AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Prologue
Wednesday.OldGrainDepot,Fairfax, VA.
Harper Wright tried his best to never see the world before six in the morning. Dawn wasn’t his favorite time of day. Which meant it was the perfect time for a covert meeting. Though given how remote the grain depot was, it was damn creepy, and being a brown man by himself; he was not about to play around.
What the fuck was his boss thinking?
He glanced up and down the road while swiping his forearm over his brow. The last thing he needed right now was for a cop to roll up on him. At least he could truthfully say he didn’t live far from here and was simply out for a jog.
A gust of wind sliced through his two layers of clothing.
The whole country seemed to be in the grips of the worst winter in a long time.
Overhead, the rusting structure groaned and a piece of loose metal creaked.
He’d seen enough horror movies to know how this would end if he didn’t get a move on.
“Fuck,” he muttered and ducked into an entranceway partially obscured by the skeletons of tall weeds.
The forecast had threatened snow for days now. Was it going to actually happen? He hoped not. Harper was ready for warmer weather. That was for damn sure. His ancestors were from Central America. Where it was hot. He didn’t like this cold bullshit. Seattle had been bad enough with the rain and clouds all the time. He needed a change of scenery. Hell, maybe he should take a vacation and go visit the condo in Key West he’d bought but never lived in. Sure, he’d moved his stuff in, but he had friends who’d stayed there longer than he had.
The old door behind the weeds was partially rusted and the yellow paint chipped. He hadn’t known this entrance existed until Zora’s instructions had arrived. He pulled out his keycard and felt along the wall until he found a little plate, just like he’d been told to expect. Pulling it up revealed a keypad. A new keypad. When this place was built, keypads probably weren’t a thing yet. He swiped his card, then entered his unique code. Only then did the door disengage.
“I’ll be damned,” he muttered.
He stomped his feet on the rubber mat and peered down the dim hallway.
What would his old boss say if he knew about this?
It was extra weird that he’d worked for Zain and now Zora. He was fairly sure he’d never met anyone with a Z name before them.
Life was full of odd coincidences.
Harper could still remember the day Zain had called them all in to the tiny secure room at Aegis Group’s Seattle office—before that place got blown up, what was it with headquarters?—to tell them about a unique opportunity. Uncle Sam wanted their people to work on a joint task force. For what? No one knew. Some days, he still wasn’t sure if they knew the whole story themselves.
Unlike the others, back then, Harper didn’t have any reservations about taking the job. He went where the team did. Seattle wasn’t home for him and neither was DC. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt at home anywhere. So it hadn’t been a big deal to pick up and move across the country for an ambiguous job. Hell, it was a lot better than some ops he’d run in the SEALs.
He unzipped his coat and stepped forward.
The dim lights grew brighter, chasing away the shadows.
“Thank you, Bond Girl,” he muttered.
Harper had no way of knowing if their resident tech genius had anything to do with the lights, but he’d thank her, anyway. Undoubtedly, someone under her was responsible for this. A job like this took ingenuity and their Bond Girl was the best. Right up there with Zain.
He followed the hall for a dozen or so yards until it met a larger room. A catwalk led off into the darkness and to his right, a metal staircase. He peered down over the ledge.
This had to be one of the grain silos.
Way back when, farmers from all around would have brought their grain here to be sold across the country. Most of that farmland was residential now, and farming wasn’t exactly a hot local job anymore.
He inhaled and closed his eyes.
There was a slight, earthy scent to the air.
He pulled out his phone, flipped on the light and descended the stairs like his instructions said to.
It felt as though the stairs went on for an age before he finally reached the bottom.
