Un2talented (Book 3 of the Un2 Series)

Mikey ran his hand up and down the inside of the doorway, but he still couldn’t locate the light switch. Cadence pulled her phone from her pocket and touched the icon that initiated the flashlight app. A bright rectangular beam guided them into the darkness.

The freezer was about the size one might find in the prep area of a fast-food restaurant. Its interior was lined with commercial-quality chrome-plated shelving units that held bulk quantities of ready-to-heat foodstuffs for the staff. At least a third of these units were piled high with pints of ice cream. A couple of empty nested containers and an opened bag of frozen berries sat alongside the unopened tubs. Cadence traced the edge of the shelf with the stream of light to an arced wall of neatly stacked cases of low-cal frozen yogurt that bridged between the ends of two of the shelving units. The Shepherd crouched within an opening in the wall that made the structure look like a child’s fort. He barked then disappeared behind the cardboard barrier.

“Should one of us follow him?” Cadence asked.

Mike pondered for a moment. “Okay, you know how in the movies they toss a little scare at you, then there’s an ‘Oh, it’s just a cute little doggie or kitty’ moment, which is usually followed by a long enough lull in the action for you to let your guard down then, WHAM! GUT-WRENCHING HORROR!? I’m pretty sure we are at the ‘gut-wrenching horror’ part.”

“But, it’s still too early for the pretty girl to die, right?” Cadence replied.

“Sure. But, I’m not the pretty girl!” Mike objected.

Suddenly, a guttural growl reverberated from behind the wall of boxes as it crashed toward them. A mane of long blonde hair and a torso made of pure muscle lunged at Mikey, carrying them both across the freezer and into the wall. A frosty cloud exited Mikey as the impact forced his breath from his lungs. A massive hand pinned the roadie to the wall by his throat.

“Why did you lock us in this freezer?”

“It wasn’t me! I swear to God!” Mikey rasped through the choke hold.

Cadence grabbed hold of the freezer-man’s outstretched limb and pulled backward, throwing all her weight against him. The two fell to the floor as he toppled over a case of fudge chunk fro-yo. Mikey struggled to catch his breath, but the icy air burned with each inhale. He stumbled through the open doorway and gulped in the warm air of the kitchen.

Cadence rolled to the side and quickly scrambled to her feet. The Shepherd pounced upon the downed assailant and planted itself firmly on his chest. His arms and legs flailed like a turtle flipped onto its shell.

Cadence directed the beam of light toward the man sandwiched between the dog and the toppled boxes. The leisure suit-clad male looked as if he was plucked from either the cover of a 1970s romance novel or a commercial for a butter substitute.

“Gary, let me up!” The accoster struggled to remove himself from beneath the animal.

Gary barked in defiance.

“Ga-reeee!” The man whined.

Gary lowered his head and looked directly into the whining man’s eyes.

“Alright, I promise to behave!”

Gary dismounted the man and went to Cadence’s side.

“We didn’t lock you in here, mister. I was just going to show the little lady the stash of goodies in the freezer when we found you and the dog,” Mikey said from the doorway.

“How did you end up in here? How long have you been in here?” Cadence asked.

“Gary and I came here last night with two other friends. They were escorted elsewhere while Gary and I were told to leave. Later I got a text asking that we return, I assumed they wanted us to pick them up. We were offered a tour of the house while we waited for our friends. That’s when we got tricked into looking inside the freezer. Now, here we are.”

The leisure-suited man struggled to right himself amongst the pile of tumbled boxes. He extended his hand toward Mikey.

“A little help?”

Mikey grabbed onto the raised limb and rocked backward with a grunt.

“Jeez, guy, you feel like ice! C’mon, let’s get you into the warmth.”