***
Outside, the sun was beginning to set. Bright yellow light was beginning to give way to the familiar orange of the early evening hours, though the comforting embrace of the heat was still present.
A server came up, asking if everything was okay. Shay smiled and told them that unfortunately she wouldn’t be staying after all. Apologies said, she wandered from the restaurant.
It was still early enough; perhaps she could continue looking for her father. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the picture she had of him somewhere along the waterfront. She could see the word “Shipyard” on a building behind him. Unfortunately, that was her only clue.
“Considering every other building along the waterfront has the word Shipyard on it, I could be in for a long search,” she muttered, weaving her way through the throng of humanity that still surged along the sidewalks. It was harder now without Justin along to force a path for her.
She looked at the picture again. It was the middle of the day—she could tell that much by the bright sunlight everywhere. Being back in the press of bodies, Shay realized something about the picture.
There were far fewer people visible in the background.
Wherever this was taken, it wasn’t around here. Her strides lengthened and she began to head away from the center of the harbor marketplace. After half an hour of walking, as the shadows began to deepen around her, she found herself slowly leaving the craziness behind.
She kept looking at the picture and comparing it to the various places she went by. None of them seemed to fit the description, however, which was making her more and more annoyed. Had her father actually been somewhere else when he sent it?
At last, she saw one place that somewhat matched what she was looking for. Hesitantly she approached it. Most of the lights were off, and it didn’t look like anybody was around. Perhaps it was closed for the day, she thought. That would be just my luck. Her senses tingling for some reason, she located and approached the sole door that wasn’t the big gate that slid aside for the trucks.
There was a buzzer next to it, and she pressed it.
After waiting half a dozen seconds for an answer that never came, she jabbed her finger down on the button again, holding it for a little longer this time.
There was no answer.
Angrily she stabbed it down one last time, holding for a solid double handful of seconds. There had to be someone in there.
“Go away.”
Shay blinked at the crisp rudeness of the response.
“Hi, I was wondering—” she began to say, hoping politeness would win her the chance to speak.
“Leave. Now.”
“I’m trying to find my father, Charles Lyon,” she said into the speaker. “Is he here? Do you know who he is?”
There was a long pause.
“Please,” she said. “I’m his daughter. He hasn’t contacted anyone in months. I need to know if he’s okay.”
“Charles? He—”
Shay felt hope surge through her as he spoke. Had random luck paid off?
The voice was abruptly cut off, and another one responded. This one was cool and hard, giving her the shivers as it darkened the flare of hope that had sparked inside her. What kind of place was this?
“There is no Charles Lyon here. Now please leave.”
Shay frowned at the speaker. “The other guy, he sounded like he knew him. Can you put him back on please?”
The cool voice returned. “He was mistaken. Now leave.”
“You’re lying. Why are you lying to me? I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
There was a pause.
“I do not have the answer to your questions. Go look elsewhere,” the voice said.
“Fuck you,” she swore angrily. “Just tell me where my father is. I know you know!”
“You’re wrong,” the voice said. “We don’t know.”
Shay stepped back from the speaker as it fell silent. Above the vehicle entry gate was a pair of lights, illuminating the entryway from the street. They caught her eye, and an idea formed in her head.
After a few seconds of searching the ground, she found what she was looking for. Hefting the piece of broken sidewalk in her hand, she took aim, and let fly.
“Holy shit!” she exclaimed. To her complete surprise, she had managed to hit her target. The light flicked out and glass shattered to the ground.
“Fuck you,” she shouted at the people hidden inside the shipyard compound. “Tell me where he is!”
“That was unwise,” the voice said over the speaker, still calm and unfazed by her actions. “Leave now, or else we will take action.”
Shay rolled her eyes, picking up another, larger chunk of sidewalk from a little farther away. Her arm pulled back, and she hurled it at one of the panes of glass in the building above her. Once again her aim was true, but this time the concrete did nothing but bounce off the window, rattling it slightly before it fell back to the ground.
“Dammit,” she cursed, turning her back on the building in anger as she tried to think of something else to do to get the first man back on the intercom. She knew from his voice that he recognized her father’s name.
She whirled as something metal clunked behind her.
To her surprise, the door opened.
“Thank y—” she began to say, but her voice died as a tall figure clad in security gear emerged to stand at the door.
“Oh,” she said sullenly. He didn’t say anything, or move toward her. He simply stood there, looking imposing. It was an unspoken threat.
“Your boss is an asshole,” she said to the security guard.
He didn’t twitch.
“I don’t understand,” she complained angrily. “Why won’t anyone tell me where my father is?”
The guard responded by shifting slightly. At first Shay thought it was just him moving, until she noticed the way it pulled his shirt tight against him, revealing the bulge at his hip.
He had a gun.
Suddenly, smashing the light out and throwing a rock at the window didn’t seem like a good idea. Her arms began to tremble slightly.
“Are you going to shoot me?” she asked, knowing her eyes were wide with fear.
“Not if you leave,” the security guard said.
“O-Okay,” she stammered, shocked by the escalation.
She backed away slowly, heading back up the road that would—eventually—lead her to the busy market area, where they would hopefully leave her alone.
When she felt she was far enough away that he wouldn’t just pull out the gun and shoot her, Shay turned and fled up the road as fast as she could.
She wished Justin were there. Or that she knew where he was, so he could come help her calm down.
Her desire for his imposing presence was so strong it was almost palpable. There was an air about him, one that she knew other men could see. The security guard wouldn’t have even come outside if he’d been with her, she knew that much. Justin was threatening, and not just because of his size. He was dangerous.
As she caught the first taxi she could find, she just wished he was there. It wasn’t until she was back in her hotel room, the door safely locked and barricaded behind her with a thick wooden chair under the handle, that Shay allowed the tears to fall. She was tough, and there wasn’t much that rattled her. But this was the first time she had ever been threatened with a gun, and it had shaken her badly.
She sank into the bathtub some time later, letting the hot water soothe away her shakes, even as she began to picture Justin climbing inside the large tub with her.
After a bit, her shakes turned to shudders as her hand found its way between her legs.