Page 64 of Delusional

She said, “I just want you to know up front that I hate the government and especially cops.” Then she shouted out, so that everyone in the warehouse could hear her, “Fuck the police!”

Only a few people in the warehouse even looked up. No one cared.

I didn’t even care and I am a cop.

Maggie asked, “Have you ever seen this man?” She held up Leonard Barr’s mug shot. “He goes by the name Pry. We’re pretty sure he parties here.”

The young woman sneered, “Are you kidding me? Why would I tell you anything? I’m invoking my Fifth Amendment right.”

Maggie let out a sigh and said, “I’m not asking you to incriminate yourself. I’m just asking if you’ve seen this guy. This isn’t some shitty crime movie. It’s important that we find him. All we’re asking is if you’ve seen him.”

The young woman glared at Maggie. She folded her arms and started tapping her foot. Maybe she didn’t think we were smart enough to catch the subtle hint that she was done talking. Maggie waved her off.

Finally, the last employee stepped up to us. She was about the same age as the other young woman. She had long brown hair, a pretty face, and told us her name was Toni Attalah. “Toni with an i.”

Maggie went through the exact same exercise, showing her the photo of Barr.

Toni took a good long look at the photo. When she glanced up, I saw her eyes were wet. She took a second to look all around to make sure no one had wandered close to us.

“I don’t want this to be, like, a big thing with any of my coworkers. So can we keep this quiet? I mean real quiet?”

Maggie said, “We can be out of here before your boss even returns with the paperwork I asked for.”

Toni sniffled and wiped her eyes with her palms, then leaned in close. In a low voice, she said, “I know Pry. I went home with him once. Well, not home—he took me to this place that’s, like, just a storage unit with a bed and a little space heater. It was kind of creepy, and when I saw it, I tried to leave.”

Maggie said softly, “Did he hurt you?”

Toni shook her head. “He grabbed me by the wrist but let go when someone walked by going to another storage unit. I left, and I’ve ignored him every time he’s come in since. Which has been a lot.”

She described exactly where to find the storage company. It was called Sal’s Storage, and it wasn’t too far from where we were right now or from the construction company. It made sense to be so conveniently located. “As you come through the gate, there are, like, four or five storage units on your right. I think his stepfather rents all of them. Pry’s in one of those.”

Maggie thanked her, then quietly said, “If you want to yell at us, we’ll walk out of here like frightened dogs. Might make you look better in front of your friends. Learned that trick recently, from a community college security guard.”

Toni had a sweet smile. She tried to hide it and nodded.

Maggie and I turned and walked quickly to the door. As the door closed, I heard Toni yell, “And don’t come back!” Good enough.

CHAPTER 78

AS EVENING DARKENED the sky, we found the Sal’s Storage place easily. Just as Toni, the young woman at the warehouse club, had described, there were five units to the right of the entry gate.

We stood at the metal gate blocking the entrance to the facility. It wasn’t a huge place. I estimated there were probably about seventy-five storage units total. Most of them were in the main building, which had two floors. Then there were the five units in another structure off to the right with what looked like the closed office behind them.

Standing next to me, Maggie said, “I guess it’d be a little obvious if we just followed someone through the gate?”

“I have no problem doing that if you think someone’s going to come in at this time of night.”

Maggie squatted on her haunches and surveyed the property carefully. Then she stood up, walked over to the fence surrounding the storage facility, and rummaged around on the ground for a moment. She stood up holding a long plastic handle that looked like a broken boat oar with a little bit of paddle left. It had probably been used with some sort of packing material.

Being a smart-ass, I said, “I don’t think that’s sturdy enough to bend this metal gate.”

Maggie didn’t even acknowledge my quip. She leaned down next to the gate, squeezing her arm through the bars with the plastic handle in her hand. I saw exactly what she was trying to do. She slowly lifted the handle until it broke the beam of the laser on the other side of the gate, which sensed when a car was approaching and opened the gate.

It worked perfectly. As soon as the gate started to move, Maggie jumped back.

I said, “Pretty good thinking there, Special Agent Chin. Did you learn that in the ATF academy?”

“I learned that living in New York City most of my life. I would’ve thought you’d have picked it up as well.” She gave me a sly smile after the dig.