Her eyes flitted across the faces staring expectantly at her: seven teens, one of whom was unconscious. Not exactly an inconspicuous group. They didn’t have a prayer of slipping out among the club kids, if there were even any left outside.
Which meant somehow getting past the guards who remained in the building. Her stomach knotted with tension and fear. The other raids they’d pulled off had all gone smoothly; they’d overwhelmed the few guards quickly, and no one had gotten hurt. Now she had to face the possibility that they might not all make it out of here. Worse yet, Project Persephone might catch her again. She could end the night drugged and dumped back on a table.
At that thought she drew a deep breath, resolve hardening in her chest. No way she was going to let that happen.
“Well? We going or what?” Remo demanded.
She could tell by the strain on his face that carrying the girl, even though she was tiny, was taking a toll. The rest of the teens wore expressions raging from concern to terror. Only Zeke gazed at her calmly, as if he had utter faith in her ability to steer them out of this mess.
“I’ll lead,” Noa said. “Zeke, you take the rear. The rest of you stay together. Remo, I need your hands free. Danny and Janiqua, take the girl.”
Some grumbling at that, but if they did encounter any obstacles, Noa trusted Remo to keep his head. After a second they complied, with Janiqua stepping forward to take the weight of the girl.
“Damn, she’s heavy,” she grumbled under her breath. “Should we even bother? She looks—”
“We’re taking her,” Noa snapped. Even if the girl was suffering through the final stages of PEMA, they weren’t going to leave her here to be subjected to more “tests.” “Now let’s go. Gear out and ready.”
She gripped her Taser and pepper spray as she led the way toward the south side of the building. The next three short hallways should lead to the control room, and the loading bay was just past it. Maybe they’d even get lucky and find a vehicle there.
Noa trotted down the corridor briskly, trying to ignore the clock ticking off each second in her head. They’d been inside for at least ten minutes. The smoke was dissipating; a curtain of it shrouded the ceiling, but it didn’t feel like every breath was piercing her chest anymore.
Their footsteps were painfully loud against the tiled floor. If guards were waiting up ahead, they might as well be announcing their approach with a bullhorn.
They made it down the first hall, then the second, without encountering another soul. The lights were still on, the fluorescent bulbs making the bright white walls and floor throb painfully against her sore red eyes. By the time they reached the turnoff to the third corridor, the smoke had completely disappeared.
Noa held up a hand, stopping the others. The control room should be right around the next corner. She had no idea what it would look like; the blueprints had only marked it by name, without detailing whether or not it was closed off from the hall, or facing it with picture windows. She knew which option she preferred.
Noa eased her head around. Her heart sank. Worst-case scenario: The white wall ended in an enormous plate-glass window that stretched from waist height to the ceiling.
Worse yet, the door stood open, with two guards directly in front of it. The smaller one was dressing down the other guy, waving his arms and shouting about screwups. The guy hulking over him had his head bowed. Both were wearing khaki uniforms and had guns in hip holsters. Standard rent-a-cops, the only distinction being that no patches or insignia identified the company they worked for.
The set of double doors behind them should lead to the loading dock.
Noa ducked back and considered their options. They could rush them, but even if they managed to quickly overwhelm one guard, the other would have plenty of time to draw his weapon. And there might be more guards in the control room.
Deciding, she waved Zeke forward and whispered in his ear. He grimaced when she told him her plan, but nodded. She leaned past him and hissed at Remo, “Stay here, we’ll handle the guards.”
Remo’s brow furrowed, but he nodded and raised his Taser.
She and Zeke stood. “Ready?” she asked in a low voice.
“It’s a good night to die,” he muttered under his breath.
“Not helpful,” Noa countered as she slung an arm around his waist. Together, they stepped around the corner into the hallway, in plain view of the guards.
Teo was undergoing the worst crash course in the history of driving. He’d managed to get the engine started, and was pretty sure he had one foot on the clutch, but every time he shifted into first gear there was a terrible grinding noise and the truck lurched forward, then stopped. They’d only moved a foot, and now the parking lot was entirely devoid of other cars.
Through the windshield he could see Boss Man striding purposefully toward them, his hand resting on the butt of his gun.
“Hey, Daisy?” he called desperately. “This would be a really great time to pull yourself together.”
She sniffled, but didn’t answer.
“Great,” Teo muttered. Jaw tight, he pressed the pedal on the left to the floor again, and let it out slowly as he tried to shift into first.
The engine stalled again. Crap.
The guard was almost upon them, approaching the driver’s side window. Teo raised a hand and forced a weak smile, but he could tell the guard wasn’t buying it.
“Toss the keys out the window, son,” Boss Man called, stopping a foot away and drawing his gun. His face was florid, and streams of sweat coursed down it. “You and me are gonna have a little talk.”
“I-I’ve really got to get the truck back,” Teo said weakly.
“Do you now?” The guy’s eyes narrowed. “’Cause it looks like you don’t have a clue how to drive that thing. Which makes me wonder how you got hired to work it.”
“I usually just hand out tacos.”
“Sure you do.” He wiggled his fingers. “Toss me the keys. Then you and your girlfriend get out nice and slow with your hands on your head.”
Teo sucked in a deep breath. So this was it. He flashed back on what the others had said about the fate of captured kids—he should have run away when he had the chance. At least Daisy had finally stopped wailing.
“I said get out!” Boss Man repeated, his nostrils flaring.
Slowly, Teo raised both hands off the steering wheel and reached for the keys. As he did, the radio beside him crackled again. “Hello? Teo?”
The guard’s brow furrowed. “The hell’s that?”
“Nothing, it’s just—” Teo frantically searched for an explanation. “My boss,” he finished lamely.
“Yeah? On a radio? Toss that out the window, too, boy.” The guard extended a hand for it.
Teo scooped the radio off the seat beside him. As he moved to hand it over, a voice in his ear said, “Duck.”
Obligingly, Teo dropped to the side. As he did, the guard’s eyes widened. Daisy’s arm extended past him; she was holding something. Small barbs shot out from it and latched on to the front of the guard’s khaki shirt. His eyes popped open even wider and he went completely stiff, then dropped to the ground. Taser wires trailed out the window to him.
“About time,” Teo muttered.
Daisy nudged his shoulder. “Sorry. Now move, so I can get us out of here.”
“Noa wants us to pick them up,” Teo said, sliding over with relief.
“Pick them up? Where?” Daisy asked as she climbed behind the wheel.
Teo looked past her. Boss Man was lying on the ground twitching, his face contorted with pain. “At the loading dock.”
“What about the van?” Daisy asked. “Isn’t Crystal supposed to get them?” The engine sputtered to life. Teo watched as she depressed the brake pedal, then slowly released the clutch while shifting into first. As the truck eased forward, he thought, So that’s how you do it.
“I don’t know, there wasn’t exactly a lot of time to talk.”
“Well, did
she say which side it’s on? The building’s huge.”
Daisy sounded annoyed, which irked him. If she hadn’t completely lost it, they wouldn’t even still be here. He resisted the temptation to point that out, instead saying, “The south side.”
“Well, that’s helpful,” Daisy grumbled. “You have any idea which way is south?”
Teo swallowed hard. “No.”
“F’in fantastic.” Daisy sighed. “I guess we’ll have to circle the whole place.” As they slowly rolled toward the warehouse, she glanced in the side mirror. “Crap.”
“What?”
“The guard’s getting back up. And he looks pissed.”
Peter had given up on trying to keep his legs still. The power was fading on his laptop; the low battery alert flashed steadily, and he’d forgotten to bring a car charger. He was staring at the screen, trying to interpret what was happening in Phoenix.
Suddenly, the computer shut down.
He stared at the blank screen for a few seconds, then slammed the laptop closed.
According to the clock on his dashboard, it was 3:20 a.m. The raid had started nearly a half hour earlier. Noa and her team should be back at their safe house by now, but he hadn’t heard anything. And he should’ve. Noa always posted an encoded message in their chat room after a successful mission, letting him know that everything had gone off without a hitch.
And now that his computer was dead, he had no way of checking.
Peter rubbed his eyes; they felt sore and gritty. He was supposed to meet Amanda for breakfast in five hours. He planned on finally sharing his fears about her condition, and he’d prefer to be relatively well rested for that conversation. But even though he was exhausted, he doubted he’d be able to sleep tonight. Worry chewed at him; the sense of impotence had never hit him more strongly.
Peter tapped his finger on the top of the laptop, considering. Maybe he could risk checking in from home. He’d take every precaution, routing through VPNs to hide his IP address. And he wouldn’t log on for long, just check once an hour until he received confirmation that Noa was okay.
It’ll be fine, he told himself. It was unlikely that Pike & Dolan were monitoring his internet usage in the middle of the night anyway.
Peter turned on the ignition and rolled back down the driveway. He’d send Amanda a text asking to meet for lunch instead. Delaying it a few hours couldn’t possibly make a difference, right?
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
Noa’s heart hammered in her chest as they staggered down the hall. She clutched Zeke’s arm and giggled; it came out sounding incredibly fake. He was looking down at her with grave eyes, an equally forced smile glued to his face.
They made it halfway before being noticed. “Hey!”
Noa looked up. Both guards were staring at them, their expressions puzzled and put out.
“Man, you’re old,” she said, stumbling slightly. “You here for the party, too?”
Zeke squeezed her arm, and she kept moving forward. It was a desperate charade; they were covered in soot, who would believe they were just a couple of stoned teenagers here for a rave?
“Hey, where’s DJ Leo?” Zeke demanded. “He should be spinning by now.”
Noa admired the steadiness in his voice. They were still ten feet from the guards—too far for the Tasers.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” the shorter guy growled. “How the hell did you get in?”
“How the hell did you get in?” Noa mimicked, then giggled again.
Zeke drawled, “Dude, chill. You know what you need? The little blue pill. Right, Jenny?”
“Oh, yeah,” Noa agreed, nodding. “The little blue pills are, like, totally awesome.” The nearest guard stood a few feet from the door, and the other one still blocked it. They had to get to the control room window; she needed to know if anyone else was inside before they acted.
“You don’t get out of here now, I’m calling the cops,” the guard ordered.
Noa lurched forward, closing the distance between them. She grabbed his arm to steady herself, simultaneously yanking his hand off the gun. He staggered under her weight—she was a few inches taller, high enough to see the hair plugs dotting his scalp. “Oops!” she said. “I think I’m gonna puke.”
“Aw, man. She always does that.” Zeke shook his head. “Hey, you guys got a trash can or something?”
Noa shifted her head right. Through her peripheral vision, she could see into the control room. A bank of monitors displayed rotating images of the building’s interior and exterior. Her breath caught as a shot of their ragtag group appeared in the upper-right-hand corner. The room was empty, though. Thank God the guards had been talking, otherwise they would have known exactly what was coming their way.
“Get off me!” the guard snarled, jerking his arm back. “Crazy bitch. I swear, I’m gonna—”
His words cut off abruptly as Noa jammed the Taser into the soft tissue at the base of his throat. His mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish. She jerked back—any contact with someone who had 1,200 volts shooting through their system would render her helpless, too. The guard fell to her feet, still twitching.
“Hey!” the other guard protested belatedly. Turning, Noa saw that Zeke was already on him. The guy’s eyes rolled back and he dropped like a stone.
“Nice job,” she said. “Little blue pills? Really?”
“What can I say, I’m a huge Matrix fan.” He shrugged. “We could’ve used the flashbang, you know.”
“Too much noise. It might’ve brought the others running.”
“Your call.” Zeke turned and hissed, “All clear!”
As the others hurried down the hall to meet them, Zeke bent over the guards, securing their hands behind their backs with plastic zip ties. This part of the raid, at least, was rote.
Noa scanned the control room. Spotting a nearly full can of soda beside the console, she picked it up and dumped it liberally over keyboards and towers. There was a satisfying hiss as fluid seeped into the electronics. The images on the monitors wavered, then went black.
“Not exactly the best use of your hacking skills,” Zeke noted.
“Well, we’re in a hurry,” Noa muttered. She would’ve preferred to gather data off the server, but there was no time. More guards were lurking around here somewhere.
“Kidding. Sheesh.” He grinned at her, clearly enjoying himself again. Taking out a few guards always seemed to cheer him up.
“Let’s go.” Noa led the way out of the control room. The others waited silently in the hall outside. She pushed through the double doors, which opened onto a dimly lit, cavernous room. The ceiling soared to the full height of the warehouse. Twenty feet into the room the floor dropped off, right in front of a cargo bay with an enormous sliding metal door.
“All right!” Zeke said. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
“How do we get the door open?” Remo asked.
Good question, Noa thought, walking to the edge of the platform. There was some sort of motor attached to the base on the right-hand side. Motors weren’t really her thing, unless they were attached to a motherboard.
“I got this.” Zeke vaulted easily off the ledge and bent low, examining it. He pushed a few buttons, and with a grinding sound, the metal gate slowly started rising.
Noa closed her eyes, nearly overwhelmed with relief. She was going to get them all out. By now, the taco truck should be waiting on the other side. . . .
“Stop!” a voice yelled.
Noa turned. Two security guards stood just inside the double doors, pointing guns at them.
Teo clung to the door handle with a death grip. Daisy was careening around the building at a speed that the taco truck was clearly not designed for. As she swung the wheel left, his whole side of the truck lifted off the ground. The tires slammed back down on the pavement, but the tail protested, swinging out wide.
“We’re going to flip!” he yelled. “Slow down!”
&nb
sp; “Can’t,” Daisy grunted. “He’ll catch us.”
Sure enough, in his side mirror Teo could see the guard chugging after them, his hair sticking out in all directions. He was definitely gaining. Worse yet, his gun was raised. . . .
Ping! Something metal smacked into the side of the truck. Instinctively, Teo ducked.
“What was that?” Daisy yelled.
“He’s shooting at us!” Teo screamed back.
Daisy jerked the wheel again, swinging the truck from side to side. Teo braced his knees against the dashboard; it felt like his arm was being ripped from his shoulder. The plastic food bins were sliding around in the back; there was a dull thud as a pony keg flipped over. Looks like we won’t be getting that security deposit back on the truck, he couldn’t help thinking as another ping resonated, perilously close to the cab judging by the sound of it.
“Can you see them?” she hollered.
“No!” Frantically, Teo scanned the side of the building. It was one long mass of brown brick; there was no sign of a loading dock. “It’s not here!”
“Great. Just great,” Daisy growled.
The barrage was increasing. Glancing back again, Teo saw that Boss Man had been joined by another guard. He appeared to be in much better shape, closing the gap with long strides as he shot at them. “Crap.”
“What?” Daisy demanded.
“Nothing. Just keep driving.”
Something groaned behind him. Spinning in his seat, Teo saw that the rear door had popped open. Through it he had a clear view of the guard as he raised his gun to shoulder height, leveled it, and fired.
Teo jerked back. The bullet sheared past the space where his head had just been and hit the windshield, splintering it into a spiderweb of glass.
Definitely not getting that deposit back.
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