“It could be for research purposes,” Sarah said. “My lab in New York often works with government agencies. Much of today’s technology began with government research.”
“Deka Conteh may have funded Soter’s research, although I don’t believe money is their motive. Soter Corporation has plenty of cash. They don’t need government money.” A light clicked on in his head. “Soter didn’t want money, they wanted knowledge. The guy you worked with took your genome-editing technique to Soter and made all this possible.”
Sarah nodded in agreement. “What about the rare earth elements? Do you think the drilling is a coincidence?”
“I stopped believing in coincidences long ago.”
“As did I,” Sarah said. “Every government in the world needs those materials and will pay to get them.”
“Find a new source of them and you can name your price,” Reed said. “That’s why a Tanzanian minister would work with a private corporation. To get her hands on the elements.” The fresh magazine clicked into his pistol. The others didn’t notice his hand shaking.
“If this is true,” Paul asked, “why is she here with only two soldiers? She should have many more.”
“Great point,” Sarah said. “Could be she’s working this on her own. Nobody else in the government might know anything.”
“Either way, stay alert for any of them. I suspect they’d rather put a bullet in our backs than work with us.” Reed looked to Paul, who raised a thumb. “Good man. Sarah, you ready?”
She swallowed, then licked her lips. “Yes.”
“Same formation. If you see a gorilla or wolf, shoot it. I’ll use this,” he hefted the shotgun, “for anything that gets too close.”
Rain splashed into the hallway as Reed took a deep breath and stepped outside.
Chapter 28
Soter Research Facility
Northwestern Tanzania
The screams from out front had subsided. Reed hugged the wall as they moved through the deluge, halting when an engine burst to life, followed by a gorilla roaring. Both cut out a breath later, and it saved Sarah’s life.
Reed watched ahead, Paul behind, and both checked the side. Nobody looked up until there was a growling sound from the rooftop as a gorilla pounced. Reed shouted and turned as a lightning bolt pierced the sky. Gun halfway up, he blinked and sparks filled his vision. A memory etched onto the back of his eyelids, when a white bolt had turned his tree stand into a burning inferno. The searing, painless blast as voltage filled his body, voltage racing out of his fingertips like magic.
He blinked again and the image vanished as the massive beast dropped on him like a stone. Too late he pulled the trigger, his shotgun knocked aside by a paw bigger than his head. The gun flew out of reach, and Reed raised his arms to fend off the gorilla’s heavy blows.
He dodged and a heavy fist thumped the ground. Before the ape could strike again, Sarah jumped on its back, her arms draped around the hairy neck.
“Let go!” Reed shouted. “Paul doesn’t have a shot.”
The ape roared in fury and reached around and grabbed her, giving Reed a chance to get away. It flipped her over its head, Sarah crying out as she crashed into Reed and knocked him flat on his back. He pushed her aside, reaching for his gun, but it was too late. Another roar filled his ears, the ape crouching low, ready to strike.
Gunshots cracked. The ape went still. Another shot rang out and the beast fell to reveal Paul standing at point-blank range with his finger on the trigger. He didn’t take his gun off the ape, even when Sarah yelled.
“Sarah,” Reed shouted, gaining his feet. She’d been hurt, and it was all his fault. He’d frozen, and it had nearly killed her. “Did it get you?”
“My side.” She grimaced, clutching her stomach. “It cut me.”
Reed gingerly pulled her hands away to find streaks of red staining her shirt. “I need to see it,” he said. “Can you pull your shirt up?”
Her shirt lifted to reveal a gash running underneath one rib cage. “It tried to bite me. I fell off when it snapped. Help me up.” She hauled herself upright far less gently than Reed would have. “Do you have a knife?” He passed one over, and Sarah proceeded to remove her bloody shirt, slice it into a wide bandage, and wrap it around her torso. “That will do for now.” Clad in only a tank top, she reloaded her pistol, then looked expectantly at Reed. “Don’t wait on my account. I’ll be fine.”
Reed shared a look with Paul, who shrugged. “If you say so.”
The rain let up slightly as Reed crept toward the building’s front. No noise cut through the falling water, no screams or gunshots. He eased his shotgun around the corner, and then looked around the side to find a scene of utter destruction.
Cars with doors hanging open. Bodies strewn over the ground, and a dead gorilla sprawled among them partway up the front steps. A security guard lay beneath the dead ape.
“All the scientists are dead,” Sarah said, pushing past Reed. “They didn’t even make it out of the cars.”
He grabbed her arm. “Be careful. There are still two gorillas and two wolves unaccounted for. They could be anywhere.”
“Ray Dorcy sent his own people out here to die.” They passed a security guard with massive gashes on his arms and neck. “All of them.”
“Not all of them. I don’t see your friend out here.”
“Ian Napier is not my friend,” she said sharply. “But you’re right. I don’t see him either.”
“The soldiers are not here,” Paul said after checking another vehicle. “They must be inside. Look.” He pointed toward the empty Mercedes sedan.
“Great,” Reed muttered. “Soldiers, an experienced hunter, and killer hybrids.” Long odds, yes, but nothing they couldn’t handle. At least he hoped not. “Let’s check inside. At least we’ll be out of this mess.” Thunder punctuated his words.
Paul and Sarah fell into formation without being told, trailing Reed as he led them past dead guards, a gorilla, and the mangled bodies of a pair of scientists who’d made it farther than the others. Nothing moved through the front glass façade. Anything alive in the seemingly empty atrium was hidden. Waiting.
Cool air washed over his cheeks when he stepped inside, the front doors held open by the body of another dead guard.
Chapter 29
Soter Research Facility
Northwestern Tanzania
Silence greeted them in the facility. No guards at the front desk, no researchers in the halls or labs. Reed rushed to a nearby pillar, pressing his back against the thick column. Paul and Sarah followed him like shadows and knelt beside him.
“Stick to the wall as long as possible. When we cross the floor we’ll be exposed to anyone on the second level.” Not ideal, but they wanted to get up the stairs. “I’ll go first. Paul, you go last. Both of us cover Sarah.” He looked to her. “Keep your pistol safety on when you run. Got it?” Both said they did, and Reed checked his shotgun. Loaded, safety off. He took a deep breath. “Ready?” They were.
With that, he took off. Nothing moved ahead. He scanned up to the second floor, peered into the shadows. It took him seconds to cross the twenty yards but it felt like a lifetime, too long in the open. When he gained cover beneath the overhanging second floor, Reed went down on one knee and turned. Paul must have told her to move, because Sarah came running across the room, just as he’d instructed. She slid the final few feet, popping up and pulling her gun out.
“Nice slide,” Reed said wryly.
Paul sprinted into view now. He made it without incident, settling into his spot behind Sarah as they moved together to the long, winding staircase leading to the second floor, wide steps curving to the upper level.
“We want the high ground,” Reed said to Sarah, his words scarcely a whisper. “And if the control room is there, that’s where we’ll find Dorcy.”
“I’ve seen signs for a security room upstairs, and one guard mentioned they had a secure room up there.”
“Remember, Dor
cy is secondary. We need to find the animals.”
“Anything outside should have come to us,” Paul said. “Though we must check the upper level to be sure.”
“Our next step is back outside if we don’t find them,” Reed said. “The wolves and gorillas have to be down before we leave.” He hoped they had come in out of the rain.
Silence descended as Reed crouched by the pillar and watched on the walkways above. Nothing had moved during the time they’d been inside; the quiet made him uneasy. Once everyone fell into line, Reed took a step toward the staircase. A squeak came from above. Like a shoe sliding across the ground.
And then all hell broke loose. Bullets smacked the floor, and Reed dove back out of sight as shards of marble and plaster sprang up around him. Hot pain arced across his cheek as a chip of marble whizzed past him, and he felt a warm trickle of blood.
“Do you see them?” he asked Paul, struggling to be heard above the automatic gunfire rattling above.
“It is Dorcy,” Paul said. Anything further was lost as bullets pinged off the column and floor.
Reed caught a glimpse of Dorcy moving at the top of the stairs, firing his weapon in rapid bursts. The curve of the staircase offered Dorcy protection from their return fire.
The second-floor overhang ran above them, but to get underneath it they needed to run for about ten feet. It may as well have been a mile, since it put them directly in Dorcy’s line of fire.
Paul cocked his weapon and turned to Reed. “I can make it,” he said. “You cover me, and I run.”
“You won’t make it two steps before Dorcy shoots you.” If Reed ran for it and survived, however, Paul could hug the wall and circle around to either side, opening two lines of fire on Dorcy, forcing him to retreat. “I’ll do it. You use the shotgun to cover me.” The big gun was deadly at this range, with more than enough power to make Dorcy duck for cover. The problem was keeping him down long enough for Reed to make it beneath him.
Paul smiled, and completely ignored him. “I run on three. Ready?”
Years of working together had taught Reed that Paul was reliable, trustworthy, and, very occasionally, stubborn as hell. He recognized the look. “Fine. On your count.”
“I can shoot too,” Sarah said.
Reed hesitated, but she scowled and wagged a finger in his face. “All I have to do is pull the trigger. More shots will make him stay down longer.”
She had a point.
“As soon as I fire, you shoot from the other side. Try not to hit Paul.”
A thought buzzed in Reed’s head when Paul raised three fingers. If Dorcy hadn’t made that noise, he would have walked out from cover and been torn apart by the automatic weapon. Two. Men like Dorcy didn’t make such amateur mistakes. Was it possible Dorcy hadn’t seen them? One. No way.
Reed leaned around, unloading the shotgun while Sarah ripped off shots. Sparks filled the air above them as Dorcy stood his ground, finger on the trigger. Paul darted into the open as a cry came from the second floor and Dorcy fell out of sight.
“Paul made it,” Sarah said as she reloaded. “Did you hit Dorcy?”
“No. I shot high, tried to get him to duck. You must have hit him.”
Sarah frowned. “I could hardly see him from my side.”
“Doesn’t matter if you’re lucky or good.” Smoke drifted from his shotgun barrel. “Where did Paul go?”
“He’s over – oh.” She pointed to an empty spot against the wall. “I don’t know.”
Chips of marble crunched underfoot as Reed stepped from behind the pillar. Paul was nowhere to be seen. “Sarah, go—”
Her screams cut him off at the same time a sixth sense made him look upstairs, directly into the barrel of Dorcy’s automatic weapon. Dorcy wasn’t down. He stared at Reed with calm, dead eyes and released a volley of shots.
Paul returned fire as Reed dove for cover, landing without catching any bullets. He risked a look back up at Dorcy, who was clutching his chest. Dorcy looked down, mouth hanging open in surprise, before he dropped to the ground.
How had Dorcy gotten back up? The man had been shot, was down.
“You need to be careful, boss.” Paul seemed to materialize beside him. “I think I got him, but you must make sure the target is truly down. Wounded animals are the most dangerous.”
“I thought Sarah hit him.” Judging from the pallor of her skin, Sarah thought the same.
“That does not mean I drop my guard.” Paul edged closer to the pillar, his gun still trained where Dorcy had been moments ago. “You taught me that.”
If Dorcy hadn’t been hit, who had made the noise? “We need to get up there.” The world came rushing back, any fear or disbelief washed away with the certainty of what to do next. “Someone else is upstairs.” Reed grabbed Sarah and pushed her behind Paul. “Stay here,” he told her. “Paul, I’m going up.”
He raced to the first step. Around the curving stairs, keeping low as he moved, Reed stopped with the second floor at eye level. A pair of boots stuck out from one side. Good. We got Dorcy. They didn’t move, so Reed pulled out his pistol and signaled to Paul.
Reed waited. A weak, scratchy voice called out.
“Help me.”
Reed didn’t respond, and the voice called out again.
“Throw your weapon out here, Dorcy,” Reed ordered.
A garbled response he didn’t catch.
“Do it now.”
This time the choked words were clearer. “Not Dorcy.” A wet, sucking sound now. “He’s dead. I’m alive.”
Reed slowly poked his head around the stairwell. Ian Napier lay on the ground next to Dorcy’s body.
“Is there anyone else up here?” Napier shook his head. “If you move, I’ll shoot.”
Reed crept up the final steps, shotgun leading the way. A quick sweep revealed no other man or beast in sight. When he looked back down on the rogue scientist, the shotgun dropped to his side. Napier wasn’t long for this world.
He waved to Paul. “Send Sarah up. Paul, keep watch.” She pounded up the steps pistol first. “You don’t need it,” Reed said. “He’s unarmed.”
Only when she looked down did Sarah realize. “Ian?” She fell to her knees and put one hand on his arm. “Why are you here?”
He took a wet, sucking breath. “My files.” Another labored breath. Blood seeped between his lips and he coughed weakly.
Sarah dropped her pistol and pressed two hands on the chest wound. “You’ll be okay. Talk to me, Ian.”
His eyelids fluttered. “You, Sarah. My files…it’s Sarah.”
“Don’t worry.” She looked to Reed. “I need to stabilize him.”
Reed had seen enough dead men and beasts to know that nothing would save Ian. Not with a chest wound like that. Frothy blood seeped between Sarah’s fingers, pinkish and bubbly, contrasting brightly with the dark red liquid pooling beneath his chest.
“It’s too late,” Reed whispered to her.
Ian Napier’s chest rose, fell, and didn’t rise again.
“Ian?” Sarah pressed his chest, again and again. She began chest compressions as she leaned over the now dead man, soft sobs shaking her body.
Reed’s ears perked up as he caught a whirring mechanical noise that hovered just at the edge of hearing. Reed scanned the ceiling and found a security camera pointed directly at him.
Shit.
He pointed the shotgun and Sarah jumped as the camera exploded.
“Time to move,” he said as he grabbed her shoulder. A sign on the wall indicated the Security Office was down the hallway. Whoever had moved that camera to locate them couldn’t be far away. “Downstairs, now.”
She didn’t argue, though her eyes stayed on Napier’s corpse. “What was he talking about? He said—”
Reed never heard the rest. Something hit his leg hard, barking off his shin. He looked down and saw a little rock bouncing away, clattering on the marble. He dropped his shotgun.
“Grenade!” Reed latched onto
Sarah and dove for the stairs just before gunfire erupted from the doorway down the hall. Bullets pinged around them as they rolled down the stairs. There was more gunfire, someone yelled, and then the world turned upside down.
The blast knocked them the rest of the way down the stairs, airborne most of the way until Reed crash-landed. Before he could stand Sarah landed on top of him. He wrapped both hands around her and rolled, hauling her under the stairs.
“Sarah, look at me.” Her eyes opened. “Are you shot?”
“No, I’m okay.”
Same story for Reed. No shrapnel he could feel, and his arms and legs seemed to work. Sarah jumped when Reed cursed. “I dropped the shotgun. Do you have your pistol?”
She reached for her waistband. “It’s gone. Wait.” Debris scattered, and Sarah pulled her gun from beneath the mess. “Yes. Lucky bounce.” She held it out, the barrel shaking.
He pushed it away. “Don’t point it at me.” Somehow he still had the rifle strapped over his shoulder, along with the .38 on his hip. The acrid smoke brought tears to his eyes. Gunfire continued behind it, out of sight.
He squinted into the haze and spotted Paul hugging a pillar as he fired toward the front entrance. Judging from the sparks blooming all around him, one of the soldiers was shooting from near the entrance. Which meant one was attacking from above and another from behind.
“I don’t have a clear shot,” Reed said. “Can you see upstairs?”
“Some.” She scooted out and looked up. “A soldier is at the top of the steps.” Gunfire chattered, and she ducked back. “I think I saw another person too.”
All the dead bodies left only one option. “Deka Conteh.” Why the government minister wanted them dead didn’t matter. She’d come here with two goons, and Reed and his team were in their crosshairs. “Why couldn’t she have been in the Navy?”
“What?”
“Nothing.” It sounded as though Paul’s adversary was near the front door. “See the big glass panes by the entrance?” He pointed. “Shoot them out when I signal you. I need a few seconds to get over to the wall.” It would give him a clear view of the man shooting at Paul but would also put him in the man’s line of fire with no protection. Sarah shooting out the glass should distract the gunman, giving Reed a chance to get closer to him. He checked the rifle to be sure it was loaded, then steadied himself.
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