Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Ryder was meeting her here. She stepped out and pulled a small, black backpack onto her shoulder. She was in black jeans and a black, long-sleeved T-shirt.
And ready to take a look inside Chiron’s lab.
“Hey.”
She barely controlled her reaction. She hadn’t heard Ryder at all.
She turned, and in the glow from a nearby streetlight, she saw Ryder, wearing dark-green cargo pants, and a black shirt.
“Hi,” she said.
“You got that doohickey that Ace gave you?”
“The doohickey is some fancy piece of tech that’s going to get him into Chiron’s system.” Ace had entrusted her with the tiny, metallic circle that was smaller than a button battery. And he’d given her detailed instructions on attaching it to a computer.
“Shall we?” Ryder waved an arm.
They headed down the dark street, sticking to the shadows. They were in an industrial area of Palo Alto, where a lot of companies had research centers and laboratories. It was still pretty nice, with wide, tree-lined streets, and sprawling, two-story buildings with lots of glass.
Soon, the lab appeared ahead. A fancy sign at the front had Chiron engraved on it.
They paused in the shadows under a tree.
“You went over the schematics?” she murmured.
Ryder nodded.
“I suggest we climb the fence on that side.” She pointed. “There’s a gap in the camera coverage. Ace is going to work his magic on the internal cameras once we get him in the system. So, we have to sneak in, find a computer, and plant Ace’s bug as quickly as we can.”
“How are we getting in the door?”
She held up a key card. “Ace sorted it out.”
“Guards?”
She nodded. “Four. Two patrolling outside, two inside.”
Ryder pulled in a breath and grinned. “Let’s do this.”
They hurried toward the fence.
Behind the steel fence was a modern, glass building nestled among some simple landscaping. It looked like any other building in the area.
Siv grabbed his arm and pointed. A shadowed figure turned a corner of the building and disappeared into the night.
“Go,” she murmured.
They reached the fence, right where there was a narrow gap in the cameras. She gripped the metal and climbed quickly. She dropped down on the other side in the parking area in a crouch.
A second later, Ryder landed beside her.
His smile was white in the darkness. He looked like he was enjoying himself.
Her blood was singing, as well. It felt like forever since she’d been on a mission. “Follow me exactly until we reach the building.”
He nodded.
She eyed the camera locations, then jogged toward the building. When she reached it, she pressed her back toward the glass. Ryder landed beside her.
“Won’t the cameras catch us at the front door?” he asked.
“Yes, but once we’re in, Ace will wipe the footage. We have to move fast. We’ve got three minutes before the guards will be back to monitor the camera feed and spot us. We get in, plant the bug, and let Ace do his thing.”
Ryder ran a hand down her arm. “I’ll be right behind you.”
And she realized that she trusted that he would be there, having her back.
Siv shoved that thought down to ponder later. She moved to the front doors, then swiped the card through the reader. The lock beeped and the glass doors slid open.
“Let’s move,” she murmured.
They hurried through the reception area. It was sleek, with lots of gray and wood. A huge Chiron logo dominated one wall.
They paused at the internal doors. There was no sound beyond the glossy reception area. Siv nudged the door open. The hall beyond was all white-tiled floors and muted-blue walls.
“We need to look for an office with a computer,” she said.
They moved down the hall, quickly opening doors. Coffee room. Conference room.
“Here,” Ryder said.
It was a small, very sterile-looking, office. The walls were a plain white, and there were no framed photos, or collectibles. Siv sat on the desk chair and then woke the monitor. The Chiron logo glowed. Perfect .
She slid the small bug from her pocket and stuck it under the monitor, where it wouldn’t be noticed.
She touched her earpiece. “Ace, the bug is in place.”
“Okay,” the tech guru said. “Give me a second. I’m accessing the device so I can piggyback on the Chiron system.”
She and Ryder waited.
“Utilizing a backdoor and…I’m in. Give me a second to locate the security system.”
Siv resisted the urge to tap her foot. She’d spent so many moments like this one, in the field, in danger of being discovered, waiting for her chance to attack. She glanced up at Ryder. He didn’t look fazed either.
“The cameras are disabled,” Ace said.
Siv rose. “Let’s take a look at the lab.” She opened the office door.
“Crap, there’s a guard heading your way,” Ace said.
Shit . She and Ryder froze. She closed the office door slowly.
A moment later, they heard footsteps and someone whistling, then they were gone.
“Clear,” Ace said.
With a nod, Siv cautiously stepped into the hallway. They moved quickly, away from the guard, and deeper into the building.
“There,” Ryder said.
A sign on the doors said Laboratories .
They slipped through the doors. In the next corridor were long, glass windows on either side, and neat, pristine labs behind the glass.
Too pristine.
She frowned. “The workbenches are all empty.” It looked nothing like the photos Caroline and Christian had shown at the investor event. There was no equipment, no test work, nothing.
“Maybe they aren’t using these labs, or they pack everything up at night?” Ryder suggested, not sounding convinced.
“Are there more labs upstairs?” Siv asked Ace.
“The labs are on this level,” Ace said. “Upstairs is all offices.”
Siv and Ryder moved along the corridor. The next set of labs were just as clean and empty.
It didn’t look like a hive of research activity to Siv.
Ryder’s frown deepened. “Let’s take a closer look.”
He pushed the door to the closest lab open.
There were low lights on inside. The workbenches were completely devoid of equipment and materials. Siv touched the stainless-steel surface. It was covered in a thin layer of dust.
“No one’s used this room in a while,” Siv said.
Ryder headed for a computer at the end of one workbench and touched his ear. “Ace, we need to access the computer in lab C3.”
“Hang on,” Ace said. “There you go.”
The screen blinked on, the Chiron logo displayed in the center. Ryder leaned over and tapped the keyboard.
Siv kept an eye on the corridor. The guards weren’t due to do rounds for another twenty minutes, but it paid to be careful.
Ryder hissed.
“What?” Siv didn’t see any information on the screen.
“There’s nothing here.”
She frowned. “What you mean?”
“No tests. No data. No lab supplies. Limited equipment.” He met her gaze. “There are no scientists doing work in this lab.”
Siv blinked. “What the hell?”
“I can confirm,” Ace said in their ears. “There’s no testing going on. I checked entry logs for the building. Only the security guards and the odd visitor are in and out of the building each day. There’s no other staff.”
Siv shoved her hands on her hips. “The Fosters are a fraud.”
“Sure looks that way,” Ace said.
“Assholes!” Siv said. “They’re preying on people’s desperate hopes to save their loved ones.”
“And they might be worse monsters, if we can link their drug to Robbie’s death,” Ryder said darkly.
“If they are running illegal tests, they must have data somewhere,” Siv said.
“The Fosters own a bunch of properties around San Francisco,” Ace said. “But no labs that I can see.”
“They’d need a lab to make batches of the drug,” Ryder said.
“I don’t understand.” Siv shook her head. “Why have this lab here? And lie about it?”
“Money. Greed. Appearances.” A muscle in Ryder’s jaw ticked. “Whatever happens, they are going down.”
“Fuck, guys, a guard is coming,” Ace bit out. “He’s almost at your location!”
Hell . Ryder reached for the computer, but Siv spotted movement in the hall.
“No time.” She yanked Ryder down behind the workbench, and they crawled along the floor.
A door opened. “Why is there a computer on in here?” a man’s voice said from the doorway.
Footsteps entered the lab.
Faen . Ryder reached past her. There was a shelf under the workbench. He squeezed his big frame in, and urged her to follow.
She climbed on and pressed against him. They were wedged together in the small space.
He slid an arm around her.
Then, the guard walked right past them.
* * *
Fucking hell . Ryder held on to Siv, trying to keep his breathing even.
She felt relaxed, but alert. They listened to the guard mutter and turn the monitor off. The man paused, as if he was scanning the empty lab.
“Must’ve turned itself on,” the man muttered.
“Joe?” The squawk of a radio. “Any problems?”
“Negative, Rich,” the guard answered. “All quiet, as usual.”
With a grunt, Joe the guard stomped out.
Ryder released a breath, adrenaline pumping through his veins.
“That was close,” Siv said.
Screw it . He cupped her jaw, tipped her head back and kissed her.
Ryder figured he’d get an elbow to the gut, but she shocked him. She slid her hands into his hair and kissed him back.
It was hot, heavy, and way too short.
She pulled back and licked her lips. “Let’s get out of here.”
Ryder nodded. There was no data for them to collect. Frustration burned hotly in his gut.
Something was definitely off at Chiron, but fraud was a long way from murder.
They crept out of the lab and back into the corridor. Unsurprisingly, Siv moved with obvious ease and experience. Her special-forces work showed.
He dragged his gaze off her legs. At the end of the corridor, she held up a fist and he paused. She checked the next corridor, then waved him forward.
They moved silently toward a side exit. The sound of whistling caught his ear, and they froze. It wasn’t too close, but it was echoing off the tiles somewhere not too far away, either.
Siv picked up speed and turned down another corridor. She touched her ear. “Ace, confirming secondary exit is clear, and the alarm is disabled.”
“You’re good to go,” Ace murmured.