Free Unspoken by Dee Henderson Page B

company’s sales office, and pull up to the gate. Security will recognize the vehicle.”
    He made the turn. The security guard lifted a hand in greeting, then raised the gate to let them enter.
    “We’ll stay on this road for about two miles and go to the admin building.”
    The road took them toward what he thought might be the center of Graham Enterprises. Warehouses began to materialize on both sides of the road. Cross lanes were busy with trucks, and he realized there were two kinds of roads—those designed for cars, and wider, deeper roads designed for the heavy weight of loaded trucks.
    “These warehouses are leased to companies needing overflow space. The next section is our own storage and distribution. Graham Enterprises buys in bulk and ships in smaller quantities, mostly dry goods, paper products. Beyond that is long-term storage, and the rest is Graham family land. All of Shadow Lake is on our property. There’s good fishing this year. Guys have been pulling out nice-size bass, bluegill, and the river feeding the lake has yielded some good-size catfish.”
    Charlotte reached back and ruffled the fur of the dog closest to her. They both were awake now and moving about, occasionally whining softly, no doubt recognizing home. “That warehouse with the green horizontal stripe—that’s the freezer. Costs a small fortune to cool it, and we charge accordingly, but it’s nearly always full. It’s the newest building on the property.
    “We’re a countercyclical business. When the economy is good, nearly all our space gets leased out by other companies, and we essentially become security and not much else. When the economy softens, the warehouses empty out, and we go on buying sprees picking up liquidating inventory, equipment in bankruptcy sales, anything tough to store that is selling for pennies on the dollar. We store it away until the economy begins to recover, and we can then sell it back into the market for multiples of what we paid. We’re only about half full at the moment, which tells me the economy is beginning to soften, but there hasn’t been much merchandise up for sale at prices we like yet.”
    She pointed ahead on the left. “You’ll want the blue building.”
    Bryce parked in the lot on the south side of the admin building. The nearly empty parking lot had three cars, one of which was Charlotte’s truck. He glanced at the time. 3:17 p.m. Right at a five-hour drive with the three stops.
    Charlotte let the dogs out, and they stretched, then loped together across the mowed grass and rolled for the pleasure of it. “So much for the good brushing.” She tossed their trash from lunch into a barrel near a picnic table.
    Bryce stopped beside her to watch the dogs.
    “I let them run loose here. They’ll be fine. Everyone who works here considers them their dogs. When I want them to come back, I ring that bell by the flagpole. They can hear it over most of this end of the property. Once they’ve worn off their energy, most of the time they just decide to follow me around.”
    “It must be dog heaven, all this territory to call their own.”
    “I like to think so.”
    Charlotte led the way up the walk.
    The door opened before they reached it, and an older lady stepped out, held the door for them. “I thought I saw you on the gate video. We’re at 134 and 97,” she mentioned to Charlotte.
    “Pickups?”
    “52.”
    “Who—”
    “Christopher.”
    “Thanks.”
    Bemused, Bryce looked back and forth between the two women as they carried on their abbreviated conversation—about what, he had no idea.
    “John’s hunting for you. Best not be found.”
    “I didn’t drive. He did.” Charlotte nodded toward Bryce.
    The lady laughed. “Better hope John buys that. The 47 is coming in at top of the hour, and 9 is free. Full crew scheduled plus two extra on page. 82 and 12 have come and gone. You want a late lunch for your company?”
    “I’ll take him by the diner later.”
    “Then I’m