Kyle nodded and tapped his earpiece. “We need you inside,” he told Ian. “Come to the east door and Payne will let you in.”
Payne jogged off down the hall, not needing further instruction.
Kyle moved back in front of the monitor. “As soon as we lose the element of surprise, we’re screwed.”
“So let’s not lose the element of surprise.” Ava smiled, hoping to encourage him. She brought the lab they’d passed on the way to the control room to screen and went on. “They were curious as we walked by them, but they shrugged it off and went back to work.” She brought up images of the other two labs. “Payne can round up one group of the ‘lab rats’ and you and Ian can round up the other. Then bring them all to the woman’s lab. She’s already seen us, so she’ll be less shocked when something else happens.”
“Any panic button in the lab will probably notify the control center. It’s not like calling the police would do any good.”
Ava swiveled her chair so she could look up at him. “Then once all the scientists are in one place, you guys can start rounding up—or knocking out—the remaining guards.”
“Would you rather we have snapped their necks? That’s the easiest way to prevent an enemy from sounding an alarm.”
“Put that way, I guess you guys have been remarkably restrained.” She turned back to the computer and checked then rechecked the images. One misstep would send their plans toppling like a row of dominos.
“What’s the plan?” Ian asked as he returned with Payne.
“Payne, head straight down this hall and collect the three lab rats on your right. Ian, you’re with me.”
“What do I do once I’ve collected them?” Payne asked.
“Keep them from doing anything stupid and bring them to the first lab we saw.”
“Got it.”
Ava took a deep breath and pushed to her feet. “Where do you want me?”
Anywhere and everywhere. He grinned and then said out loud, “Wait for us near the first lab, but don’t go in until we join you.”
Ava nodded. It was unlikely the scientists would give her any trouble, but she was much more comfortable behind a keyboard than pointing a gun. She quickly propped open the door to the control room with a book then headed for the lab.
Watching the workers from an adjacent hallway, Ava waited for Kyle’s return. They moved about at a leisurely pace, apparently unconcerned with what they’d seen earlier.
Payne arrived first, marching his three lab rats in front of him like obedient children. He winked at her as he passed and she followed as he ushered his group into the lab.
“What the hell is this?” the female scientist asked, hopping down from her stool. She spoke with obvious authority, her dark eyes sweeping the entire scene before focusing in on Payne. “Carvel, explain.”
Payne’s explanation was interrupted by Ian and Kyle’s arrival. One of the scientists had his hands bound behind his back and his mouth taped shut. Apparently he had tried to be a hero.
“What is this?” The female scientist crept toward the end of her workspace.
Ava rushed to the counter and ran her fingers along the underside, easily finding the woman’s destination. “A panic button’s not going to help you now.” She didn’t want to provoke the woman, but she couldn’t forget the captives waiting below.
Kyle looked around the room then pointed to the back corner where there wasn’t any furniture or outlets of any kind. “Everyone over there. Sit down against the wall.”
“Want me to secure them?” Payne held up a fist full of zip ties.
“Probably wouldn’t hurt.”
Ian helped Payne, and all of the scientists were soon contained in a nice cluster, wrists securely bound. Except the woman. Kyle had stopped her when she started to join the others. “How many holding cells are there total?”
According to the security feeds there were twelve, but there could be more if they weren’t under surveillance.
“Six on each sublevel.” There was no hesitation in her tone and she seemed almost excited by the intrusion of armed strangers. Who was she?
“Don’t help them, Carly. The backers will kill you.”
She glared at the speaker, one of the young men who had been assisting her. “Thanks for telling them my name.”
“So, Carly,” Kyle paused for effect. “Tell me about ‘the backers’?”
“I’m not telling you anything.” Then she moved closer to Kyle and whispered, “Unless you take me with you.”
“And why would I do that?” Kyle’s brows arched, but his expression remained cold. “We both know you’ve been abusing the people in those cages downstairs. Why would I deal with someone like that?”
“Can we talk somewhere away from them?” She nodded toward the other scientists.
“She’s Osric’s lover,” a thin man with balding hair warned. “Don’t believe anything she tells you.”
“He’s my professional rival.” Carly glared at the outspoken man then returned her gaze to Kyle. “And he doesn’t know half of what I know.”
“We don’t have time for this.” Payne growled and rubbed his forehead. Then he looked at Ian and asked, “What did Quinn do with my clothes? I need to…change into something more comfortable.”
Ian shrugged, yet his focus remained on the huddled scientists. “He either threw them in the back of his truck or left them in the woods. Maybe she can find you a set of scrubs.”
“May I?” Carly asked Kyle. He nodded so she crossed the lab and opened one of the cabinets. “What size?”
“As big as you’ve got.” Payne’s voice sounded tenser by the moment.
She walked back across the lab and handed him the garments. “Anything else?”
“Take her up on it,” her rival sneered. “She can be very accommodating.”
“Take them out to the shed,” Kyle directed. “If Quinn needs help, one of you can stay, but I need the other back as soon as possible.”
The scientists were helped to their feet and marched out of the lab in a line. Ian led and Payne took up the lead. More than a few glares were tossed at Carly as the room emptied.
“Are you Osric’s lover?” Before she could answer, Kyle added, “Don’t lie to me. I can hear your heartbeat and smell your fear. I’ll know if you’re lying.”
“I have sex with him but it’s not by choice. I’ve been spying for the backers.” She squared her shoulders and shoved her hands into the pockets of her lab coat. “My assistant wasn’t exaggerating. The backers will kill me if they think I helped you.”
“Do you know where Osric is or when he’ll return?”
“He left early this morning with our head of security. They both think the other is in trouble, but I suspect Osric is in for a rude awakening.”
“Meaning?”
“The backers will probably kill them both.”
He rubbed his chin and stared at the nervous hostage. “I’ll take you out of here, but your fate has yet to be determined. The more valuable you can make yourself, the more likely it is you’ll survive.”
Carly’s lips trembled while desperation burned in her eyes. “There are two guards on each of the sublevels. I could sound an alarm and two of the four would run up the stairs to help me. They won’t desert their posts. You’ll have to deal with the other two.”
“Why are you so anxious to turn traitor?” He stalked toward her, gaze narrowed and assessing.
“I’m a survivor, and right now you’re my best chance of coming out of this alive.”
Payne walked back into the lab. He’d returned to his natural form and was now dressed in the borrowed scrubs. “What’s next, boss?”
Carly just stared at him, mouth gaping as he strode across the room. “You’re… How did you… Where is Carvel?”
“In the woods where we found him,” Kyle told her. “As of right now, we haven’t killed anyone. If you help us, that statistic might remain the same.”
“Are you all Therians?�
�� Her anxious gaze kept drifting back toward Payne. “I don’t think the backers know you can imitate people too.”
Imitate people? As if we don’t deserve the title. Ava clenched her hands into fists. She was rapidly developing an extreme dislike for this woman.
Relax, sunshine. Our first priority has to be evacuating the captives. He glanced at her to make sure she’d heard him, so she nodded.
“We really are going to have a nice long talk about these ‘backers’,” he said to Carly. “But right now we have more pressing concerns. How many captives are downstairs?”
“Eleven, no ten. I almost forgot they moved Devon.”
“Devon?” Dread, anger and fear twisted through Kyle so powerfully Ava groaned. “You had a prisoner named Devon? What did she look like? How long has she been here? Where did they take her?”
“Black hair, big green eyes, very pretty.” Carly stared into his eyes and her gaze narrowed. “Is she related to you?”
He grasped her upper arms and lifted her off her feet. “Where did they take her?”
“I honestly don’t know. I didn’t even know they had other complexes until Roberto mentioned it.”
“Roberto is one of the backers?”
“We need to get moving,” Payne reminded. “You can interrogate the little turncoat later.”
Reluctantly, Kyle released Carly and stepped back. “No alarms. Use a radio to call two of the guards, so I can hear what you’re saying.”
“The intercom is hardwired. Radio reception is sketchy belowground.”
“Fine. Use the intercom.”
They escorted Carly to the nearest intercom and she contacted two of the guards, asking for their help moving a filing cabinet. After some grumbling about useless females, they agreed to help.
Kyle hurried Carly toward the elevator in time to hear the distinct hum of the motor. There was no way to know if one or both of the guards were contained within the car, so they prepared for a dual attack. Carly stood in front of the elevator while Kyle and Payne flanked the door.
The car contained both guards and one greeted Carly with a flirtatious smile.
“Thanks for helping me, guys.”
Neither of the guards had drawn their weapons. They moved out of the elevator in close succession and the confrontation was over as quickly as it began. Kyle disarmed one while Payne wrestled with the other. Even the second guard’s fiery determination was no match for Payne’s calm strength. Payne twisted his arm behind his back and forced him to his knees. Kyle had already incapacitated his guard, so he helped Payne secure the second man.
Carly watched it all with morbid curiosity. “What do they change into?” she whispered the question to Ava. Ava’s only reaction was a silent glare.
“Two to go,” Payne muttered. “Then what? How do we get off this mountain with ten extra passengers?”
“Let’s worry about that once the complex is secured,” Kyle suggested. “There’s one left for you and one for me.”
“They’ll presume we’re the returning guards. Let’s get this done.”
Kyle kissed Ava and said, “I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come down.” Then he stepped into the elevator with Payne and the door slid closed.
“I told him radios don’t work down there.”
Ava looked at Carly, suppressing the urge to gloat. “Who said anything about radios?”
“You are telepathic. I knew it.” Carly covered her mouth with one hand as her gaze moved over Ava’s face. “Did Devon signal your… Is he your mate or just your lover?”
“It’s none of your business.” She took a deep breath and widened her stance as she glared into Carly’s eyes. “You experiment on children. I find you detestable.”
“The children weren’t touched and I had nothing to do with their capture.”
“How long have you been experimenting on the others or are you going to deny that too?”
Carly started to say something then shook her head and looked away as she sighed. “I know you won’t believe me, but I’m as much a prisoner as they are.”
Ava laughed, hands clenched so tightly her nails bit into her palm. “Sure you are.”
Kyle signaled Ava a few minutes later and told her to bring Carly down with her. The conditions below were not nearly as bad as Ava had feared. There was no excuse for treating these people like guinea pigs, but it didn’t appear as if they had been overly abused. Beyond long periods of incarceration and numerous medical procedures, of course.
Kyle had opened Cheyenne’s cell and let her go in to her nieces. The two girls clung to their aunt, all three sobbing.
“Do you have a laptop?” Kyle asked Carly. His expression hadn’t changed significantly, but Ava could feel the hatred seething beneath the surface. Carly’s chances of coming out of this alive were shrinking by the minute.
“Why?”
“I want you to gather as much of your research as you can carry. Samples, reports, whatever.”
“Samples are a good idea, but the rest is documented in the database, which is backed up remotely. I can access it with any computer.” Carly licked her lips and slipped her hands into her pockets, clearly sensing the change in his attitude.
“Payne will accompany you to your lab. If you’re not ready in ten minutes, we’ll leave without you.”
Ava waited until Payne and Carly were on their way up in the elevator before she asked Kyle what he and Payne had decided. “How are we going to get all these people off this mountain?”
“You, Carissa and Erin will have to drive while Quinn and I escort you.”
“What about Ian and Payne?”
“They’re going to wait for backup.”
“Why do we need backup? Don’t we control the entire complex?”
“We do, but we have several tasks still to be completed. First, the doctors must be taken to the council for judgment. Their actions cannot go unpunished.”
“What about the guards?”
“It doesn’t appear that the guards had any direct interaction with the captives. We’re going to leave them bound in the shed and let the backers deal with their inability to protect the facility.”
“Why did you want Carly to gather her research?”
“We need to know how much they’ve learned and what they intend to do with the knowledge. Besides, once everyone is evacuated, Payne and his friends are going to blow this place sky high.”
“I see.” She was pleased by the outcome but tension still gripped her belly. If the women were going to drive, how were the men going to “escort” the vehicles? “You’re going to shift, aren’t you? You’ll escort us in cat form.”
He nodded. “It’s the best option. We need every seat we have for the captives.”
“We only have two vehicles. How will that be enough?”
He finally smiled. “I guess we’ll have to borrow one of their Jeeps.”
Kyle made it sound so simple, but Ava gripped the steering wheel with both hands and reminded herself to breathe. The terrain had seemed treacherous while she was a passenger. Now that she was driving an unfamiliar Jeep filled with frightened strangers, she wasn’t sure she would survive the dangerous descent. But the former captives watched her with a mixture of hope and fear. She couldn’t fail them now. They were counting on her to deliver them safely into the arms of their loved ones and she intended to do just that.
Kyle, in cougar form, darted in and out of the trees, scaling rocks and navigating slopes with agile strength. He looked completely at home in this inhospitable setting. Quinn ran on the other side of the vehicles, his large black jaguar blending with the shadows.
The trail dipped suddenly, pitching the Jeep dangerously to the side. One of the young women in the backseat cried out and the others quickly shushed her.
“It’s all right,” Ava assured them with a smile. “We’ll be on a real road soon.”
Erin led the three-vehicle convoy in Payne’s SUV. Ava drove in the middle and Carissa brough
t up the end in Quinn’s truck. The pace Erin set stretched the boundaries of Ava comfort zone, but she understood time was of the essence. Payne and Ian were waiting for word that all the captives were safely away before they blew up the lab and made their own escape.
The “real road” was more like a winding dirt trail, but Ava was thrilled to leave the worst of the obstacles behind.
“Where are you taking us?” The speaker, a dark-haired woman in her mid- to late-thirties, sat in the middle of the backseat and appeared to have appointed herself spokesperson for the other three.
“I’m not sure. I doubt they’ll want to keep everyone together, that would be too dangerous.”
“Who organized the escape?” the woman in the passenger seat asked. She was pale and gaunt. Had she been in captivity longer than the others or had her testing been more invasive? “I know no one was looking for me. Everyone thinks I’m dead.”
“There’s no way my family has given up on me,” the outspoken brunette bragged, drawing glares from the others.
“The escape was the combined effort of a variety of cat clans,” Ava replied, hoping to defuse the budding argument. “Oh and Ian. He’s a raptor.”
“How did you find the lab? What will be done with the employees and the people who financed the place? I’ve heard them called ‘the backers’ or something like that.”
Ava wasn’t sure who rattled off the question and she wasn’t sure how much she should share. She knew they were Therians, but she had no idea if she could trust them. Not all the clans were friendly. “It’s probably best if we let one of the others explain. I don’t know what happens next and I don’t want to mislead you.”
“In other words, she’s a grunt. Don’t waste your time.”
That had definitely been the argumentative brunette, but Ava kept her gaze fixed on the road and pretended not to have heard the spiteful comments.
They continued in relative silence for the remainder of the trip. The ex-captives spoke to each other, but none of them attempted to include Ava in the conversation.
Ava didn’t breathe easily until they reached a paved road and even then she found herself checking her rearview mirror far more often than necessary. A deep, rumbling sound drew her attention to her right.
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