by Liz Wolfe
“Dear God,” Mac whispered. Bear shook his head and turned off the monitor.
“That was definitely Carlson and Thomas,” Shelby said.
“So, when do we go in?” Paige asked.
“Uh uh. You don’t go in at all.” Shelby shook her head. “You, Zoe, Chase, and Mac will stay here and wait.”
“Not likely!” Mac shook his head. “I’ve been in this from the beginning; I’m going to be there at the end.”
“Not going to happen, Shelby.” Chase crossed beefy arms over his chest and shook his head.
“Me too.” Paige planted her hands on her hips and frowned.
“I could help, Shelby. As I told you before, I’m good at getting into places undetected,” Zoe said.
“No. I go in alone.”
That brought on arguments from all of them. Shelby looked at Bear and jerked her head toward the door. They stepped outside, and she heard Mac tell the others to give them a few minutes as the door closed.
“What do you think, Bear?”
“I think it’s your op, and you do it your way.”
“No, that’s what I think. Or what I’ve always thought.” Shelby shook her head and leaned against the wall. “What do you really think?”
“I think you’re going to have a hard time getting Shannon and Sam out of there all by yourself.”
Not the words she wanted to hear, but Bear had always been honest with her. “I can get in easier by myself.”
“That’s true, but what about getting out with two people? And it seems like there are more people in there than just Shannon and Sam.”
“It’s really hard to bring others in when I’m so used to working alone.”
“You called me in.” Bear gave her his blindingly brilliant smile.
“Yeah, but I’ve worked with you before. I know I can count on you.”
“Trust has never been your strong point, Falcon. But you can’t go through life never trusting.”
“I trust you and I trust Mel. I even trust Ethan, pretty much.” Shelby sighed as Bear continued to smile at her. “I guess I can trust Chase and Mac too.”
Bear wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “I knew you’d come to the right decision.”
Bear opened the door, and they stepped inside. Shelby held her hands up to quiet their questions.
“I can’t stop Mac or Chase, but I can stop you two.” She pointed at Paige and Zoe. “Direct order, Paige. You don ’t go anywhere near the Fortress. Besides, I need you back here with the building plans. I’ll be wired in case I need information from you. And you’ll be here in case something goes wrong.”
That wasn’t exactly true. Shelby had a feeling that if things went wrong, there wouldn’t be anyone left to rescue. But it placated Paige, or Paige figured there was no point in arguing.
“Why not me?” Zoe asked.
“I agree that you have some exceptional talents, Zoe. But, not this time.” Zoe’s face fell and Shelby grinned. “Believe me, you’ll have plenty of other opportunities to get in trouble with me and Paige.”
Zoe grinned.
“She will?” Paige asked. “When? What happened?”
“Shelby offered me a job,” Zoe said.
“Great.” Paige smiled, but it looked a little forced. Shelby decided she’d deal with that later, if it became necessary.
“I’d suggest that we all get a little sleep while we can. We’ll meet back here at 1700 hours.” Shelby held the door while everyone left for their own rooms.
Chris crouched in a dense clump of bushes and thought about how she was going to get inside the gates. She’d had no idea it would be so well guarded. But it was still early, and maybe they’d reduce the number of guards in a couple of hours. She’d hiked several miles to get here, and she could use the time to rest and plan.
So far, her only plan was to get the photos and negatives from Jonah. If that involved killing him, she really didn’t have a problem with it. He was not going to rule her life any longer.
She sat back and considered the possibilities of getting in. She had the equipment to scale the wall, but they probably had that alarmed. The only other option seemed to be just walking up to the front gate and announcing herself. Jonah would let her in, thinking that she had information for him. At the very least, he’d want to know how she found him. Still, she preferred getting in unannounced. She would wait and see if some of the guards went off duty in a while.
She was almost dozing off when she heard the noise. She crouched down further into the bushes and watched as people walked past, not more than fifteen feet from where she sat. She almost gasped when Mac walked by. What the hell was he doing here? The woman must be that Parker bitch. The woman paused for a moment and looked around. Chris felt like she was looking right at her. But then they all moved off again.
She had to think quickly. The last thing she’d heard from Monique was that Parker had cut off all communication with the FSA. Chambers and Calder didn’t know where Parker was or what she was doing. Evidently, she’d been looking for Jonah, and she’d found him. Chris hadn’t expected this, but it could work to her advantage. After Parker and her group got inside, Chris could just stroll in behind them.
Shelby stopped about twenty yards from the edge of the clearing that surrounded the Fortress and motioned Bear to go check to see which pole held the power source for the laser beam units. He was back in less than five minutes. He pointed to the pole he’d need to climb, and she checked her watch. The guards would be changing positions in about ten minutes. Shelby nodded and signaled everyone to take their places.
Bear crouched at the edge of the forest, just a few feet from the pole. Mac and Shelby positioned themselves between two other poles. Chase was between them. If it looked like Bear was going to be discovered, he’d signal them, and they’d throw a stick to activate the lights on their side, drawing the guards’ attention away from Bear’s location.
Shelby and Mac crouched low in the bushes, tensely watching Chase for a signal. It never came, and a few minutes later they all moved back into the cover of the forest again.
“We got a bonus,” Bear said with a big grin. “The pole also has a light on it. I rigged the light so I can make it go out from here. He pulled a small black box with an antenna on it from his pocket. “Watch.” He pressed a button, and the light flared and died.
The guard in the nearest tower looked over at the light when it flared and then checked the ground around the wall. He picked up a notebook, wrote something in it, and sat down again.
“It’s not as dark as I’d like, but it’ll do,” Shelby said.
The two guards that walked the inside perimeter moved in opposite directions. Their paths crossed at the front gate and at the back. Shelby had timed their walk at twenty minutes from the front to the back. When they walked the length of the front and rear of the building, the darkened area was out of their sight for ten minutes, and then in their sight for ten minutes. The tower guard would have to stand up and turn around to see the area, and his attention was on the area in front of his tower. It was tight, but Shelby figured they could make it if they were quiet and didn’t make any mistakes.
The building plans had shown a door leading to the kitchen area just across from the wall in that spot. Shelby was counting on the doctors not having bothered to relocate the kitchen and hoping that the blown light would leave the door in a shadow. She signaled everyone to move into position.
Counting from the time she’d seen the guards pass each other at the front gate, she waited until they would pass each other at the rear. When that time came, she tossed the grappling hook over the wall and hoped that they hadn’t changed their pacing.
The grappling hook had been covered in black rubber to minimize the clanking and scraping of metal on brick. She scrambled up the wall and quickly snipped the razor wire. She hooked another grappling hook over the wall, dropped the black rope to the ground, and lowered herself as silently as possible. Scannin
g the area, she ran full out for the building and tucked herself into a dark corner.
In a few minutes, the guard walked past. Shelby held her breath hoping he wouldn’t notice the rope in the shadows, or her pressed into a corner.
After he passed and turned the corner, she let her breath out. The door she wanted was about fifteen feet away, and she bolted for it, pulling her digital decoder out as she ran. Shelby pressed it against the coded lock and pushed the button, glancing over her shoulder to see Chase coming over the wall. The decoder had two of the five numbers when Mac came over, and by the time Bear heaved over the wall, she had all five numbers. Shelby committed them to memory, signed the numbers to the men, and punched them into the key lock. The door swung open into a dark hallway. Checking each of the doors, she found that the entire side of the building housed the kitchen, laundry and utility rooms.
They passed through the kitchen and adjoining room that must have been the original dining room for the prison. Now it held crates of equipment, still shrink-wrapped. On the other side of the dining room was the center of the building, with open stairways going up to the second floor. Shelby surmised that that would be where the cells had been before the doctors remodeled the place. Now the walls were lined with solid doors on both floors.
Shelby moved to the rear of the Fortress and opened the double doors, using the same key code. Laboratory area. Tons of equipment, lots of individual rooms. No one present. Which meant they were keeping Shannon and Sam somewhere else. She motioned the men to check out the rest of the lower floor. Then they met up again in the deserted dining room.
“What’d you find?” Shelby whispered.
“Lab stuff, a few offices,” Chase whispered back.
“Storage for medical supplies,” Mac whispered.
Bear nodded. “Same here.”
“Upstairs.” Shelby took the lead.
They silently made their way up the stairs and paused. She turned toward the front of the building. If she were in charge, that’s where she’d put her living quarters. She found two doors marked Private Quarters.
Shelby pulled two cylinders out of her pack and handed one to Bear. They both knelt down and quickly threaded plastic tubes under the doors. The doors were hung about a half-inch off the floor to accommodate the plush carpeting inside the living quarters. They turned the canisters on and heard a soft hissing as the sleeping gas spewed into the rooms.
Shelby signaled everyone, and they moved along the walkway to the rear of the building. Both sides and the rear of the second floor held rows of doors that had retinal scanners and coded locks. She was betting that only the doctors’ eyeballs would allow entry to any of these rooms.
“Hands in the air and freeze!”
Shelby turned slowly, hands above her head. A big guard in a khaki uniform held an AK-47 on them.
Crap.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
This had definitely not been in her plans. She hadn’t even heard him approaching. That no one else had heard him was little consolation. Her hopes that the guards were washed-out ex-military fled.
Shelby forcefully stopped the self-chastisement and string of excuses that were running through her head. She had to think of a way out of this. There were four of them; only one of him. Since she didn’t hear the pounding of boots running up the stairs, she assumed he hadn’t called for backup—yet.
“Lieutenant Greenley?” Chase asked, peering through the dim lighting in the hallway.
“What?” The guard advanced a few steps, not taking his weapon off them. “Harm? What the hell are you doing here? You go over the wall or something?”
Of course, he had, literally. But Shelby knew that Greenley was referring to the metaphorical wall that meant Chase was now working for the bad guys.
“Actually, I think you went over. Unknowingly, of course, sir.”
Shelby glanced over and realized that Chase was standing at attention. Interesting.
“You want to explain that, son?”
“You probably think you’re guarding a government research center, sir.” Greenley nodded, and Chase continued. “The fact is that Parker and Bear here are with the FSA.” Shelby raised a hand in a mock salute to Greenley. “McRae is with the FBI. We’re here to rescue the people Thomas and Carlson are calling patients, but are actually prisoners.”
Greenley seemed to consider that for a moment. “Downstairs. Now. All of you.” He held the weapon on them as they trooped down the stairs and then pointed to one of the offices with a coded lock.
Shelby started to punch in the code she’d memorized and thought better of it. Never taking his weapon or his eyes off them, Greenley punched in the code and pushed the door open. Inside, he slapped restraints on everyone and told them to be seated.
“Now. Out with it. The whole story.” He pointed the AK-47 at Shelby. “You seem to be in charge. Talk.”
So she did. Shelby explained the entire situation as quickly as she could. Greenley looked at Chase and shook his head. “You go along with this?”
Chase nodded and explained his connection to Shannon and his experience at The Center in Tucson.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Greenley lowered the weapon and removed the restraints from their wrists. “Let me go tell the guards what’s going on, and then we’ll decide what to do.”
“I take it he’s a friend of yours?” Shelby asked Chase after Greenley left.
“He was the leader of the first Force Recon unit I served in.”
“Okay, that explains why I didn’t hear him in the hallway. You think he’ll convince the other guards that we’re the good guys?”
“Not a doubt. If I know Greenley, his team is totally loyal to him. They’ll do whatever he says.”
“That would be good.” Excellent, actually. Instead of having to avoid or take out guards, she’d have a commando unit at her fingertips.
“They’re gonna catch hell for letting us get inside, though.” Chase chuckled and seemed pleased by the idea.
Half an hour later, after a heated debate in Greenley’s now-crowded office, they had a plan. Actually, Shelby had a plan, and she’d finally convinced Greenley that they were doing things her way. She could tell he wanted to be in command, but even more he wanted the op to work, and he had to admit she had the knowledge and the skills to lead the maneuver.
“First, we need one of the doctors’ eyes.” Most everyone blanched at that statement. Shelby was sure they thought she was going to cut out someone’s eyeball. She motioned to two of the guards. “You’re with me.”
They trotted upstairs to the private quarters doors. “Which one is Thomas?” One of the guards motioned to the door on the left. Shelby slapped the decoder on the lock and pushed the button to activate it. The numbers came up in a few seconds.
She’d really have preferred using Carlson for this, but she’d pegged Jonah as the weaker one, and she had to make her decision based on the success of the entire op. Carlson would get hers later.
Shelby pushed the door open to a luxurious suite of rooms, but she didn’t have time to admire the furnishings. The sleeping gas wouldn’t start to affect her for at least five minutes, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She moved directly to the second room where Jonah lay sleeping peacefully in his king-sized bed. Taking a handful of his pajama top in her fist, Shelby jerked him off the bed. He barely opened his eyes as she muscled him out the door, closing it behind her.
Shelby thrust him toward the guards. “Bring him along.” His bare feet dragged the ground as the guards pulled him down the hallway. She jogged ahead and used the decoder on the lock. At the first door, she pulled him over to the retinal scanner. His head was lolling on his chest, so she took a handful of that silver hair, jerked his head up, and pried an eyelid open. He looked pretty stupid, hanging on the guard’s arm, drool running from the corner of his mouth, and that pleased Shelby.
The scanner glowed red, and then green. She punched in the code and pushed the door open. Shannon was
sitting up on the edge of her bed, fully clothed. Chase pushed past the guards, and Shannon launched herself into his arms.
Damn, this felt good. She left them together and took the rest of the guards with her, as she used Jonah’s eye to open each of the doors. All told, there were eleven prisoners. After they’d gotten dressed in whatever clothes they had, the guards led them downstairs, under Greenley’s eagle eye. The guards were pretty gentle with them, letting them know that they were taking them to safety. Their nightmare was over.
Bear walked ahead of Shelby holding Sam in his arms.
“Mommy! I told you Bear would come!”
Bear handed Sam over to his mother, and Shelby watched the look on Chase’s face as he looked at them.
“Sam, this is Chase,” Shannon said. Sam lifted his head from his mother’s shoulder and gave Chase a smile. Shannon took Chase’s hand. “I have something to tell you.”
“Chase, take Shannon and Sam, and go join the others. Greenley is loading everyone into the trucks, and getting them out of here.”
“Where are we taking them?” Chase asked.
“To the nearest hospital. They’ll all need to be checked over. Be sure the doctors know that they might have received unknown drugs. As soon as we’re done here, we’ll join you.”
“Am I with you or them?” Bear asked.
Shelby looked around. The only thing left to do here was to get into the doctors’ offices, take their laptops, AND get all the hard drives from the other computers. Jonah and Ruth were both drugged from the sleeping gas, so she wouldn’t have any problem with them. “Go with them. Mac and I’ll finish up here.”
Jonah was mumbling and showing signs of coming out of the drugged gas. Shelby flagged Greenley down. “Mind if I borrow a couple of those restraints?” He didn’t and handed them to her as the last of the prisoners trundled down the stairs with the guards.
“You probably want to slap a set of those on Dr. Ruthless before she wakes up,” he advised.
“Dr. Ruthless.” Shelby chuckled. “I like that. Fits her.”