Tonight, clouds block out the moonlight as I pull into the employee's parking lot behind MaxLife. Friday nights have always been our all-nighters. Dad set it up this way since it allows Tony and me to participate since we both are still attending high school. A bunch of cars are already here including Dad's. The technicians arrive early since they usually have the sleep lab prepped for us, including the client's files and brain scans for us to review beforehand.
I climb out of my car, and Sun steps out of hers. She was waiting for me.
"Hey," she says, distractedly, checking her phone. "Ready to pull an all-nighter?"
"Not really. It's been a full week."
"I checked the schedule for next week. We only have one client, so we'll get some downtime." Sun frowns at her phone and sighs.
"Everything okay?"
"It's Blake. He's not returning my calls."
"The blind date who ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and made you pay for it?"
She shrugs, grimacing.
"You can do better," I tell her as we head to the employee entrance.
Javier's car rumbles into the garage, Latino music blaring into the silence. He parks and Tony pops out of the passenger side, waving to us.
I pull out my key card, but just before I go to unlock the door, Sun grabs my wrist. "Don't," she whispers.
"Why?" I laugh. "Now who's the one that doesn't want to go to work?"
"Look." She points to the lock. "The green light on the lock system is on, which means the doors aren't locked."
"My dad probably forgot to set the locks again. You know how absent-minded he gets."
The four of us head into the locker room. I shoot off a text to my mom, telling her I arrived, and slip the phone into the zip pocket of my backpack. "No cell phones" in the lab is MaxLife's policy. I set my backpack into my cubby and listen to Tony talk about his latest DJ gig he's got scheduled for tomorrow night.
"The line-up of songs is killer. And I've got some new moves, too." Tony wags his bottom and then belly. "Who's coming?"
"Not me," I say. "Too much homework."
"There's an art festival this weekend," Javier leans closer to Sun. "Interested in coming?"
"I've got a date." She tosses her boots into her cubby and slips on her silk slippers. "At least, I think I do."
"Whoo-eee!" Tony whistles. "Sun's getting some action!"
"Shut up, Tony." Sun throws her boot at him.
"Is this a guy from that dating site?" Javier scrunches his nose and rattles off something in Spanish. "How do you know if he's safe?"
I leave the three to debate weekend plans and head into the sleeping lab, expecting to find either Dad or the techs. But no one is there. Weird.
"Dad?" I call out.
I round the corner toward the offices and the lights blink out.
"Woah, what the heck?" Tony asks.
"Power's out," Javier says.
"Where's your dad?" Sun says. "His car is in the parking lot."
"Dad!" I yell again, but I'm only met with silence. "Something is wrong."
"I'll get my phone and call someone." Tony rushes to the locker room. A pounding and rattling fills the room and Tony comes back. "Or maybe not. The door is locked."
"What do you mean locked?" Javier runs down the hall only for him to return, muttering in Spanish. "Tony's right."
"I'm scared." A cold shiver scuttles down my back. "I think someone who isn't part of our team is here."
"I knew something was wrong when the outside door was unlocked," Sun mutters.
"Everyone, look for a flashlight," Javier says. "Hurry."
The darkness presses against me, but I try to let my other senses take over as I carefully work my way to the hall closet. I freeze when I hear a swish of clothing and a pad of footsteps. A grunt breaks the stillness and suddenly Javier starts yelling in Spanish. Sun screams and Tony calls out, "Who's there?"
"I got the guy." Javier's voice breaks through the chaos just as my finger clamps on a flashlight hanging on a peg inside the closet.
I flick on the light and shine it in the direction of Javier's voice.
A man wearing black pants, a black button-down collared shirt, and black shoes lies at Javier's feet. Javier whips off the black ski mask, revealing a man in his late twenties with light-colored skin, a thin face, and thinner mustache. The rest of his face is clean-shaven with fine dark brown hair slicked back with gel. He appears to be knocked out cold.
"Seems like such a normal guy for wearing a ski mask," Sun says. "He wouldn't stand out in a crowd if I were walking down the street and bumped into him, that's how completely ordinary he is."
"Except for the gun in his hand," I point out, my hand shaking so hard, the flashlight wavers about like a strobe light.
"Yeah." Tony's eyes are bugging out of his head. "Kind of hard to not miss that."
"Who do you think he is?" Sun asks.
"Don't know." Javier's eyes are calculating as he crouches at the man's side, taking away the weapon and slipping it in his jeans back pocket. "But it's like he was waiting here for us."
"But why would he come here?" My voice trembles. "And where's my dad?"
Everyone stares at me with wide eyes. I rush down the hall and check every room, searching for him. After I've scoured the entire area, I return to the group. "He's not here," I say in a frantic whisper. "Someone must have taken him. Maybe the same guys that came to our house the other night?"
"We've got to call the police, man." Tony tries the back hallway door again. "This is messed up!"
"Wait." Javier rummages through the nurse station and pulls out a set of gloves for each of us. "Put these on just in case."
"You think the police might suspect us?" Tony asks incredulously. "Dude, our fingerprints are already all over this place."
"Javier," Sun says sharply. "I don't know what you've got planned, but we have to call the police. Every second we wait, time is ticking."
"Sun's right." I rummage through the front desk until I find the key to the locker room area and an extra flashlight. I pick up the receptionist's phone. "I'm calling my dad. I have to make sure he's okay. He'll know what we need to do."
"I'll check the breakers and try to get the power back on." Tony grabs the extra flashlight and takes off down the hall.
"How far have the police gotten on your break-in, Aria?" Javier steps to my side. "Any arrests yet? Someone hit your house and obviously didn't get what they wanted. So now they are here. What will they do next?"
I glare at him as I dial Dad's number. A ringing fills the stillness of the facility. Instinctively, I run to the sound only to find Dad's office to be a complete disaster. The chair is lying on the floor. Papers are scattered about. His computer has been shoved off to the side.
And Dad's cell phone is lying on the floor ringing.
A sick dread fills my stomach as I pick up his phone. Something has happened to him. Something awful. I just know it.