Arcanum Hominem (#1)

Chapter 79

"Levi, give me something good. I'm not in the mood for bad news after what just happened." Killian growled into the phone as we drove back to the warehouse. I could hear Levi speaking on the phone, but I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying. Killian nodded his head, fingers tapping against the steering wheel, and I focused on my fidgeting fingers. We almost got blown up in an abandoned building. We didn't even get to check and see if there was a person in there. But now that I knew what was there, I doubted the target was there. Unless he was watching from afar. Adrenaline coursed through my body still and I couldn't stop the mild shaking of my hands. I clenched them into fists, willing them to stop shaking. 

"It'll stop in a little bit. That's what happened when you have pent up adrenaline and no way to release it." 

I looked up to see that Killian was off the phone. 

"What did Levi say?" I asked, directing the attention from my hands and to his conversation. Killian glanced at me, pressing his lips together before looking at the road again. A smile grew on his face, throwing me off. 

"He found Chase's location. Grab the tablet, he sent it there, so that's where we're going." 

I grabbed the tablet, quickly turning it on. This was the break we were looking for. I was getting tired of the redundancy I was starting to feel with going after these targets. The location was on here and I tilted my head, trying to get a good look at the area around the blinking dot. 

"It looks like he's in a business building," I told him the address and he began to drive there. 

"Levi did say something about him having meetings all day. It seems he wasn't able to have any during the time he was trying to evade us, but he eventually needed to come out of hiding for this one. Something about this meeting being detrimental to the company if he didn't go." Killian explained to me and I smiled. 

"Well, lucky for us. It's not even that far, we could get there in about an hour." I placed the tablet down in my lap, my hands still shaking. I clenched them again and pressed them on either side of me in the seat. If Killian saw what I did, he didn't say anything and just focused on the road, which I was grateful for. I didn't want any attention on me right now. These surprises with these little missions were something that I needed to get used to. I didn't want to seem like I was the weak link. I wasn't the weak link. I would get better, I would get over it. I closed my eyes for a second, inhaling deeply before letting out a breath. 

The ride to the location was quick and I was getting antsy, just itching to see Chase's face and the shock on it when he saw me. The building Killian turned into was legit, unlike the last one, and had many cars in the parking lot. I looked around as Killian drove around to see if I would spot Chase's car, but I didn't see anything. Killian parked in the back of the parking lot and we got out of the car. 

"No running, no drawing attention to ourselves. We get in and get out, okay?" Killian spoke and I titled my head. 

"I think we're already drawing attention to ourselves with the clothes we have one. This," I gestured to our hoodies, "is not business attire." 

He looked down at his hoodie and nodded, a smirk growing on his face. "You're not wrong. Let's go." He began walking toward the building, and I kept up with him, walking next to him. There were a few people in the parking lot, getting out of cars, speaking to each other, and eating. I couldn't even think about food right now. I was too nervous about what was going to happen. Or maybe not knowing what was going to happen. That was more like it. Luckily, no one paid us any mind and we entered the building without hassle. The inside of the building was cool, which I welcomed and it was cozy. I kept my head down and we walked to the nearest elevator. Once we were in, I let out a breath I was holding. 

"Tenth floor," I told Killian and he clicked the button. The elevator moved up and I tapped my fingers against my thigh, heart pounding quickly from my nerves. I felt like I was going to throw up and had to keep inhaling and exhaling to help calm myself down. Killian was silent as the elevator slowly crept up and he kept his eyes locked on the numbers at the top. I glanced down to see that his fingers were also drumming against the side of his leg and that made me feel a little better.

The elevator dinged and I was about to walk but noticed that it stopped on the fifth floor. I scrunched my brows in confusion until the elevator doors opened and two people stepped into the elevator, chatting with each other. I moved closer to Killian, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with other people in here. It wasn't like they knew what we were planning to do, but still. The fact that we didn't have the space to ourselves made me drum my fingers faster against my leg. They clicked the fiftieth floor and the elevator moved again, only to open again on the sixth floor. More people came in the elevator, four of them taking up even more space. I moved closer to Killian again and my hand brushed his. His fingers grabbed mine and I  gripped his fingers, finding comfort in them. My shoulder was pressed against his and I glanced up at him to find him already looking down at me, a serious look on his face. His eyes searched mine and I did the same to him, getting lost in the unknown emotions that swam within them. I wasn't sure how long we were standing like this, just staring at each other, but we didn't look away until the elevator dinged. I looked up and saw that we were on the tenth floor, finally. The doors opened and I stepped off, Killian right behind me. This floor was bright and had many doors on each wall, the only wall without a door was an entryway to another space. The hallways were long and I didn't know where to start. 

"Over here." Killian pointed to the hallways behind him. On the wall, there was a sign pointing in that direction that read 'Business Meetings'. That would be a good place to start. We went down the hallway and I peered into each door that had a little glass window on it. I didn't see anyone in any of the rooms I peered in and I was about to peer into another one when a door opened ahead of us. Killian froze and I did the same. Exiting the room was Chase, speaking to a man beside him, hands gesturing. Killian began walking quickly toward him and Chase didn't even look up until it was too late. He shoved the man speaking to Chase to the side and grabbed Chase by the throat, shoving him up against the wall. I jogged over to where they were, smiling at the shocked look on Chase's face. 

"What is the meaning of this? Let him go this instant!" The man who was shoved to the side spoke and I walked up to him, a soft smile on my face. His wrinkled face had confusion written all over it. 

"Hi, sir. Do you have the keys to any of these doors?" I asked sweetly and he looked at me, still confused. 

"Yes I do, they're right here, but-" 

I snatched the keys out of his hands and quickly unlocked the door we were standing next to. He protested, but I shoved him into the office, locking it behind him.