Chapter 8 #2
Wynn shrugged. “If this is part of Finch’s operation, and based on the AR-15s, the huge increase in security measures when the fence isn’t even electrified in order to make the place look benign, I’d say that’s a pretty safe bet.
Which points more towards a supply of TITAN or whatever’s on those patches, but I suppose anything’s possible. ”
“Great.” Quinn raked his fingers through his hair. “Am I the only one who thinks this all feels wrong?”
Scout squeezed Quinn’s arm. “You’re just accustomed to being on the legal side of the law. You’ll get used to it.”
“That’s really not comforting.”
Neve moved in front. “We’re on the clock. Who knows how long we’ve got before one of those guards misses a check-in, and I don’t think we want to be anywhere close if reinforcements show up. Let’s recon the bio-containment unit, then let Zadie see if there’s anything worthwhile in the server hub.”
Neve twirled her finger, just like she had outside, and the team moved. Scout led them toward the wall, sticking to the deeper shadows as they quickstepped across the warehouse, the eerie silence prickling the hairs on the back of Quinn’s neck.
He’d searched enough warehouses throughout his career to know how it generally went down, and he had a bad feeling this wouldn’t end any differently. That they’d be fighting their way out before the night was over.
Scout obviously felt the same, constantly scanning every recess for anything that might challenge them, taking the route that provided the most cover. She reached the first trailer, checked underneath then headed for the main doors.
Wynn tried the handle, shaking her head when it wouldn’t budge. “Locked.”
Zadie swapped places, prying off the code reader panel. “Give me a few moments…” She hooked up her tablet with more clips attached to other cables then ran what looked like a decryption program before the light flashed green as the lock disengaged.
Wynn pulled on the handle, again, a blast of cool air rushing past them as the lights flashed on, a sheet of hanging plastic strips fluttering in the breeze. She pushed through them, examining the various equipment inside.
Neve arched a brow when she slipped back out. “Well?”
Wynn whistled softly. “It’s got everything they’d need to store and mix whatever TITAN variant they’re using, along with machines to stamp out the patches and spread the gel on the adhesive. But it’s all been sanitized, which suggests we just missed their last shipment.”
“Damn it. I’m sure Darwin would have appreciated some samples.” Neve blew out a rough breath, still scanning the shadows. “Zadie, you’re up. See if there’s anything on those servers that tell us where all this product’s going.”
They shifted over to the other trailer, slipping inside once Zadie had bypassed the code reader. The interior sprang to life, low-level lights brightening the space as a couple monitors winked on.
Zadie headed straight for a terminal, quickly decrypting the passcode before clicking through the various data bases.
Lines of code scrolled across one monitor, a low hum filling the room.
“I’ve got folders titled shipping manifests and medical sheets, but they’re encrypted.
” She plugged in a thumb drive. “I’ll need a few minutes to transfer it all so I can decrypt it back at the… ”
Her voice trailed off as another hard drive spooled to life, booting the main monitor above the door.
A red light blinked on in the corner a moment before a woman appeared on the large screen, blonde hair meticulously pulled back into a harsh bun, her white lab coat smeared with what looked like blood.
A man stood behind her, arms crossed, the familiar curve of his jaw spiking Quinn’s heart rate.
He took a step forward when Scout grabbed his wrist, shaking her head as she held firm.
The woman pushed her glasses back along the bridge of her nose, staring down at them, mouth pursed tight, gaze clearly assessing them. “I’d like to say I’m surprised, but after the assault earlier and my guards not reporting in on time, this all seems apropos.”
Neve stepped forward. “And you are?”
The woman snorted. “Impressed that you were able to connect the night’s events to my warehouse so quickly. Especially, when I paid good money to have any trace of my shell company erased.”
“Maybe our hacker’s just better than yours.”
“Or maybe you had the right kind of help. Wouldn’t you agree… Officer Taylor?” She cackled. “You really shouldn’t have left your truck behind if you didn’t want anyone to uncover who you are.”
Quinn settled in beside Neve. “It’s Corporal and consider yourself under arrest. We’ll start with kidnapping and go from there.”
She smiled. “Now, I know where your sister gets her attitude from. Trust me, if I’d known her big brother was a cop, I wouldn’t have signed her up. She’s been most uncooperative.”
Heat coiled low in his gut, and he fisted his hands to keep from punching through the screen. “Touch her, and I swear?—”
“Save me the idle threats, Corporal. You can’t stop me any more than she can.
But I do wonder if you share her unique genetic anomaly.
” She toyed with her glasses again. “I’m glad I didn’t know what kind of connections she had because she’s really quite remarkable.
I’m going to enjoy discovering just how far I can push her before she breaks.
You, on the other hand, don’t have that much time. ”
She crossed her arms and looked over at the guy Quinn personally wanted to strangle. “It seems we’ve been compromised. I don’t want Finch catching wind of this, so…” She glanced back at the screen. “Burn it all to the ground.”
The guy smiled a second before the monitor winked out, leaving an eerie void in the air.
Neve raced to the door, scanning the warehouse. “Zadie…”
Zadie held up hand, tapping on the desk before the computer pinged. She grabbed the thumb drive and shoved it in her pocket. “I’ve got everything I could before the mainframe initiated a purge.”
“Which means a full-on assault isn’t far off.”
They stepped out, falling into a diamond formation, Neve taking point, Coulter bringing up the rear.
Neve darted into the shadows, following the same line Scout had taken when a klaxon blared through the warehouse.
The lights flicked, casting odd shapes along the concrete floor, then died as footsteps pounded the cement, several men ghosting out of the darkness a second later, their HELIOS watches pulsing blue against the utter blackness as their rifles barked out a steady stream of brass.
Scout’s team returned fire, using the barrels spaced out along the far wall for cover when a canister clicked along the floor, spinning to a halt next to Scout.
Quinn surged forward, threw his weight against her as he wrapped her in his arms, tackling her behind the forklift a moment before the grenade blew.
Shrapnel spit out in every direction, chunks of concrete blasting through the room.
Coulter must have countered with his own flash bang because it erupted a heartbeat later, washing the room into a blinding mass of white light as an ear-piercing wail shook the walls.
Smoke choked the air, the loud shrill deadened by the hiss of pulleys and wheels as a set of massive, hinged fire doors rolled down across the exits, the steel panels effectively trapping them all inside.