblings proud.

Yes, such an opportunity would be irresistible to the eldest Becker child.

Abbie still couldn’t be sure if the Orion that Smoker had mentioned was Orion Becker. If it was, Lucky Draw seemed like a good bet for his latest target.

Whatever they were holding, Orion would take.

And in true Becker fashion, he’d leave a trail of blood, destruction and grief in his wake.

Seventeen

Soon they turned onto a long empty road leading to a collection of single-story buildings in the distance.

"It was a school," Gary said. "One I went to. Last summer, they closed it. Plan was to shift the land to a supermarket or hotel or something, but so far, no one wants it."

The road was two-lane and empty. Hedges lined either side, spilling over onto what had once been a reasonably sized pavement. Beyond the hedges were open fields, not large, and beyond these more streets and residential areas. Abbie could hear cars and even people, but nothing too close.

Before they could move too far along the road, Abbie took Gary's arm and dragged him towards the bushes. They couldn't conceal themselves within unless they wanted to get shredded by thorns. Instead, they would have to be quick to reduce the chance someone would come along and spot them.

"Your story was fascinating and insightful," Abbie said. "It's helped firm some suspicions in my mind. What it hasn't done is answer my three questions: how is Isabella involved in all this? How do you know she's being kept here? And how many enemies are waiting in that school to murder me or anyone else who arrives?"

Gary looked up the road towards the school. Although he had never slowed down or tried to deviate from his path or even turn back, he had grown noticeably more nervous the closer they came to the buildings ahead.

"I'll tell you what I know," he said. "Then you have to let me go. Okay?"

"No deal," said Abbie. She wasn't against lying, but in this case, it wasn't necessary. Gary was going to answer her questions, whether he liked it or not.

His face crumpled at her response. He didn't cry, but the fear in his expression increased exponentially.

"You don't understand," he said. "You seem like a scary woman who knows what she's doing. I'm nothing. I'm no one. I can't go in there. I just can't."

"Nothing and no one is my tagline," said Abbie. "Your problem is the opposite. You're a person with a family and possibly friends. Maybe hopes and dreams. You're afraid to proceed because you have plenty to lose, and that's understandable. But I don't know you well enough to trust you, so I need to keep you at my side until I know what's going on up there. But you have my word I'll protect you. You seem like a nice kid who's made some bad choices. I don't want to see you come to any harm. Hey, didn't I prove that yesterday?"

Despite these words of comfort, Gary still looked afraid. Of course he did. This was a frightening situation. Abbie was experiencing a little trepidation herself.

Be safe. Come back to me.

And wasn't this precisely what worried Ben and the fabled board of directors? Abbie had told Gary she was nothing and no one; had told Christine she was Miss No One. That was the moniker she had long ascribed to herself, not only because she was a nobody to the people she came to save and the people of the towns they inhabited, but also because she would miss no one if she died. Because she had nobody in her life. That had been her strength. The quality that had allowed her to act without hesitation. Now Miss No One was Miss Someone, at least to Bobby and Alice, and there was at least one person Abbie was afraid of losing. Action was in danger of becoming inaction, as when she arrived at the dealership. She couldn't allow that to happen, and not only because she couldn't stand the thought of Ben being right.

Although that was a troublesome thought in and of itself.

"Talk," said Abbie.

"What?"

"Talk now. Tell me what I want to know before I become mired in self-doubt."

"You have doubt?"

Gary's words trembled. Abbie smacked him around the head.

"Just tell me what I want to know. We haven't got all day. Probably."

Gary was still unconvinced. He wanted to flee, but the look in Abbie's eyes convinced him not to push his luck by attempting again to bargain.

"I don't know who's targeting the casino," he said at last. “But they contacted me a few weeks back and invited me to meet. I only ever saw or spoke to one guy, and he never gave his name."

"Describe his appearance," said Abbie. From her research, she knew what Orion looked like, though they'd never met. But the man Gary described was not