Crystal Mac: A prologue novella to Captive Series Book 3 HELL'S HILLTOP by J. A. Dennam Read Free Book Online

on,” he said, pulling Crystal along.
    “Mac!”
    That was Luke’s voice. They approached the windowed door where a red-faced repairman waited.
    “Sorry about that,” Mac murmured. “Ran into trouble.” And the five-foot-nothing behind him came with a capital ‘T’.
    Luke leaned in with a heavy scowl. “If you’re done here we were supposed to leave about fifteen minutes ago.”
    Yep. The guy was pissed, but Mac still felt pretty good.
    Boiler room heat met cool night air as they moved outside and took the concrete steps two at a time.
    Luke yanked on the driver’s side door of his utility truck. “Tell your boss I’m out of favors.”
    Suddenly, Mac was relieved he’d left the demolition business. Kids were a lot easier to work with. He opened the rear doors of the service van and found it completely empty.
    Crystal vaulted into the back. “You okay to drive?”
    “Where’s Lana?” he growled.
    “I got what we need, just drive!”
    He hoped to shit she was right, because there was no time to argue. Once the engine started, Mac felt better, but there was still about a hundred yards between him and freedom.
    The guard stood outside by the gate. Mac grabbed the ball cap from the dash and pulled it low over his face.
    “Was there a problem?” the guard asked gruffly , taking back the visitor’s badge. Apparently he’d kept his eye on the time.
    “Just trying to avoid one,” Mac evaded. As he held out his hand for the necessary papers, Luke’s horn beeped twice behind him.
    Startled, Mac watched in the side mirror as the guard talked in length to the other Repair Care driver. Was Luke so pissed he’d rat him out?
    The gate was before him, just a measly spike of wood that held no chance against a charging van. As his hand curled around the column shift, the guard began to walk back.
    With a smile on his face.
    “I’ll log your time,” was all he said before waving him off.
    Mac’s heart started pumping again, but he didn’t fully relax until the highway was in sight. They rode in silence. Not a peep came from the woman curled up in the back.
    “You asleep?” he asked over his shoulder. No answer, which was no big surprise. Crystal had to be exhausted , and he’d let her sleep for now. She’d need her strength for Derek’s interrogation.
    When he pulled into the Repair Care parking lot, Luke followed him in. The tires rolled to a stop in the empty space among the other vans. Mac put his in park, cut the engine.
    “Time to go, Crystal.”
    All was quiet except for the tick of a cooling engine. “Hey.” Mac twisted, squinted into the dark interior. Unease crept under his skin. He exited the van, rounded toward the back and swung open both doors.
    Completely empty. His heart plummeted down to his toes.
    “No fucking way.”
     

 
     

     
    Mac had come back to the Cahill’s home empty handed. No Lana. No Crystal. No information about the basement chemist, which was most likely the reason for Crystal’s disappearance. But was it all as underhanded as Derek thought? He’d survived an impossible situation tonight thanks to her quick thinking. Her fellow ghosts had missed her after all. He’d been caught. Plans had changed. He got it.
    But why did she lie about Lana and ditch him afterward?
    “She knows where the basement chemist is,” Derek fumed as he paced the Cahill’s large kitchen. It was a historic Colonial home built in the late nineteenth century and a soft spot in the original wood flooring creaked repetitively, adding to the angst. “The ball is entirely in her court. If she takes control of Nexifen, the rest of us are jumping through her hoops.”
    From his place at the breakfast nook, Mac stared out the bay windows into the inky black night, reflecting on the solemnity of the situation. Austin and Danny sat across from him, equally somber with just as much at stake as the rest of them. Crystal’s choices would affect them all.
    “Lana must have had more information than we