She sat down again, typing in a flourish, and then, she saw it.

A name and an address.

She scribbled down the address into her notebook, and hurriedly left the office.

***

Gen looked at her phone, disappointed that Bette had cancelled at the last minute, yet curious to know what exactly Bette had discovered. She dialed Bette’s number, listening to the phone ring before she got Bette’s voicemail. She must be driving, Gen thought to herself.

◊◊◊

Bette was speeding on the freeway, checking her GPRS ever so often as her surroundings slowly morphed from the city, to suburban estates, to bare nothingness. After two hours, she finally saw the sign, “C.M. Ice Cream Factory.” She took a left onto a long driveway, which lead to a large factory estate.

She dimmed her headlights, as she peered at the building looming above her. She turned off her engine and gingerly stepped out of the car, taking in her surroundings. The compound was dimly lit by a few lamp-posts which circled the estate. In the distance, she saw a house which had a light on. For a moment, she stood in the shadows, wondering if the person in the house had seen her drive in, after it felt like an eternity had passed, Bette quietly followed shadows into the factory.

Inside the factory, she quickly retrieved her gun from her jacket holster. The large metal pipes and cylindrical shapes cast dark shapes on the ground. Bette walked through the small alleys, looking around ever so often to see if she was alone. In the silence, she could hear water dripping from a distance. She suddenly stepped on something slippery. She looked down and saw that there was a faint outline of something on the ground, partially hidden by a mental pipe. Bending over, she used the latex glove in her pocket to pick up what she found to be a pink satin ribbon soaked with water from the ground.

Bette knew she was close.

She continued walking forward until she reached the door she had faintly seen at the end of the room. She walked briskly until she was beside it. With her back against the wall, she lightly jiggled the handle. She was surprised when the door slowly swung open with a very faint creek.