~Entrance

He stopped walking and tipped his head to listen. Nothing. Still, he hesitated a moment longer just to be certain. Could have sworn he heard an engine turn and catch. The alley behind him was shadowed; the waning light over the back door of the laundromat too far away now to reach him. No cars around, though. Just the black Impala that had been there long enough that the tires looked like they might disintegrate if he poked them.

A quick peek at his watch spurred him into action again, but he moved slower this time and chose his steps carefully. If Arandas found him now, he was fucked. The name chased a chill up his spine, but Danny pretended it was from the cold. Never mind that the temperature had climbed to the mid-forties today, and he was wearing a leather jacket.

There it was.

Grand Heights.

Danny hovered behind the concrete block wall of the carwash and peered around the corner at the massive relic. Nothing grand about it. Not anymore.

Somewhere nearby a dog started barking. Danny glanced around again, narrowed his eyes and tried to spot any movement in the shadows behind him. The barking continued; damned dog sounded savage. Nothing in the alley, though. Nobody out tonight.

He stepped out from around the corner and walked at a steady pace across the street. Hands in his coat pockets, Danny watched a Chevy pickup coast down Broadway toward the river. Gas station on the corner across the street. Rusted out Pontiac GTO. Guy leaning in the passenger window. Danny looked away when the guy lifted his head and looked at him. Behind him, inside the station, a woman behind the counter played on a phone.

Another chill. Danny hunched his shoulders and looked up at the sky. Stars were out. Maybe the temperature had dropped some. Back of his neck pricked with awareness. Guy was watching him. Didn’t matter. Wasn’t Arandas.

His heart sank when he noticed the heavy chain wound through the handles at the door. The solid metal padlock at the end of the chain. Dammit. He had to get inside that building. Inside and up three floors.

3B.

If Arandas got him or got to 3B before he did, he was dead. Arandas would blow his head off, no questions asked. Stupid and desperate, Danny walked right up to the door. The marquis hanging crooked above him threw him into deep shadows, and he kind of hated the dark right now. Couldn’t see anything anyway. Just the reflection of the defunct carwash behind him. The gas station across the street. Fucking GTO was gone now.

The crunch of broken glass under his feet drew his attention as he stepped away from the entrance of the shithole apartment complex. How the fuck was he going to get inside? Hands back in his pockets, fingers curled around the pathetic little pocket knife his granddad gave him when he was eleven, he followed a trail of broken glass around the corner.

Haddie wouldn’t be there. She hadn’t been there in weeks. Danny was sure Arandas and his guys knew something, though. Which was why they would blow his brains out. Snooping around, digging into his ex’s whereabouts, questioning Arandas was a sure bet for getting his ass killed.

She was worth it, though. Haddie might have told him to get the fuck out and never come back, but he wasn’t about to leave her to Arandas and those guys.

~For the month of January, I chose a random word for each day. Today's word is entrance.