They were next to Cosgrove Estates, the nicer side of town with bigger homes and fancier cars. So he walked until the houses got smaller and the cars got crappier. Devin walked for about quarter mile before coming across a car that could be broken into without sounding an alarm.

He found an old Geo Metro parked in front of a wooden house that could easily be mistaken for abandoned with its rotting steps and broken balusters but the garden at the front was well kept.

Pink flowers bloomed over onto the sidewalk. He bent down and peeped through the driver's window. All clear. He pulled his hood low and the sleeve of his hoodie over his fists.

He looked around one last time before jamming his fist through the window of the driver's side. There was no alarm. He still waited to see if anyone heard the crash. The street was as quiet as a graveyard.

He unlocked the door and got inside the car. He yanked the cover on the steering wheel column, and it came off easily. It revealed three bundles of wires. He desperately tried to remember which bundle was the battery and which was the ignition.

Remembering Darius' explanation of the steps from a book, he tried to decipher which was which, but he wasn't as smart as Darius. Darius could tell you everything about vehicles and machines. When they did go to school, he'd spend most of his time in the library, just reading. He definitely had an obsession with mechanics. He once built a remote control car and had it driving around their tiny room. Until one day Barry found it and run over it with his own car. Devin would never forget that.

He found Darius crying in their room that evening. When he learned of what had happened, Devin was fuming. He took on Barry in front of his friends, but that only earned him a brutal beating.

Devin desperately tried to rattle his brain to figure out what to do. When Darius had explained it to him, he needed to have a car breaking into right then and there, to really understand. He finally remembered having to connect the starter and battery.

Of course, that's how cars work. But which bundle was it? He picked a random bundle and stripped two of the wires, using the knife he hid in his socks. He twisted them together. Nothing happened. He selected the bundle above that, which had a red wire. The red sparked a memory. Red= Battery he thought.

He stripped it. Then chose another wire praying it was the ignition; twisting them together the car came to life.

"Okay now to start the engine"

As he did that, something's started to float back to memory. He remembered having to spark it against the battery wire.

Another wire from the bundle was chosen randomly. He sparked it against the red wire; being careful not to shock himself.

The engine miraculously came to life, chuckling loudly in the dead streets.

Anyone who was a light sleeper might have heard. He revved the engine twice so it didn't stall and then he was off to the abandoned train station.

It was 4 in the morning. He could get there in less than 10 minutes if he went above 50mph but he decided to take it slow and look out for police cars that may be patrolling.

It was a nice neighbourhood, and they needed people to feel safe in their homes if they wanted to sell out the new real estate.

~~~~~

Devin rolled up in front of the abandoned train station 20 minutes later. He would have been there earlier but the damn car stalled twice on the way. He had to keep sparking the wires, almost electrocuting himself one of the times.

The station had been shut down for as long as he could remember. It was occupied mainly by homeless drunkards. The stifling smell of human waste hung heavily in the air.

He pulled up around the side of the concrete building and got out of the car. He leaned against the cold mouldy wall.

There were some homeless men sleeping across the way, a few stirred at the sound of his engine but no one seemed to come to consciousness.

"Come on Marcus. Where are you?"

The hoodie was barely protecting him from the biting winds that swirled through the alley.

Seconds later a car pulled up behind the one he'd driven. Devin made no sudden movements but used his peripheral vision to observe the actions of the man getting out of the vehicle.

Marcus was 6' 2" with thick curly dark hair that was being held down by a cap, pulled low over his eyes. He wasn't the thickest of them all, but he was lean and still a little stronger and taller than Devin's 5'11" frame.

The man stopped about 5' away and leaned against the same wall, then took out a cigarette and lit it.

"Do you have it?" he said through clenched teeth.

"Yea, here," he said throwing the roll of cash to Marcus. He caught them with ease.

"Everything went smooth?" Marcus asked through puffs of smoke

"Have you forgotten that they took our fucking sister? Your girlfriend?" Devin couldn't believe all he cared about was his stupid drug deal.

"Whoever it is, it's not Gills" Marcus denied Devin's hidden suspicions. 

"How do you know?" He couldn't think of anyone else that would do something like this. He feared that she'd become one of their drugged-up trafficked victims. 

"I know because I have a deal with him and if he hurt Dahlia, that deal is off," he said puffing a ring of smoke that dissipated quickly.

"Gill is a piece of shit. You must have done something to piss him off. Or Dahlia did. Maybe it could be Juno." It had to be them. 

"Nah man. It's not them." Marcus stated adamantly. 

"Well then who is it?" Devin's voice rose above a whisper but sounded like shouting in the dead silence.

"I don't know," Marcus said shrugging his shoulders.

"Fucking great. So what are you going to do?" Devin was getting even more agitated.

"I just got off suspension; I can't be snooping around this shit right now. I had one last drop that you made, and I have to lay low for a while."

"What? So you are saying you are done?" He clenched his fists.

Devin rarely showed his anger or any emotion for that matter but in that moment he felt like a pipe under constant pressure that was about to burst. His voice remained low.

"She wasn't even supposed to be there Devin." Marcus had the nerve to sound remorseful, after saying he wouldn't help them. 

"She was there when I got there," he said shaking his head. She must have overheard his and Marcus' conversation the night before.

"Look I'll ask around right now but I have to keep my image clean for some time. Your family is the reason I'm in this mess."

"Maybe you shouldn't have fucked her then," he said pushing off the wall and walking past him. This was a waste of time.

Marcus grabbed his arm to stop him. His immediate reaction would be to swing at anyone who did that, but he held back.

"I care about her, okay? And we'll get her back. Just give me some time."

Devin knew that if they waited too long, they wouldn't be able to save her. They didn't know who had her or where she could be but he had one good idea, Juno. That's where he would start.

He shrugged out of Marcus' grasp.

"I'll get her back." He affirmed.

He said walking past the Geo Metro. It was time to ditch it and find a new vehicle. He had seen a 2001 corolla about a block away. It would be trickier to steal but at least it wouldn't stall.

"The police are still looking for you. And don't mess with Gills or Juno. You are gonna get yourself killed".

"At least I'm doing shit, while you sit on your prissy ass trying to look good. Well, news flash everyone knows you aren't the cream of the crop so stop acting like it."

"You're still a piece of ungrateful shit," he said blowing smoke in Devin's face.

"Fuck you". With that, he walked off taking a left towards where he had seen the car.