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“We need to get back on the road, just in case this is some kind of trap or we’re being watched. Pete, call us from your car, and we can talk it through then,” Trick replies as he glances around, a slight note of urgency in his tone.
We all do as he says and head back outside to the cars. I keep an eye on our surroundings as we walk toward the car, and I don’t so much as spot a nosy neighbor. We pull away from the creepy house and the suburban neighborhood and head back toward home.
“Alright, first, did anyone notice anything suspicious while we were walking to the cars?” Trick asks once we’ve called Pete and Elijah and are well on our way back home.
“No, absolutely nothing. Which is either suspicious in itself, or it's just coincidental, and there really isn't anything to worry about,” Cash replies with a slight frown.
“Okay, well, until proven otherwise, we’ll take that as a win,” Trick replies.
“So, what’s our next steps?” Elijah asks.
“Pete, do you think that you and Ace could trace the owner of the house? That might give us a bit more of an insight, and maybe even a link to Hunt,” Trick suggests.
“Yeah, we can do that,” Pete replies, “I’ll message Ace and the guys now and fill them in with what we found. I’ll ask Ace about starting the search into who owns the house. I’d say that it should be simple enough to find, but so far, nothing about this location has been simple.”
Trick’s laugh is dry as he replies, “No, it hasn’t. Thanks, man, that will save us having to have a meeting with them when we get back home.”
“No worries,” Pete replies.
“So, what are we still waiting for then?” Rage asks with a slight frown, “I know that we had several things running at the same time, but what’s left still running?”
“The facial recognition that we had going on in the first town has finished, and we didn’t find anything. Rylie is either damn good, or she was never there in the first place, even though that’s where Mr R was supposed to pick up the information.” Pete explains.
“What about the facial recognition around the location we’ve just come from?” I ask.
“Ace is still running that, but I doubt that he’s going to find anything,” Pete replies, sounding as exasperated as I feel.
"Actually," Trick interrupts, "I told the guys just before we went in. Ace messaged and said that one had come up empty as well."
Pete nods, "Yeah, I thought that would be the case.
“It’s just one dead end after another,” Jensen grumbles.
“We’ll catch a break at some point. We have to,” Elijah adds somewhat optimistically, considering the very little progress we have made so far.
“I really wish she said a little bit more in her note,” I mutter, reading it again, just in case I’m missing some sort of secret message or clue or something. Unfortunately, I see nothing, so if there is something there, then it’s hidden well enough that I can’t freaking find it.
“As Elijah said, we’ll catch a break at some point,” Trick tries to reassure us all, and I share a skeptical look with Luc, who’s sitting next to me.
“Ace just messaged back, and he’s on it. It didn't take him too long to find the owner, which is a surprise, but it's owned by a private company with no ties to anyone of any importance,” Pete replies.
"A dead end again then," I mutter.
“Alright, thanks, man. We’ll see you when we get home,” Trick replies and then hangs up once Pete and Elijah say goodbye.
I get lost in my thoughts for the rest of the journey, eventually falling asleep and only waking up when we get home.
**********
It’s no fucking good I can't sleep. I should’ve known that falling asleep in the car on the way home was a bad idea, and to be honest, I’m not even sure how I managed to fall asleep in the first place since we’d had a late start, but I obviously needed it, although now it’s biting me in the ass.
Looking over at the bedside table, I carefully grab my phone and check the time, hoping that the light from the screen won’t wake Cash up.
Four am.
Fuck it, I may as well try and burn some of this extra energy off, and then I might be tired enough to actually get some sleep and get my sleep schedule back on track. Carefully getting out of bed so that I don’t disturb Cash since he’s incredibly grumpy when he gets woken up. I quickly find some cotton workout shorts and pull them on along with a sports bra before I grab a pair of my comfiest trainers and then head out of the door, feeling incredibly proud of myself when Cash doesn’t even stir.
The house is still and quiet, and I have no idea where Runa decided to sleep tonight since she picks and chooses and ends up in different places most nights. She usually appears in the kitchen for breakfast.