Page 24 of The Team

The room was dark, and Yin went through an archway, weapon raised and ready. Rhett took the hall, checking the two bedrooms and a small, dirty bathroom.

The place was empty, save for an old sofa in the first room and two dining chairs, one of which was knocked over.

“Clear,” Yin said.

Rhett gave a nod. “All clear.” He relaxed a little, but looking around the empty space, he wasn’t happy. “Nothing.”

Yin took out his scanner; a small black device, and switched it on. He held it up to the air vents, the light fittings. “No surveillance, no bugs.”

Rhett went around the corner into the kitchen. Yin hadsaid it was clear, and he didn’t doubt that, but he hoped to findsomething.

There was no fridge, the oven door was crooked and ajar, the cooktop broken. He checked the cupboards and found nothing, then the drawers. Empty.

There was no sign of a struggle, no sign of life. No sign that anyone had been there for fuck knows how long.

“Could be another apartment,” Yin said quietly.

That was true. Itcouldbe. But Rhett didn’t think so. Either way, there was nothing to do but go back to base.

“Let’s go,” Rhett said. As he walked back into the first room, he noticed something under the sofa. The corner of a piece of paper. He went to it and carefully slid it out with his gloved finger.

A local pizzeria flyer.

Something was written in Turkish across the top. There were greasy fingerprints on the flyer, and although Rhett couldn’t be certain, it looked somewhat fresh.

Rhett tucked it inside his coat pocket and gave Yin a nod for them to leave. Except Rhett didn’t run back down the alleyway. He went to the nearest trash cans and lifted the lids, just as his earpiece crackled to life.

It was Sid. “Ah, Captain?”

Rhett froze, making eye contact with Yin. He pressed his earpiece in tighter. “Go ahead.”

“Eagle Eyes has you and suggested you get your asses back to base.”

Frustration and something close to resentment burned in his gut. Rhett sneered. “Suggestion is noted. Over.”

Sid chuckled. “Roger that. Over.”

“Fuckers,” Rhett grumbled.

“What is it?” Yin asked.

“HQ’s got eyes on us,” Rhett said. He looked down the alleyway, wondering which CCTV camera they had access to. Probably all of them. He looked up, smiled, and waved, then went back to the trash can.

Nothing but garbage, funnily enough. Kid’s cereal box, milk containers, pasta boxes, scraps.

He tried the next one. Same as the first. General household shit.

“What are you looking for?” Yin asked, plucking a lid off the next can.

“That,” Rhett said, lifting a pizza box out of the trash can. Same logo as the flyer in the apartment. There were some half-eaten crusts and scrunched-up napkins and a receipt.

Bingo.

“Let’s go.”

Rhett took the box, and they ran back down the alley.

“Vehicle incoming at your nine,” Sid said in his ear.