CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The green glow from Sloane’s tablet cut through the night as Nick stared at the feed playing across the screen. She hadn’t been exaggerating.
No staff.
No movement.
Just that bloody handprint glaring up at them.
Sloane flipped through more screens, accessing something that looked administrative. “Shit.”
Nick groaned. “Didn’t we just go through this? And I assume more bad news.”
“It’s mixed. First, we don’t have to worry about additional civilian causalities. The site was temporarily shut down six hours ago due to a possible gas leak. Everyone except Kessler was moved into the main hospital until they cleared the building. The whole place is running on a skeleton crew, which, judging by the live stream, the Reaper’s already dispatched.”
“So, what else?”
“It’s all a ruse. This isn’t just a medical facility. It doubles as a damn CIA black site, and Hill just manufactured his own deniable failsafe.”
Bodie huffed. “Which means, this isn’t a stealth mission, anymore. It’s a damn gauntlet run to reach Kessler before the Reaper kills him.”
Nick nodded, patting down his vest one last time — mags, frags, night vision, blades, comms — before he pointed to the tablet. “Sloane, we need the fastest route to Kessler’s wing.”
Her fingers flew over the screen. “Already checking… Got it. West service corridor to the loading bay.”
“Let’s go.”
They fanned out, moving in sync to the rear fence line. Dalton and Bodie took a knee, carbines tracing the open field and walkways as Buck darted forward, bolt cutters working through the chain link. The sides curled outward as Buck sliced a line large enough for them to wedge through before he grabbed the edges, held them apart.
Nick darted ahead first, taking up point as the rest of the crew slipped through. Dalton tapped Nick on the shoulder as he moved past, Bodie falling in sync on the other side, Sloane and Avery hot on Bodie’s heels. They stayed in a distorted diamond formation, boots skimming across the wet grass, Buck and Tierney bringing up the rear.
They hit the first walkway moving fast, silent, when footsteps tapped the pavement off to their right. They spread out, melting into the shadows lining the paved sidewalk surrounding the building as that lone guard ambled out from behind the corner, flashlight bouncing lazily across the landscape. He swept the far fence they’d just breeched, pausing for a moment, head bent forward as if the added inch would help him see through the fog and the darkness before he shrugged, continued on, whistling softly to himself.
Nick waited until the guy rounded the far bend before signaling his teammates ahead. They ghosted out of the night, following the paving stones down the side, around the back, thenover to the west service corridor. A bank of rolling doors covered part of the wall, a lone entrance pushed into the stonework.
Buck edged ahead, shouldering the door before planting a small charge over the lock. He twirled his finger, took cover behind the corner as the explosive popped, nothing more than a hushed whoosh sounding from the doorway.
Nick clapped the man on the back, then darted forward, showing the countdown on one hand before yanking the door wide, waving his buddies through. Dalton and Bodie went in first, each sweeping a different direction before the others followed, the door hanging slightly ajar behind them.
A sharp, medicinal odor permeated the air, notes of copper and ozone layered underneath. Emergency lighting clawed at the darkness, the dull glow barely touching the deep shadows laced along the corridor. A rolling linen cart teetered against an overturned chair, one wheel still slowly spinning.
They hit the first opening moving in pairs, Bodie and Dalton branching off to opposite sides as Avery and Sloane headed for the security desk positioned on the far wall. A dark silhouette slumped behind the counter, blood dripping onto the linoleum.
Sloane placed her fingers on the guard’s neck, waited, then shook her head. “Feels like someone crushed his trachea.”
Nick gestured at the uncluttered space. “No casings, no mess. They’re keeping it clean and quiet.” He pointed at the guard’s chest. “Grab his access card, just in case.”
She yanked it free, then continued down the adjoining hallway, rifle at the ready, all their heads on a swivel. They reached a locked access door, the keypad on the right glowing a steady red.
She ran the strip down the slot, frowned when it beeped, that crimson light still glaring up at them. She wiped the badge off on her sweater, tried again. The unit whirled, a few of the keys lighting up before the light blinked green. The lock disengagedwith an audible click, the glass doors sliding open on a breath of air.
She glanced back at him, her furrowed brow confirming his thoughts. That someone was playing with them, manipulating the systems, and that it likely wouldn’t go their way in the end.
Bodie went first, checking each door when sets of doors farther up opened, then closed. A soft thunk registered down another corridor, a resulting breeze swirling past their legs. “Is it just me, or does it feel like this bastard’s herding us?”
Dalton grunted. “It’s not just you, brother.”
An alarm sounded in the distance, squawking a few times before cutting off, the low tone echoing off the walls. The overhead sprinklers hissed, several drops splattering on the floor, then nothing.
