Crime Scene 21.2 Communication is Key
Thursday. 7:30pm. The Warehouse.

“No time to talk but don’t think you’re not getting an earful later,” Rose said immediately. “Where you headed?”

Ellie slipped easily back into the business at hand. This was her element. A talk later was a problem for later. “Offices. You?”

“Inventory.”

“Sam, do you have eyes?”

“No. Because neither of you are supposed to be there. Doing this correctly takes time, you know. I need to prepare.” Sam ranted through gritted teeth. Ellie stayed silent and waited for her to vent. “Give me a moment. I can make a cell map, but that’s the best you’re going to get.” A cell map was what they called Sam’s program that used cell phone and other wireless signals to create a real time map of all the devices in an area. It was imprecise, but combined with a 3D map of an area, it was a useful tool. Since they surprised her, she wouldn’t be able to project the moving signals on a map, rather, she could only see moving dots in an invisible 3D space. It wasn’t perfect, but she could at least warn them if someone was close.

“You’re a lifesaver.”

Sam grunted. After a moment, Ellie’s silent notification went off. She pulled out her phone to give the map a quick glance. She was on the map as a green dot in a black void. Moving perpendicularly to her was Rose’s red dot. Sparsely scattered around them was a few dozen white dots. None of them moved with any urgency, so their cover was apparently unbroken. Based off their positions, there were a few people in the back loading docks. Interesting, since Thursdays were not their official receiving or shipping day. If she couldn’t find the office, she could at least see what was being moved at the warehouse. She could see stationary pairs around the perimeter. Clearly guards. Evenly spaced stationary phones. Likely the locker room. Some employers still insisted on no phones. And there, straight ahead and above her level. A cluster of phones. Some moved erratically. Their spacing was a little more haphazard. If she had to guess, that would be the offices.

She quickly tucked away her phone and kept walking, hoping to spot the way up and that it wasn’t heavily secured. It took until she was halfway into the warehouse before she found the stairs up to the office. The block stuck out from the wall, so she couldn’t miss it. The bottom part on the floor level was just the bathrooms and warehouse staff break room. The braker box was there as well, completely unlocked. The stairs were unguarded but disturbingly rickety. Maybe she could send OSHA here to give them a hard time. They creaked under her feet, but she kept going, reminding herself she wasn’t trying to be stealthy. She had business there. No one would question her if she didn’t question herself.

Halfway up the stairs, she jumped from a notification on her phone. Had Rose or Same found something? Nope. Geoff was asking if she had…chlorine? She resolutely cleared the notification. That would have to be a worry for later.

On the second floor, which was a little higher than a normal second story, she had a better view of the warehouse. She took a quick picture of the layout for later. From this high up, it just looked like endless rows of shelves of boxes. As far as she could tell, they all had Shake branding. She could see the open loading dock in the back. There were definitely trucks offloading things back there. Odd, since this wasn’t a day they were supposed to take deliveries. Ellie took a picture of those as well. Then she was at the windows of the offices that looked out over the warehouse. A warm light glowed from inside that made the warehouse lights look dim. Someone was definitely working, though she didn’t see any shadows moving.

She felt a buzzing on her chest as she stepped into the line of sight of the office window. At first, she thought Geoff had sent another question, but no new messages showed on her phone. A second buzz, shorter made her realize it was her necklace. Hadn’t this happened before? It was when she was working in the backroom and Vern and Davis were vandalizing the shop. After such a long silence, was Ombra warning her about something? Either way, the prickling sensation of being watched intensified. Bad for her nerves, but at least it kept her alert. She peered into the office to see if anyone inside was paying attention to the warehouse.

In contrast to the drab warehouse, the office was packed with the bright neon yellow and pink colors of Shake branding. There were shelves of cans and posters of fruit splashing on a colorful geometric pattern. Of course, Ellie noticed the key lockbox by the door inside. And Debbie—no, it was definitely Darla. Now that Ellie knew what she was looking for, she could see the familiar, distinctive topology of her face. She was focused on something on her laptop, possibly on a serious call from the way she was talking. It was the most business-like and serious Ellie had ever seen her. Darla moved her head toward the window and Ellie lurched back into her cover. Her heart shook her whole body. She had to clench her fists to stop them shaking.

That was enough sightseeing. Anyone else would not have been a concern, but Darla would be able to recognize Ellie and possibly even Rose. And Darla would have motive to throw every possible trespassing law at them. If she even let them go. Ellie turned around on her heel and went back the way she came, a little faster this time. The adrenaline burned in her system harder than any amount of caffeine. Despite doing everything she could to not run and draw attention, she was gasping for breath as if she was sprinting. A phantom memory of Darla Bailey’s accusatory voice trying to get her in trouble dogged each step.

“Rose, Darla is here. We need to go.”

Rose didn’t need to hear more than that. “Understood.”

Sam sounded surprised. “She’s there? She’s not supposed to be there. Head to the entrance you came in from. Don’t go toward the back. There’s a lot of activity there.”

They would have to talk about where Darla was supposed to be later. Ellie couldn’t spare a breath. She was a few steps down from the stairs when she heard a door open above. It took every ounce of her training to stop her from sprinting. It didn’t stop her from breaking into an uncomfortable sweat as she waited for an alarm to sound or a shout from Darla calling the security on her.

After a moment, she did hear Darla’s voice. It was as chilling as she remembered it. “I’m not accepting any more of these shipments. We’re not moving enough product for this. How long are you going to sit your stuff in our warehouse? We’re not your personal storage unit. Look at this. Your people showed up with no notice.”

Ellie breathed a little more easily. So, there was definitely someone else using this warehouse, which was either owned by Darla’s family or she was under the impression it was owned by her family. It was hard to tell with Darla. She hoped Rose found whatever they were storing here among the smoothies.

As she got close enough to the exit, she saw Rose also making her way out. That’s when a guard noticed them.

“Hey, what are you doing?” The question was directed at Rose, but then changed to include Ellie as she entered his field of vision.

Ellie gasped, holding her right hand in her left. She sped up her breathing, taking shallow, sobbing gulps as she came into view. “Thank goodness. There you are!” she said to Rose. She ignored the guard as if he was an afterthought. As she spoke, she pinched at the thin, dried film on the fingers of her right hand. A chunk lifted about an inch from her skin. “I- I had an accident with the crates.” She screwed up her face and let her breath catch as if she was suppressing a sob. “Please, she’s just taking me to the ER.” She allowed the guard a glimpse of her right hand. Enough to see the skin-like film flaking off. Her pinching made color of her hand look red and mottled. She hissed a breath in as if she was trying to suppress the pain. Rose was quick on her feet and pressed a napkin into Ellie’s hand as she put an arm around her shoulder.

The guard flinched at the mangled skin. “Oh—shit! Okay. Uh, be careful and don’t forget to clock out!” He shouted the last half at their backs as they were already moving towards Rose’s car.

Let’s see you pull that off, Slimer. ¹*You didn’t even steal anything! -Tor ²You’re too materialistic. -EG