Chapter 52
Ifigured the real guards were tied up or dead in a storeroom somewhere.
With the twitchy barrel of a gun aimed at me, I flex cuffed JD. Though I left it as loose as I thought I could get away with. Then I cuffed myself and pulled it tight with my teeth. Not too tight, mind you.
Dugan frisked us and found our backups.
“Move!” Dugan commanded. Probably not his real name.
He marched us down the hallway and into the lab. Keycard entry allowed access, and the octagonal door slid open like it belonged on a sci-fi spaceship. A gust of air hit my face. The lab had positive pressure to keep contaminants out.
The air was clean and antiseptic, with the faint hint of ozone and electronics.
Beakers and test tubes sat atop stainless steel work tables.
There were gizmos and gadgets, centrifuges, cryo-tanks, liquid nitrogen and helium, spectrum analyzers, and a gas chromatograph.
There were computer workstations with large flatscreen displays with colorful spectral readouts and simulation models.
Storage lockers lined the walls, along with subzero freezers.
Antistatic suits hung from racks alongside other personal protective equipment.
The lab was part chemistry set, part subatomic madness.
Emily and her fiancé were on the floor, both zip-tied about the wrists and secured to the legs of a table. A goon with an AR-15 stood watch over them, keeping the two in line.
A gentleman in a stylish gray suit with a black shirt, no tie, looked at us with surprise as we entered.
In his mid-40s, his slicked hair had already turned silver.
His steely blue eyes narrowed. He had sharp features and an athletic figure.
There was a smarmy vibe about him with the fake smile of a politician.
“They showed up, snooping around,” Dugan said.
The silver-haired man huffed. "Deputy Wild. I must say, I'm quite surprised. I didn't expect to see you here, but it seems fate has brought us together. Please come in. Have a seat.”
The voice was unmistakable.
Dugan shoved me forward.
JD and I took a few steps toward the center of the room.
"I assume you’re alone? Everybody else is at the stadium." Slick looked at his watch. "It's almost time.” A slight, devious smirk tugged his lips.
“This was always about the Oblivium,” I said.
“Of course,” Slick replied. “With the added bonus of eliminating every law enforcement officer in the region. I’ll be on the other side of the world with enough Oblivium to vaporize the planet while they’re still sifting through the rubble.”
“Sounds like you’ve got everything figured out. Who are you selling it to?”
Slick laughed. “Clients who pay handsomely.”
“So, this isn’t about ideology. It’s about money.”
"Isn't everything when it comes down to it?”
"What are you going to do with all that money if there's nowhere to spend it?”
Slick smiled. "I see it as leveling the playing field. If everyone has the technology, mutually assured destruction creates an equilibrium. Why should just one government have access to Oblivium?”
His crew of thugs loaded Oblivium pellets, stored in polycarbonate tubes filled with argon gas, into padded, rugged transport cases.
The matte gunmetal gray pellets had an iridescent quality.
Each pellet, the size of a marble, weighed several pounds because of its extreme density.
They loaded the heavy cases onto a pushcart.
Dugan forced JD and me onto the floor and zip-cuffed our wrists to the table legs.
From a nearby case, Slick pulled out another familiar disk—another bomb, much like the others. He set it atop the steel table we were all tied to.
“I’m so glad you could join us, Deputy Wild. I’d love to chat all day, but time is of the essence, and I have clients waiting.”
He activated the bomb.
“Hey, what about me?” Ashton said, his eyes full of panic. “We had a deal.”
“Unfortunately, the terms of our agreement have changed. You understand.”
“No, I don’t fucking understand. I did everything you asked.”
Slick smiled. “You are a cheat and a backstabber. I have no regard for people without loyalty.” It was rich coming from him.
Ashton struggled with his bonds, his wrists behind his back, secured to the leg of the table. He jerked at the restraints, jarring the table.
“Might not want to do that,” Slick said. “Once that device is armed, any motion will trigger a detonation.”
I figured there was a time interval between activating the device and when it armed itself—a buffer zone to put it in position and get out of the area without risking blowing yourself up.
“You’re a piece of shit, Newport!” Ashton grumbled.
Slick smiled. “Takes one to know one.”
Newport signaled to his men to roll out.
They loaded the last of the Oblivium onto the cart and pushed it out of the lab.
“I have to admit, there’s a part of me that’s sad our little game is over,” Newport said to me with a mock frown. “But not that sad.”
He laughed.
“Do we know each other?” I said, squinting at him.
His lips tightened, and he shook his head. “No. It’s nothing personal.”
With that, he was gone.
An ominous sensation fell over the lab upon their departure. We all remained silent for a moment, contemplating our fate. Only the hum of the equipment kept the silence from being deafening.