About over half an hour later, Rachel got nervous. Nobody had returned yet from the warehouse and it was getting uncomfortable to wait alone.

After five more minutes, she decided to go inside and ask if her help was still needed or if she could leave now. Entering the building again felt strange and she looked around for the Inspector and the other guys but there was nobody in the hall.

The plastic curtains still revealed the small plants but as she took a closer look, Rachel was surprised. There were just a few trees pulled out of their pots, almost all of them were still inside and obviously untouched. The few ones on the ground also had small half rotten animals surrounded by their roots.

There was even something laying on the floor which looked like another rabbit or a small cat. Rachel turned away.

There were voices from the other end of the hall coming from the basement. Her steps echoed from the walls as she walked through the hall.

"Come on, guys, pull!"

The voice of Inspector Stevens was harsh and kind of angry. There were steps and the sound of some people trying to move something huge.

"It still doesn't work, it's too huge and stuck in the ground."

Eddies voice sounded quite desperated.

"Sure it is stuck in the ground, that's a damn tree! There has to be a way to pull it out or dig up the tiles."

"We need better equipment, a stronger rope or..."

"No, there's no time for that! Ms Carter is still waiting outside, we've got to hurry, I don't want anyone to discover this first!"

Rachel suddenly stopped at the top of the stairs.

"Just imagine if this stuff gets public, no way."

Inspector Stevens sounded very stressed and Rachel had the urgent feeling of going back and leave the warehouse as quickly as possible. She made a step backwards, carefully to not make any sound.

Her heart was beating very strong, even more than before and it was hard to hold her breath and not panic in the same time. Already a few steps away from the stairs, she heard Inspector Stevens voice again from below, still stressed but more curious now.

"How long has she been waiting outside now? We should send her back home. Tell her the case is closed, make sure she don't take any samples with her and hope she won't tell anybody about it."

Now Rachel panicked! She rushed back towards the gate, trying to keep her steps as quiet as possible though, knowing she would be caught if someone came up the stairs right now.

"Eddie, you tell her."

"Now?"

"Yes, now! Hurry, we need to get this done."

Rachel had almost reached the gate as she heard steps on the stairs, someone coming up from the basement.

She ran the last few meters and turned around the corner of the gate just in that moment as Eddie reached the top of the stairs. A few meters more and she tried to calm down quickly, not to be any suspicious.

She changed the direction to be looking like if she had been wandering up and down in front of the warehouse entrance for quite a while already.

"Ah, Ms Carter, is... everything fine?"

Eddie looked at her quite surprised.

"Yes... yes, all is fine."

Rachel lied, though she knew that she wasn't good at lying and quickly added:

"I was just wondering how long this might take. I mean... do you still need my help today?"

Eddie shooked his head while looking at her. Rachel tried to not breathe heavily but that made her heart even beat faster.

"I was just about to tell you that it's okay when you drive back now. We will just finish here and then it's done. We will take the further investigations from now on."

Rachel nodded but Eddie was still looking at her.

"Are you sure that you are fine?"

"Yes, it's just... I should really go find a bathroom soon, you know."

"Ah, okay, yeah. So don't worry, it's okay if you leave now. If there is anything else, we will call you but don't think about this all too much any more. We'll manage it from now on."

Rachel nodded again.

"You don't have anymore samples with you or at the institute?"

"No, I gave them all to Inspector Stevens earlier, he put them--"

"Okay, great. Thank you then, I won't keep you from driving back now, Ms Carter."

"Okay... Goodbye then."

Rachel turned around and walked to her car, feeling that Eddie was still watching her.

"Have a safe trip back."

"Thank you!"

Rachel nervously opened the door and took a last look at Eddie. As she drove off the parking lot, he was still standing there, watching.