Dane

After Chris left, Dane stared at the door for a while, but there was nothing he could do. Rolling his head to try and loosen the knotted muscles in his neck, he made some changes to the driver assigned shifts in the system. Then he checked the logs that he'd made notes about and sent to John. They hadn't been changed. He sighed with relief.

​​

He spent a few minutes looking at the city out of the window, before realizing he was just delaying the inevitable and there really wasn't a point. None of this was going to change, or get easier. So he took one look around the office, then picked up his briefcase and threw his jacket over his arm and walked out, closing the door softly behind him, checking that it locked firmly.

It was still early. Some staff were around, but no one paid attention to him walking out with a briefcase and his jacket over his arm. He left the office several times a day, exactly like this. They didn't have any reason to be suspicious. They didn't know he didn't have his phone. They didn't know he might not be back. And he didn't tell them. Dane also didn't know where Chris had gone when he'd left, but found that he didn't really care. Those details were already taken care of. It was in God's hands now.

When he got down the couple floors to the parking garage where the cars waited, the driver was Yosif again. Dane decided it didn't matter.

"Morning, boss," he said cheerfully as he leaped out of his seat and trotted around to the get the door for Dane.

Dane grunted. "I need to get to the Birdcage."

A moment later, Yosif slid back into the driver's seat and put the location in the system. Dane waited until he pulled the car away from the curb to speak again. "When does your shift end?" he said, messing with his things, not looking at Yosif.

"I just started, so, like six? I think?"

Dane nodded. "It's going to be a long, boring day for you, I'm afraid."

"Eh, that's okay."

"I'm not taking you off priority. If I'm not out by the time you're done, you get someone to cover, and it stays that way until I'm done. You understand?"

"Yeah, sure."

"You don't close the job as long as someone's waiting for me, okay?"

"Of course, boss."

Dane nodded and sagged into the seat. It wasn't a long drive. He opened the briefcase in his lap, his head running over everything John had told him. This was where the rubber hit the road. A minute later he sighed, rubbed a hand through his hair, closed the briefcase and locked it, setting it down on the floor of the car. Then he stared at the streets of the city, all those people walking around and living their lives, even at this early hour. And no one had a clue about the monster lurking just under the surface of their clean, noisy streets.

When they got to the club, Dane's heart was beginning to pound, but he swallowed it down, sent up a prayer for Lila, and took a second. For once, he waited for Yosif to open the door for him.

When he stepped out under the shadowy overhang of the building's frontage, Yosif didn't even look sideways. Their jobs had taken them to every corner of this city at some point. And this place was known to all the staff. Yosif would assume that Dane was investigating. Which he was, he supposed.

Dane climbed out of the car leaving his jacket and the briefcase behind. He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled a card out if it.

"Good work, Yosif," he said. "You stay here for the rest of your shift and you don't leave unless me or someone else from the office comes out of this building. Do you hear me?"

Yosif blinked. "Yeah, sure."

Dane nodded. "If I show up, or even if someone else does, you don't even ask. You drive us straight to the bunker and you call this number after you get here—only after, you understand?" He pushed the card into Yosif's front pocket. "And if I don't come out before your shift's done, you pass this card and these instructions on to whoever replaces you, and you tell them to do the same if I'm not back at the end of their shift. Okay? You hear me. You do NOT close that job in the system until you're taking someone out of here. Understand?"

Yosif nodded slowly, his face serious. "Is this about—"

"This is important, that's all you need to know."

"Gotcha, Boss."

"Thanks. You're a good man."

He clapped Yosif on the shoulder and murmured, "Wish me luck." Then he turned to face the door.

The pavement of the sidewalk was stained and spotted, peppered with sodden trash and ground cigarette butts. It smelled like stale alcohol and piss. Yet, in about twelve hours there would be a line outside this building that would last into the small hours of the morning. But right now it was a dark gray painted building with flaking paint and stains, and with no visible lights on inside. There was only a single entrance—a normal sized door, solid wood, closed and locked. And yet, there was a single bouncer standing outside it. At seven am.

As Yosif went back to the driver's seat, Dane strode across the wide sidewalk and towards the door, the bouncer—a man so large he filled the doorway without trying. When he realized Dane was coming to him, he eyed him warily.

Dane stopped in front of him and the man met his gaze with flat eyes. "My name's Dane Daniels, and—"

"I know who you are."

Dane took a deep breath. "I'm here to see a man about a dog."

The guy's eyebrows popped up and he stared. Dane waited. The bouncer swallowed. "Well… that might take some time."

"That's okay. Time is about the only thing I have left."