by Amy Hopkins
The roller shutter door beeped and slowly began to rattle up into the cavity above. Bert didn’t wait for it to hit the top, ducking under it instead and disappearing around the corner. As soon as the bottom of the door reached the ceiling, it began its slow descent back down.
“Can you make it?” Penny whispered.
“Can’t you?” Cisco teased.
The two bolted from their hiding place and sprinted across the loading dock. They came to a panting halt outside the door when it was still two feet from the ground. Penny dropped to her stomach to look inside, then flicked a hand signal at Cisco before rolling under it.
She sprang to her feet in time to see the door graze Cisco’s hip as he slipped under. She motioned him to be silent, then pointed at a narrow hallway to one side. “Enemy that way,” she mouthed.
“Go that way,” Cisco responded.
Penny nodded. The guys in charge of loading the corrupted game machines were unlikely to hold notable positions in whatever this organization called itself.
They crept away from the low hum of voices, toward a corridor lit with bright, white fluorescent bulbs that reflected off the white tile floor. Penny walked fast, her gun trained at the corner ahead. When voices approached she held up a hand, but Cisco had already halted.
Penny pressed against the wall, a length of wire dangling from one hand.
Two men walked around the corner side by side, lost in conversation. “I swear to God, if they’re using the vans for a taco run again—”
Penny sprang, looping her garotte around the closest man’s throat before he had time to react. He clutched his neck but she tightened her grip, ignoring the strained gurgling sounds he made as he struggled.
Next to her, Cisco stood back as the man he’d taken down slumped to the floor, his neck broken.
“I wish I was better at that,” Penny murmured.
“You do just fine without it.” Cisco gestured to the man in her arms. He’d stopped struggling a few moments earlier.
She let him fall to the ground and began searching his pockets. “Ha! What’s a secret agency without magic ID cards, eh?”
Cisco grinned and plucked a similar plastic square from the body at his feet. “Let’s hope these do the trick.”
He made to leave, but Penny yanked his arm back and motioned to a nearby door. “Ugh. You boys are such slobs! Are you gonna help me clean up this mess, or what?”
Penny dragged the body over to the door. The handle didn’t budge when she tried it, but when she flicked the stolen ID near a small black box beside the jam, it beeped, and a green light flashed. “I’ll hold the door.”
Cisco stuck his tongue out at her but pulled the men one by one into the room. He stood and stretched. “Someone needs to skip taco night, that’s for sure.”
“Let’s go.” Penny let the door swing shut and watched as the green light changed to red. “Hopefully, no one misses those guys for a while.”
The hallway linked to a labyrinth of winding corridors. Twice they avoided notice by slipping into vacant rooms and once by simply shooting the three guards that appeared out of nowhere. Just when Penny was about to give up in frustration, they came upon an old cage elevator.
“That thing looks like it’s about to fall apart,” Cisco remarked.
Penny used her stolen ID on the black sensor beside her. The elevator sprang to life with a shuddering groan. “It’ll be fine,” she told him. “This is a world-class facility…probably.”
The metal grate parted when the elevator reached them. Penny hopped in, then grabbed Cisco’s arm to drag him in too. “Look, this is so cliché my eyes are about to roll out of my head,” she assured him. “Creepy old elevator that leads down to a cold and dripping basement level where they run creepy experiments on their prisoners? That’s so overdone it’s almost boring.”
“It’s boring in b-grade action movies.” Cisco stabbed the button for the bottom level. “Not so much when you’re in it.”
The floor trembled and began to lower. Penny took the time to check her body cam and quickly scroll through her phone.
Amelia had texted.
I’m just gonna assume you’re doing something REALLY important. I called Crenel, he said he’ll find Boots. Where the hell are you, Penny?
Climbing a tree to rescue our lame duck.
Penny pressed send to her reply, hoping Amelia would get the reference. Back in first semester, Penny rescued an injured Trevor from a tree. It shouldn’t take much for Amelia to connect the dots and realize Penny was on a mission to save him now, but that she couldn’t risk tipping off the goons if Amelia’s phone was tapped.
The elevator jerked to a stop, and Penny pulled back the metal barrier. The basement looked much like the upper level, though somehow gloomier. The gleaming white floors didn’t shine as brightly and the lights overhead held just a hint of yellow. They flickered when Penny and Cisco stepped out of the elevator.
“He must be down here,” Penny said in a low voice. “Come on.”
The corridor ahead was lined with doors. Penny stopped to peer into the first room, holding her flashlight up to shine through the small glass window.
The room was dark except for a sliver of light from a glowing panel that highlighted a cluster of X-ray images. The details it revealed made little sense to Penny. Rather than bones, it showed solid rods and limbs with too many joints.
She moved the beam of light around until it rested on a white hospital bed. Tall stands held bags of fluid linked to the prone figure on the bed by numerous lengths of plastic tubing. Next to the bed, a heart monitor flatlined.
Penny stretched onto her toes to try and see who was on the bed. She reached the light up, trying to angle it between machines.
“Holy… what?” The mutilated face stared back at her with one lifeless eye. Swollen lips, stitched at the corners, wrapped around a breathing tube and several thin cords attached to the creature’s forehead with white adhesive patches.
Penny ran her flashlight down the length of the body. The lumpy mass didn’t look at all human. A dangling limb confirmed her guess. Instead of fingers, a translucent flipper peeked out from under the white cloth that covered the rest of the body.
“It’s not Trevor,” Penny said. She swallowed hard, unsure if relief or horror would win out. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Trusting her instincts—or possibly because of impossible optimism—Penny didn’t stop to look in any of the other rooms. Instead, she went straight to the end of the corridor.
The door it led to was different from the others. “It’s a retinal scanner.” Cisco pressed a few numbers but the keypad gave a loud beep and an LED flashed red. “What next?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Penny slammed a hand against the locked door. “This has to be where they’re keeping him. Dammit!”
“Here, let’s get this off.” Cisco used a pair of bolt cutters on the padlock. “Maybe we can shoot through the door.”
“Cisco, you know that doesn’t work.” Penny wondered if Jessie knew anything that would help them crack the code. She drew her phone out to message her.
“Penny, come on. Real sewers don’t look like that.” Cisco pointed back down the corridor. “Brand new buildings don’t have elevators like that. Nothing in this place follows the rules we’re used to.”
Penny frowned, then nodded. “Fine. Give it a go, but for crying out loud, don’t shoot yourself.”
She took cover, pressing against a doorway a short distance back from the door. Cisco stepped back and aimed his gun.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
The Academy-issued silencer didn’t entirely eliminate the noise, but Penny knew her ears would be bleeding if he hadn’t used it. To her shock, the door swung open.
“See?” Cisco gave her a cocky grin. “Action hero, right here.” He flexed a bicep, then pushed the door farther open.
“Trevor!” Penny dashed in, recognizing their friend.
&n
bsp; Trevor was strapped to a chair. A metal band locked his head in place, and he stared at a TV screen. His eyes were glazed and his mouth slack. A drip ran from his arm to a bag of clear fluid suspended behind him and sensors attached to his chest linked to a machine that showed his heart rate, slow and fluttering.
“Has he been drugged?” Cisco immediately set to work unstrapping Trevor’s arms and legs.
Penny examined the drip. “I don’t know what this is.” The sticker on the bag was labeled with a series of numbers and letters, but nothing she recognized.
Unlatching the metal band, Cisco attempted to help Trevor stand. “Come on, buddy. We’ve gotta get you out of here.”
Trevor mumbled something incoherent. When Cisco tried to prop him up, Trevor flopped back down, his body limp.
“Can you carry him?” Penny carefully removed the IV, leaving the cannula in place for now.
“Not if I need to shoot something at the same time.” Cisco turned worried eyes her way. “Do you think you can cover us both?”
“We haven’t been found yet,” Penny pointed out. “And we sure as hell can’t leave him here.”
“We could call for backup?” Cisco grabbed Trevor around the waist and lifted him in a fireman’s carry.
“What if this place disappears while we’re inside it?” Penny shuddered. “No thanks, I’d rather take my chances with the goons.”
“That’s your answer, then.” Cisco hefted Trevor up onto his shoulder. “Come on. He’s a lightweight, but I don’t want to haul his ass around forever.”
Penny quickly checked her body cam. It was still on. She found the little green light to be a comfort in the dim room. A glance at her phone showed she still had a signal—weak, but there. Nodding, she pulled her gun out and disengaged the safety. “Move out.”
Cisco followed on Penny’s heels, letting her hold the door open for him before she jumped ahead to take point. When they reached the elevator, Penny blew out a long breath of relief. “Just gotta get to the dock,” she murmured.
The elevator ground to a halt on the ground floor. The crisp white lights made her blink. Then, they switched off.
A klaxon blared and the lights flicked back on, red and pulsating.
“They know we’re here,” Penny snapped. “Let’s go.” Gun pointed ahead, Penny ran in a low crouch.
Footsteps pounded down the hallway between the whoops of the alarm, and a guard rounded the corner. Penny took him down with two shots.
“Man down, man down!” someone shouted.
The yell echoed, and Penny cursed.
“I should have let him get closer,” she snapped. “So they didn’t see him go down.”
“He’s carrying a machine gun,” Cisco called. “I’m kinda glad you didn’t.”
“Take cover.” Penny ignored Cisco’s protest. She knew he’d find a way to keep Trevor safe. She dropped to one knee to face off with the team of goons headed their way.
Three men jumped out, firing a smattering of bullets that whizzed over her head and chipped at the wall behind her.
Snap. Snap. Snap. All three crumpled to the ground.
“What are they, Stormtroopers?” Cisco yelled.
“I take it that means you guys are okay?” Penny called.
Cisco chuckled. “Fine, for now. Let’s go.” He waved her on, the movement throwing eerie shadows in the pulsing red lights.
Penny ran forward, taking down one more guard who had made the mistake of calling for backup over his radio. He reeled as two bullets hit him in the throat, cutting off his cry for help. “Sorry, mate.”
Penny pressed up against a wall by the next corner. She held her gun close, then spun and dropped to a knee, pointing it down the corridor.
Her heart stopped. At least a dozen suited men stood in a tight formation at the other end of the hall, guns pointed her way. Penny’s eyes dropped to her chest, where a cluster of red dots swayed on her shirt. “Don’t shoot!” she yelled.
Slowly, she moved her weapon aside, pointing at the wall as she clicked the safety back on. She let the gun dangle from a finger for a moment, then tossed it out of reach.
The alarms ceased abruptly. Blinking under the bright, white lights, Penny clenched her jaw. You’ve got one chance, girl.
“I need to speak to your boss,” she called.
“Why?” One of the guards called back. His voice was hard and precise, exactly what she’d expect from a highly trained government operative. “So you can beg for your life?”
“No,” Penny said evenly. “Because he’s going to tell you to let us go.”
After a brief moment of silence, one man stepped forward from the back. He was a little taller than the others, a little smoother with his slicked-back hair and black wraparound sunglasses. “And why would I do that, Ms. Hingston?”
“As much as I’d like to pretend it’s because you recognize that kidnapping young men and stalking women is creepy as hell and you regret it,” Penny told him, hand on one hip as she recognized the man. “That’s not it.”
The Myther Agent didn’t respond, just twitched one eyebrow ever so slightly over his shades.
“This is the second time I’ve found your secret base,” Penny continued. “And this time, I know what you’re hiding. Those creatures you’re experimenting on down there? Highly illegal. The kidnappings? Also illegal.” She spread her hands apologetically. “And letting a mere civilian in to see it all? You know that’s against regulation.”
“What makes you think anyone will ever know you were here, or what you found?” The agent raised his gun and pointed it at Penny.
“You’ll shoot me to keep it quiet?” Penny asked smoothly.
The agent gave a single, brisk nod. “Don’t waste my time, Hingston. You have thirty seconds to convince me not to make you disappear forever.”
“The Witchly Web.” Penny tossed the phrase at him carelessly. “Dot com,” she added after a beat.
Agent Shades pursed his lips, then uttered the URL into his radio.
“You know, they’ve made a lot of progress on handhelds since the eighties.” Penny tapped the radio clipped to her shoulder strap. “Smaller, lighter, and harder to—”
“Uhh, boss?” The voice that crackled over the Shades’ radio held more than a hint of worry. “We got a problem. A really big problem.”
“What is it, Reid?” Shades kept his flawless composure, speaking in a bored tone.
“You’re on the internet,” Reid replied.
“What?” Shades flushed and darted a fast look around. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, he’s probably referring to the livestream.” Penny tapped the tiny body cam below her radio. “Our whole trip through your facility, videoed and streamed to the world wide web. Go on, ask your guy how many people are watching.”
Shades, face red and voice tight, did just that. “Reid? What’s the damage?”
“Forty-two hundred viewers, boss.” The radio crackled and Reid spoke again. “Twelve have shared it across their social platforms. Oh. Oh.”
“Oh, what, Reid?” Shades growled.
“That brings the total number of viewers to around ninety-two thousand, sir. Uh, ninety-three. Ninety-five. Sir, I believe we’ve gone what they call ‘viral.’”
“You’re exposed, mate.” Penny grinned. “A video like that? It’ll cross the world in minutes. There’s not a shadow left on earth deep enough to hide you and your men.”
“Issue a Code Nineteen,” Shades barked. “Passcode 7-9-9-alpha-bravo-romeo-0-4-1-tango-1.” He slammed the radio unit to the ground, and it shattered. Turning to his men, he yelled, “Stand down. I repeat, stand down. Enact Sudden Death Protocol.”
As the unit opposing Penny straightened and strapped their guns away, a robotic voice sounded overhead. “Code Nineteen. Repeat, Code Nineteen. Sudden Death Protocol Enacted. All agents, prepare to evacuate. Code Nineteen.”
The team of agents trotted away, leaving their boss alone. Penny unhooked her body
cam and switched it off.
“Seems you’re letting us go after all, Agent,” Penny said. “I have something to offer you, though.”
“You’ve just dismantled our entire operation.” Shades held up a good front, but Penny could see his weariness. “Twenty years I’ve worked for this department. They’ll shut us down by sunup.”
Penny took a step closer. The man might be a Myther, but in some ways, she felt sorry for him. “Do me a favor,” she said. “One favor. It’s a big one, though. Do it, and I’ll tell them you wiped my memory, that I don’t remember anything. You know the body cam will only have caught so much.”
Shades straightened, a hint of his earlier determination returning. “What is it?”
Penny grinned. “It’s a rescue mission.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Penny stared at Agent Crenel, bleary-eyed and exhausted.
“What do you mean you don’t remember?” His frown was so deep Penny wondered if it would leave a permanent set of wrinkles.
“I just…don’t.” She shrugged. “I’m telling the truth, Agent.”
And she was, as much as Agent Crenel wanted to believe otherwise. Her last memory was of leaving the Twisted Monkey. She vividly recalled the orange lights of the bar dimming to soft moonlight, and the chill of the open air touching her skin as she stepped outside. Then? Not a damn thing.
Crenel threw his hands in the air. “Fine! Fine. Nothing I can do about it, right? Banks is going to think I’ve gone senile, but hey! The whole world is crazy now, right?”
He threw the thin file on his desk.
“Well, Trevor did come out alive,” Penny pointed out. “As far as we know, no one got hurt. I may not remember what I did, but I’m pretty sure it was spectacular.”
Boots hissed in agreement. She looked no worse for wear after her strange arrival in a watertight box, dropped by the Academy door next to a trussed-up Professor Steele.
“Just like a turkey,” the dean remarked before explaining that according to what she and Amelia had pieced together from security footage, the professor had kidnapped Boots and was on her way to the airport with a one-way ticket to New Zealand.