Not only that, but being stealthy also meant wearing clothes that covered as much skin as possible. That was something else Kenzie didn't have in her suitcase. Why would she bring pants and long-sleeved shirts on a summer trip?
Jillian would have winter clothes, but even if she did, they'd be way too small for Kenzie's size 12 figure. Plus, it might not get as cold in Sunset Valley as in Riverview.
That left one option - the consignment store. Kenzie would have to go there and hope there were some fall and winter clothes available for her to purchase.
She drove there straight from the police department, still slightly miffed at her encounter with Chief Hudson. How dare he call her a kid behind her back, when she was doing more for his town than he was. At least she was trying to stop the gang and their string of thefts; what was he doing?
Kenzie arrived at the consignment store and began browsing the racks. There weren't too many options, but she did find a dark leather jacket on one and a pair of black jeans on the other.
She also looked for black shoes, a black shirt, black gloves, and a black hat. She hadn't brought boots on her summer trip either; all she had in her suitcases were sandals. And she didn't wear hats too often, but for something like this, one was needed. And gloves hid her hands as well as her fingerprints.
Kenzie did find some boots and gloves, but the only hats available were summer ones. The jeans and jacket she found were a little snug, but they'd have to do. She grabbed the darkest shirt she could find, which was a dark gray-black color with a crazy pattern consisting of several different objects that showed a little too much stomach skin for her taste. This would have to suffice.
The cashier was undoubtedly perturbed as to why she was buying all this fall and winter attire in the middle of summer.
"You can't find things like this back home," she joked as she paid for her items. Plus, it was a consignment store - she could easily return the items when she was done with them, claiming they didn't fit (even though she didn't try them on in the store). Which wouldn't be a complete lie.
After putting her things in the car, Kenzie drove back to Jillian's house. She'd have to wait until dark to begin snooping around the criminal warehouse. Plus, she was hoping to make up with Jillian. Unfortunately, her friend still wasn't home, undoubtedly still at her client's house.
Kenzie sighed and pulled out the ingredients for more peanut butter and jelly. It would be dark pretty soon, but she might as well eat and get herself plenty of energy.
While she prepared her meal, Kenzie thought of the earlier argument between her and Jillian. Jillian did have a point - without her and Kenzie's parents, Kenzie might not have realized what all she'd be losing if she had kept following the path she was on after her college love had broken her heart. With Jillian, she went from one guy to another, even if they were all losers. Kenzie had had one bad experience with one and hadn't had a relationship since, being so skeptical and paranoid of men.
She didn't dare think of her Bridgeport encounter, and her high school romance was just that - a high school romance. Last Kenzie heard, he was still in Riverview tending to the farm. She hadn't heard from him in years, though they'd agreed to remain friends.
Kenzie sat down to eat her sandwich, feeling guilty and lonely. She shouldn't have blown up at her friend like that, although her reactions weren't completely condonable either. It was true that Kenzie hadn't had a relationship since college, but she chose it that way. She preferred to focus on her career than take the chance of another guy breaking her heart. Not only that, but it wasn't as though she had a lot of offers. Practically everyone her age in Riverview had known her since they were in grade school, and they were no more interested then than they were now. And the only time she really got out of town was for a case, so she was too busy working on that to focus on a potential relationship. Not to mention any guy she met could be a suspect.
Plus, she didn't want to woohoo with anyone until she knew them very well, like she had with her two previous boyfriends. Jillian, on the other hand, tended to have woohoo on the mind constantly since her first time in high school with her prom date. Kenzie was disappointed in her best friend and her rash decision, but she was right - they were both consenting adults, so she couldn't tell her what to do.
Jillian had admitted she'd made a mistake, but this was one serious mistake. Any other person would be angry and tell Jillian to get lost, but Kenzie wasn't that type of person. She'd sworn to do her best to put criminals behind bars by finding evidence against them, and she wasn't about to make her first declined case one given to her by her best friend.
When she cleaned up the plate and put it in the dishwasher, Kenzie saw that it was getting dark. Her heart beating fast, knowing what was coming, she went into her bedroom and began putting on the outfit she'd purchased at the consignment store. When she was finished, she wrote Jillian a note and left.
*****
Since she hadn't been able to find a dark hat, Kenzie hoped her hair was dark enough to camouflage her into the shadows. She snuck around the warehouse building at 66 Sunnyside Boulevard, and saw the broken windows waiting for her, just as Jillian had said. If a gang was to hang out anywhere, this would be the ideal place.
The door was full of boards, obviously keeping the illusion of the place being abandoned, but Kenzie could see that they easily came off, allowing easy access inside. She scanned the perimeter but saw no one. Taking a deep breath, she approached the door.
Kenzie removed the boards from the door and tried the handle. Locked. What a surprise. Kenzie reached into her pocket and withdrew a credit card. It was true, the old credit-card-to-unlock-the-door-trick did work, if you knew what you were doing. Kenzie thankfully did, but only because she'd been trained in such a way. Yes, the Twinbrook college had taught her how to use credit cards to break into buildings in the event of an emergency. She never thought she'd have to put such a skill to use; she also couldn't believe they taught that in the first place.
After picking the lock for a couple of minutes, the door finally gave way and Kenzie stepped inside. The place had a musky odor and it was very dark. There was just enough light to see by thanks to the street light outside. She didn't want to turn on any lights and draw attention to herself. But thankfully, her eyes adjusted and she could get a pretty good look around.
A tattered sofa sat at the foot of a staircase, and a mirror stood next to it. The wall was covered in license plates and punk posters, and there were random piles of junk on nearby counters.
Kenzie snuck forward a bit more, tiptoeing just in case. She didn't think anyone was around, but she wasn't taking any chances. She really wished she had a weapon of some sort.
Chief Hudson was right about one thing - the gang wouldn't keep anything they'd stolen in the main part of the building. That meant everything in this room wasn't stolen. It looked too run-down and shabby to be of any value, anyway. She could try going upstairs, but something else caught her attention.
There was a yellow caution sign on the far wall with a car on it, but it was slightly crooked. Of course, this was a warehouse that was presumed abandoned. That could have meant nothing. But there was something else - the sign seemed to be jutting out slightly, almost as though something behind it was propping it up.
Kenzie walked toward the wall and began inspecting it. She'd found a secret door in a tomb in China, and though it was a long shot, she thought something similar might be going on here.
She was proven correct when she found a switch behind the car sign. It wasn't very big, but it was causing the sign to jut out. The sign was obviously there to hide the switch.
Kenzie took the sign off the wall, pushed the switch, and she heard a click. The wall moved slightly, and Kenzie could see where the part of it that was a door came loose. She began pushing on it with all her might.
The door budged little by little. Kenzie felt like she was getting more of a workout pushing this door than if she'd gone to the gym. But finally, the door gave way enough so that she could go behind it.
Kenzie descended the stairs and all she saw was blackness. It was way too dark to see anything. She fumbled around for a light switch, hoping one would be present, and was grateful when she found one. She flipped it upward and the room plunged into light.
She continued going down the stairs, but stopped as soon as she turned to face what lay beyond them. Her first reaction was to gasp in shock. The basement room was full of what had to be stolen goods. Nice looking furniture was before her, as well as elegant area rugs. TVs and stereos, and even an old phonograph, were in the room. Dirty end tables held priceless vases from other parts of the world. A makeshift book shelf of cement blocks held stolen books. Paintings lined the walls, and some poor soul was even missing a surfboard. There was even a basketball with a plaque in a case on a formal glass coffee table. A stolen laptop sat on a desk, which was probably also stolen, and there even a couple of clocks. Small but pricey statues sat on the floor and there were even mirrors reflecting back all the items that weren't in their proper location. This had to be the room where the Komodo Dragons kept their stolen goods. There were even cardboard and wooden boxes on the far wall that were obviously used to ship out the goods that unknowing people bought from them. Or perhaps they did know and didn't care.
Chief Hudson had said that the gang probably stole and sold things under 24 hours. This obviously wasn't the case. The Komodo Dragons actually hid all their stolen goods in this basement, behind a hidden door, and sold them when they saw fit.
Kenzie wasted no time. She dug out her camera that she'd brought with her and began snapping photos. Every single item had to be documented. The basketball even had someone's name on the plaque, proving it didn't belong in this basement.
So absorbed was she in documenting the evidence the police would need in order to arrest the Komodo Dragons, Kenzie didn't hear the sound of footsteps approaching. The flash of her camera was particularly loud, drowning out the sound of the footsteps coming down the stairs and sneaking up behind her. And it still drowned out the sound of strong arms grabbing her and a hand containing a white cloth clapping over her mouth before she even had a chance to scream.
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