Chapter Nineteen
The engine roared as the driver gunned it across the highway onto a dirt road.
Bec wasn’t sure how long they’d been in the car, but she was disoriented from the blindfold they’d strapped over her eyes as soon as they were out of the facility.
The only part about the blindfold she liked was that it meant they didn’t want her to see where they were going.
That meant they didn’t plan to kill her immediately.
She took some comfort in that while she tried to figure out her next move.
When they pulled her out of the center, she hoped they wouldn’t check her for a phone, but she should have known that was too good to be true.
They chucked it out the window onto the side of the road, never to be seen again.
Unfortunately, all she could think about was Iris crumpled on the ground.
She hadn’t seen any blood, so she didn’t think she’d been shot.
Sure, the megalomaniac who took her said he shot wide, but she couldn’t be sure of that.
Her heart had stopped beating for that moment when Iris gazed at her with so much fear and then collapsed.
Was it likely she’d had a panic-induced fainting spell?
Yes, but there would be that little niggle of doubt in her mind until she saw her again. If she saw her again.
No. When I see her again.
It wasn’t easy to stay positive, but she had to for Iris’s sake.
There was no way she’d put her through the trauma of losing someone else in her life, not after she had been so open and honest with her.
What Iris went through since she was seven was cruel and brutal.
All she wanted to do was be her resting place and carry some of the burdens for her.
Without a doubt, her employment at the research facility was over, so whatever she did after this, she would make sure it worked for both her and Iris.
She didn’t intend to give her up if they ever got a chance to be together again.
First, she had to get out of this alive.
The only way to do that was to give these guys what they wanted—a deadly virus and a working vaccine.
She wasn’t doing the first, and there was no way she had time to do the second, which meant she had to convince them she could do both without doing either.
She bit back the anxious laughter bubbling up from within as the car slowed to a stop.
One of them opened the hatch of the SUV where she’d sat for the entire ride.
With her hands and feet tied, it made staying upright difficult, but she’d managed by leaning against the back seat after she wedged herself into the corner.
The blindfold was ripped from her eyes, which shocked her until she realized they were still wearing their masks, so she couldn’t identify them.
Now that they’d reached their destination, it didn’t matter if she saw where they were.
A quick glance out the window told her it was a small cabin in the woods.
Dragged from the vehicle, she immediately fell to the gravel driveway. “My legs are asleep,” she muttered when they ordered her to get up. “I can’t feel my arms or my legs. You need to untie me.”
“So you can run? Not a chance in hell.” The guy she had started to call RL, short for Ringleader, was the one who spoke.
“Then someone better carry me inside.” Her bluster got her fireman carried into the cabin before they tossed her onto a couch, where she landed with an oof, shooting pains filling her body as her arms twisted painfully behind her.
“Hey!” she yelled, nearly falling onto the floor.
“If you want me to be able to use my arms to help you with your little problem, they’re going to need to work.
Can’t you at least untie my wrists? If my feet are still tied, I can’t go anywhere.
If I don’t get blood flowing in them soon, there will be permanent damage. ”
RL cut his gaze to her. “Fine, but don’t try anything.”
“Again, where am I going to go?” she asked as one of the guys closest to her snapped the flex-cuffs apart. Her shoulders screamed in pain as her arms fell to her sides, but she didn’t let them see it. She just rubbed at her wrists as she leaned back against the couch to rest her tired back.
“What now, boss?” one of the guys asked.
“We bring a virus and working vaccine back to the client. I don’t care how long it takes.”
“How? We’re missing the scientist who can make the virus.” One of the guys hooked a thumb at her. “She can make the vaccine, but that’s useless if we don’t have the bug.”
Bec cleared her throat and followed it up with an eye roll.
“You realize I can create an even deadlier virus than Ignis Cerebri, right? All Walter did to get it was basic gain-of-function research. He mutated other viruses and changed their DNA profile to create something deadlier than any could be alone.” She was throwing out every term and idea she could think of to confuse them in hopes they’d decide she knew what she was talking about.
In truth, she did know what she was talking about and could recreate Ignis Cerebri, but they didn’t know that.
To them, she was a vaccine creator only.
“Wait,” the ringleader said, turning to face her. “You can create the viruses, too?”
“I hold a PhD in cell, molecular, health and disease biology. Of course, I can create a virus.”
“My boss wants Ignis Cerebri yesterday and is running out of patience.”
She remained quiet, wondering how she would pull this off. Only Walter had the information for making the virus, and she had no idea how he did it or how long it took.
Walter!
“What if I told you I knew where to find another sample of Ignis Cerebri?”
“I’d say I’m listening,” RL said, walking over to her.
Internally, she smiled. She had him right where she wanted him.
* * *
IRIS WAS MORE than pleased when she realized that Cal had an SUV rather than a UTV to ride in.
She had climbed in the back and prayed that Bec would be at the cabin when they arrived.
Logically, she knew that wasn’t likely, but a little piece of her heart wanted to hold on to it, so she allowed it.
Maybe Walter had turned his phone back on to call the guys who took Bec and they were having a rendezvous.
She didn’t want anyone to get hurt, but she desperately wanted to find Bec.
Cal slowed as his navigation system told him they were approaching the road where the cabin was located.
He’d pushed the speedometer over eighty miles per hour to cut their trip time, but now it was time to proceed with caution and not show their hand to anyone who had Bec.
Iris was hanging on to the idea that they’d taken Bec because she had the knowledge and experience to recreate Ignis Cerebri and give them the weapon of mass destruction that they’d paid for.
She would never do it, but they didn’t know that.
Iris suspected Bec would let them think she would for as long as she had to so they could find her.
Why hadn’t she activated that SOS button yet?
Iris’s phone started to ring, which surprised her, considering how spotty the coverage was. She saw Mina’s number and answered immediately. “Secure Watch, India.”
“Secure Watch, Whiskey,” Mina said. “Bec hasn’t activated the panic button yet, and her phone hasn’t pinged again. Where are you?”
“Nearing the turnoff to the cabin,” she answered, her heart sinking to know Bec was still off the grid.
But then she reminded herself that those guys needed her alive if they wanted a working virus.
“Would you do me a favor while we’re checking out the cabin?
” she asked, and Mina agreed. “See if there’s a lab facility within a reasonable driving distance of where we are. Maybe a private lab or hospital?”
“To what end?”
Iris hesitated momentarily until she remembered the fear in Bec’s eyes when the gun went off.
“The guys said their employer had paid for Ignis Cerebri, and they’d come to collect it.
We know they took her to recreate the virus, so to do that, she’d need a place to work.
It would have to be somewhere with access to virus samples because she would need that to make the new one. ”
“I’m not sure it’s possible to waltz into a lab and demand access to deadly viruses, Iris,” Mina gently said. “That’s not legal.”
“That didn’t seem to bother these guys when they broke into Bec’s lab and kidnapped her at gunpoint!
” Haven nudged her with his nose, reminding her that he was there and she was safe.
Lucas sat beside her and squeezed her shoulder as Cal glanced in the rearview mirror.
“Sorry, Mina,” Iris said. “Please don’t fire me. ”
“I’m not going to fire you,” Mina assured her. “You do make an excellent point. If they want her to recreate that virus, and that’s the only reason to take her, they’re going to need a lab and samples to do it. Assuming they don’t have their own set up somewhere.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” she agreed, chewing on her lower lip. “Why hasn’t she activated the panic button?”
“Could be a lot of reasons,” Mina said to calm her. “Give her time. Maybe she forgot about it or hasn’t been able to do it discreetly yet. It can’t hurt to look for labs within driving distance of the research center. I’ll do that while I await your assessment of the cabin.”
“Thanks, Mina,” she whispered before she hung up. When she glanced up, she noticed the car was silent. “I’m sorry for yelling. I’m so worried about Bec.”
“Completely understandable,” Selina promised from the front seat. “It’s not easy when someone you care about is in danger.”
“I know it feels like we won’t find her, but we will. I believe she will activate that button as soon as she can. Once that happens, we’ll call the police and get her rescued,” Cal assured her.