Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Lexi
There was no key code, no special lock for Ginger’s enclosure, just two buttons. One to open and one to close the door.
“Press the open button,” I instructed Barbie.
She pressed the button and it slid into the wall like a pocket door. Ginger didn’t bolt out of the enclosure; instead, she stepped forward, slow and deliberate.
“Hi, Ginger,” Barbie said cautiously. “I’m a friend of Lexi’s.
I’m going to get you out of here as soon as possible.
” She reached out a hand, and when Ginger didn’t pull away, Barbie gave her a light pet on the head.
“You know, it kind of feels weird talking to a dog like she’s going to understand everything I say. ”
“You get used to it,” I said. “Now take off her collar and vest.”
Barbie worked quickly to release both. Barbie tossed them aside and Ginger shook a few times like she was happy to shed herself of them. “Now, Ginger, can you help me find my Tootsie?” Barbie asked.
Ginger turned without hesitation and headed a bit farther down the hall.
Barbie followed her. When they reached an enclosure with several tiny dogs, Barbie came to a full stop.
There were at least a dozen dogs yapping and dancing about inside the enclosure, but Barbie only had eyes for one small black-and-tan dog.
“Tootsie!” she yelped, and the little dog raced to the glass, pawing anxiously at it.
Barbie opened the door and Tootsie, as well as all the other dogs, rushed out, barking, scrambling, and crashing into things.
She scooped up Tootsie, and I presumed she was raining kisses atop her head because all I saw was black and tan fur.
Ginger suddenly gave a soft woof, not alarmed, but insistent enough to catch my attention via the camera. “Barbie, release the other animals and get going,” I said. “We’re running out of time. The arrival window is closing fast.”
“I know. I know,” she repeated, hurrying down the hallway, opening cages and enclosures as she passed by, causing more chaos as dogs, cats, and the big pig spilled out into the lab.
Barbie opened the cage with the chimpanzee and it leaped from its enclosure with a scream that made my blood run cold.
Barbie backed up in terror as the chimp scrambled up onto a rolling cart, knocking equipment to the floor and chattering incessantly.
To her credit, Ginger placed herself between Barbie and the chimp and growled warningly.
The chimpanzee glanced once at Ginger and disappeared down the corridor.
“Maybe we should have thought about releasing the chimp at a later time,” Barbie said with a shaky breath. “Oh, well. Too late now. Hope it doesn’t attack me. We’re on the way out now.”
I watched the camera bob up and down as Barbie rushed to the lab door with a good majority of the animals on her heels. From the camera view, I could see there was no interior keypad. No reader. No code. Just a handle.
“I’m ready to leave,” Barbie said over the noise. “Am I good?”
“Angel?” I asked, tapping my earbud. “How do we look on the door alarm?”
“Should be suppressed,” Angel replied. “It’s a go.”
Barbie immediately pushed the door open.
A full, facility-wide shriek tore through the building, red lights strobing to life.
“Houston, we’ve got a problem,” Barbie said.
“Oh, hell,” Angel shouted in my ear. “That wasn’t my fault. They must have had a secondary alarm placed on the door, separate from the security system.”
Klaxons echoed through the mostly empty facility as the animals spilled into the corridors through the biocontainment area door that Barbie had left open in the excitement. They were like a living, organic flood, sloshing down the halls and disappearing into the depths of the lab and beyond.
Barbie started to run for the main building exit when she passed the rear door to the exercise area. She paused long enough to open and prop open that door with a doormat to give some of the animals another place to go. Then she followed my directions in her ear as she raced to the main entrance.
Animals ran around her, and some split off down different corridors as the entire lab exploded into frenzied noise and motion.
From her camera view I saw a few people tentatively peek out of doors, which then quickly closed.
Barbie still held Tootsie in her arms, but I couldn’t see Ginger.
I could only hope she was staying close to Barbie.
My camera view was extremely shaky as she booked it down the last hallway to the front. Two small monkeys streaked past her low to the ground. In the intermittent flashes where I saw them, I couldn’t tell whether they were being chased by dogs or just escaping on their own.
As Barbie reached the lobby, the dogs’ barking increased as they scrambled for purchase on the slick floor. The pig, bless its heart, charged past her, headed toward the doors, bowling over anything in his path. I didn’t see the chimpanzee anywhere. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
“Lexi,” Gray said urgently, tapping my arm and pointing at her timer. “Two minutes and counting. I already see headlights.”
“We’re working on it,” I said, keeping my voice calm. “Barbie, get out. We’re on the two-minute countdown.”
She didn’t respond, but I could hear her breathing heavily. The young guy Barbie had bumped into earlier, Devon, came barreling around a corner, nearly colliding with her again. His eyes grew wide when he saw her. “What the hell is going on?” he shouted.
“I have no idea,” she said, skidding to a stop. “An alarm just went off. Looks like there are animals running loose. I picked up this poor little dog so it didn’t get trampled. I’m getting out of here.”
He swore and ran back past her toward the containment lab.
Barbie resumed running for the exit. She burst through the lobby and then stopped and grabbed a small end table to prop open the main doors of the lab to allow some of the animals following her to escape as well.
I looked up from my laptop and through the car’s windshield, where I could see her racing for the interior fence with Ginger hot on her heels.
The alarm from inside blared into the parking lot now that the lab lobby doors were open.
Animals spilled into the area between the lab and the fence as the situation tipped firmly into chaos.
Dogs barked nonstop, chasing one another in frantic loops, while the pig snorted and dug at the hard ground with alarming dedication.
A couple of staff members finally appeared. They removed the table and closed the main doors. One stayed inside while the other rushed outside and attempted what could generously be described as animal control. He waved his arms and shouted instructions that no one, human or animal, followed.
A large dog jumped on him, putting its front paws on his chest, unbalancing him. He toppled and fell, his white lab coat showing large, dark splotches in the perimeter lights. For a moment, the animals weren’t the biggest spectacle.
Disgusted, the employee got up and stormed back toward the main doors. Unfortunately, the doors were now locked, so he headed for the exterior gate, apparently deciding that escape from this disaster was more important than containment.
It was not.
As he opened the gate, dogs, cats, and the two monkeys bolted through his legs, knocking him down again as they spilled into the parking lot. They were followed by the pig, who squealed and steamrolled the employee as he tried to rise again.
Then, to everyone’s horror, the chimpanzee quickly climbed the fence, adeptly avoiding the barbed wire at the top, and escaped. Animals were now racing around the parking lot, enjoying their first true freedom in months or perhaps years.
The chimp leaped onto the hood of a nearby car and crouched there, chattering angry threats at unseen enemies. The car alarm immediately erupted, adding a high-pitched soundtrack to the disaster while the chimp repeatedly slapped the hood as if personally offended by the noise.
A police cruiser screeched in, lights flashing red and blue, siren blaring, just as Barbie and Ginger made their way to our car. The alarm on my phone vibrated, signaling time was up. They’d made it.
Barely.
“They’re out and safe, Angel,” I said and set my laptop aside. “Good work. I’m leaving the cleanup and our special project to you.”
“On it, boss,” she said.
I hopped out of the car just as Ginger reached me, throwing herself against me and pressing her head to my chest. I gave her a big hug, drawing her closer.
“Good girl. You are so brave. I told you we wouldn’t leave you.
But now, you need to run for the tree line and wait for me there.
” I pointed at the tree line. “Just like you did at the vet. It may be a little while, but I’ll come get you when it’s safe.
They can’t find you here with me or they’ll take you away again, okay? ”
Ginger didn’t have to be told twice. She nudged my hand one more time before bolting through the parking lot and disappearing into the darkness. Meanwhile, several other cars had entered the parking lot. It sure was getting crowded on this lonely road at three in the morning.
Barbie was still breathing heavily as she handed Tootsie to Basia, who was still seated inside the car, and tore off her lab coat. I took it from her, balled it up, and tossed it under a nearby parked car.
“Good work,” I said as she handed me the knit hat, head mount, and camera next. “Did you get rid of the ID?”
“I dropped it inside the fence between the building and the gate just as we discussed,” she replied.
“Perfect.” I put the hat, head mount, and GoPro camera in Gray’s glove compartment. Then I strode quickly toward Gray with Barbie following.
Gray stood about ten feet away, talking with several people—men and women—all of whom were staring in disbelief at the chaos unfolding. Before I could get to them, another car screeched into the lot, slamming to a halt in front of the gate, nearly clipping two dogs and a monkey.
Baldy burst out, his face red, shouting orders as he sprinted toward the building.
“Right on time,” I murmured. “Good for us. Let’s just hope it all goes down like we planned.”
“It better. That bastard tortured and stole my dog.” Barbie narrowed her eyes at his back and then looked at the riot of animals, sirens, police, and staff scrambling in every direction. Her glare slowly turned into a satisfied smile.
“He pissed off the wrong people,” she said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “And now the crap is officially about to hit the fan.”