One of Six (Den Hollows #1)

33. Essex

33

ESSEX

Green Oaks is a huge place with a lot of snake-like twists and turns. It's a clean town and looks well maintained. Flowers line the streets and the parks are beautifully landscaped. All in all, Green Oaks is a quaint town that the residents are obviously proud of. However, something evil lurks beneath this town. A dark secret that will soon be revealed. At least I hope so. People have died working on this development. My father is one of them.

Nico has come along for the ‘ride’ after taking an instant liking to Special Agent Brielle Anders. Ed is in his element with the knowledge he has inhaled about this place. The drone had shown that the field was smaller than originally planned. The other section was forestry. Hence the trip to the town of Green Oaks.

I admit that curiosity had gotten the best of me, so I didn't argue when Bea suggested that I come out here with Ed while she went to her house to pack a bag. David promised to look after her while she did so.

The big black SUV Anders is driving stops as we come up against a high fence. Ed frowns and paper rustles as he flips through the plans on his lap. "This is a fire road."

Nico nudges my side. "I have a bad feeling about this," he whispers as we all get out of the car.

“We all do," I reply.

There is a sign on the high metal fence.

Danger

Electrical Station

"Is this real?" I ask. "Or to make people think twice before entering?"

"The latter," Harding says. "This place is giving off a vibe, and not a good one."

I glance at my brother and roll my eyes when I notice his attention on Brielle. I poke him in the side.

"Dick," he mutters, giving me the finger.

"We need to keep moving before we get stopped because there will be cameras watching," Ed says, moving forward and cutting the lock with a set of bolt cutters. Together we manage to open the big gate and slip inside.

"The road looks recently traveled. Tread marks from a large vehicle are visible," Brielle says.

We follow Ed and Harding into the brush, swatting at bugs. I'll be eaten alive in this jungle.

"By my calculations, the central area is about a ten-minute walk to the west." I look at Ed and hope for more because I've lost my bearings and have no idea which way is west.

Harding takes off with Brielle on his tail. Of course, Nico quickly takes off after them. Ed, deep in thought, brings up the rear. As we navigate through the dense foliage, I feel a sense of unease creep up on me. The sound of crows only adds to my growing anxiety. Harding suddenly stops in his tracks, bringing us all to a halt.

Then I hear what Harding must have—the faint sound of voices before a louder one says, "Edwin Carter, you're trespassing on private land. Turn around and return to your vehicle."

"Show yourselves!" Ed shouts.

"Last warning. Leave now."

"Are you really going to shoot three FBI agents?" Ed shouts, his face contorted with rage.

"Three?" I hear in a questioning voice before a lot of cursing. So, they thought they could get away with shooting one agent, but not three.

"If you shoot us, this place will be crawling with agents within the hour, considering our boss knows where we are," Ed adds.

About ten feet in front of Harding, a man appears, dressed all in black. He has a rifle pointed at the ground. "You are trespassing on private property. We have a right to defend our property. You want to be here, get a warrant. My men will show you the way out."

What are these assholes protecting?

I'm about as happy as the others to be escorted out of this place. At least now we know the cameras are not there for show. Maybe we can do something about them before we try this outing again.

More men are waiting by our vehicle, which gives me pause. It does for Ed as well. He mutters something to Brielle and Harding, and then the three of them start checking the vehicle, which ends with a tracker under the rear bumper and a listening device inside the vehicle. Ed and Brielle drop them at their feet before stomping on them.

As soon as we’re in the car, Harding gets us moving.

"Well, that went as well as I expected," Ed smiles.

"You knew they'd be there?"

"Suspected." He rubs his hands together. "Now we have to find out what they're hiding."

"Drugs don't make sense," I say. All eyes turn to me. "This is too big to be about drugs."

"Depends on how much money is involved, but you might be right," Ed says. "If the disappearances are connected to what's going on back there, then it's a lot bigger than I thought, because you don't have armed men protecting something in a family-oriented town... I originally thought that corners were cut in the development and that's why these people disappeared. We would have been talking about a lot of money. Millions. This trip has changed my mind.”

We drive the rest of the way back in silence when Ed tells us he's moving back to the Beachcomber, which makes sense now. Mom won't be too happy, though.

Before we go into the house, Ed pulls me aside. "Give us a day or two to gather more information. Spend time with Bea."

"You're kicking us out?"

He shakes his head. "No. I need to call in some favors, and that takes time. My niece has been through a lot lately. She needs time off. Make it happen and I promise to let you know when we have something solid."

I nod in understanding. As we part ways, I feel a sense of urgency to find Bea.