As far as Gus could tell, the man had never followed protocol in all his years working here. Logins weren’t disabled, names never cleaned or cleared, and things just kept on going.
He also didn’t respond to Gus at all.
“Lieutenant?” Trish asked. “Could you answer the question please?”
“I… Mitch isn’t here. It’s just me and my three guys,” Benson said, turning to look at Trish.
“I understand. Could you show us your office and then bring your three guys in one at a time? We’re here at the invitation of the army, so please consider this an order,” Trish said, smiling at him.
“Right… right over there,” Benson said, pointing at a small room off to one side. “I’ll bring the guys over.”
Indali made a tsk noise as the man got out of earshot.
“He’s a liar or a simpleton,” she said softly. “In either case, I think we have the right facility, but not the right person. With someone so lax in charge of a warehouse, it’s likely many things get through here easily.”
“You’re probably right,” Gus muttered. “Let’s go wait in the office.”
Chapter 16 - Do Not Pass Go
Gus was hiding outside the naval yard.
Janelle hadn’t shown up during their interviews. In fact, she hadn’t returned at all.
They’d waited around in the logistics department for her until the sun had set. And even then, they hadn’t left. It wasn’t until the military police had come and escorted them off base that Gus assumed Janelle wasn’t coming back.
Something had happened to her, and he was responsible for it. In asking her to check on that individual, he’d put her in harm’s way.
Once he came to that thought, it was a simple jump to decide he was going to get her back.
Then on to figuring out how to get her back, or finding her corpse. He wasn’t about to leave someone behind who’d been acting on his orders.
Indali and Trish were busy packing and getting ready to leave. The flight that would take them all back was tomorrow morning. He’d made sure to give Trish Indali’s body and case. He wasn’t about to risk her in this mission.
Been a while since we did something like this.
Long while.
Gus tilted his head to one side as he sat there in the shadows. He blended in almost perfectly. He’d allowed himself to let go of all his camouflage. All the protections that made him look and seem far more human.
Right now, he was a living shadow with black eyes, claws, and a serious change in vision. Everything was visible to him. Fear trails, scents, and the very bright light of night.
He was as he’d been born. A Boogieman, made to hunt in the night.
The guard in the gatehouse looked almost bored. His rifle was slung up on his shoulder and not in his hands. His eyes were glued to the monitors in front of him. Standing at the gate itself, the second guard stared out at the approach that led into the naval yard.
Okay. Same as always, then.
Not enough to trigger fight or flight. They’re trained.
Get their skin crawling. Their minds working. Seeing things in the shadows.
Letting out a slow breath, Gus stalked forward and flowed from shadow to shadow.
How different are the doors and walkways when it’s dark outside…
Smiling to himself, Gus pressed in low and close to the guard booth.
He dragged a single claw down the side of the wood, with slow and steady pressure. When he reached the bottom of the booth, Gus gathered himself up and then jumped.
Grabbing the lip of the guard booth, he slid silently over the top.
“…fuck was that,” muttered a voice from inside. “Hey, check the outside of the booth!”
“What?” said the second guard near the gate.
“Check the outside of the booth—I heard something,” said the first guard.
Smiling to himself, Gus waited. The faint scent of fear wafted up through the interior of the security checkpoint. It nourished him and began to empower him as well. Once a hunt had started, there was almost no stopping a Boogieman.
“You fucking check it out,” said the second guard. “My post is right here, shithead.”
“I’ll fuck you with your post—go look,” said the first.
Grumbling, the second guard went to go look, his rifle pulled up slightly in front of him now.
Taking the opportunity presented, Gus leapt from the top of the guard booth, grabbed the light pole above, and swung himself into the naval yard by going over the wall entirely.
He landed with a very light pat and scurried forward. He could see Trish’s, Indali’s, and Janelle’s scents all heading into the base, along with Trish and Indali heading back out. Those were unimportant to him and didn’t serve him at all.
He needed to find where Janelle had gone.
Which meant he needed to get into the office that was above him right now and see if she’d made it that far.
First, the entry lobby.
Keeping low, Gus glided along as if he were a breeze. He’d spent long hours practicing his stealth around some of the most observant creatures alive.
Elves.
Humans in comparison were little better than blind and deaf trees.
Passing right by a woman who was staring out at nothing, her rifle held loosely in her hands, Gus came up to the front of a lobby.
He saw no naming designation when he glanced through the window at the wall. No acronym.
No plates for who was here.
Nothing.
But what he did find of interest to him was Janelle’s scent.
The sweet smell of her went right in through the front door. Which was of course locked for the night.
Looking back to the guard woman who was standing out front, Gus wondered if this was her post. If it was, it meant she probably had a keycard or a key for this door.
Turning his head, he cast an eye to the side of the door and found it did indeed have a RFID reader. Which meant he needed to find another way in or get the guard to open the door for him.
Using little more than a thread, like spider’s silk, to enter the woman’s mind, Gus slowly began to sink into her.
Her name was Lauren Hernandez.
And Lauren was bored.
Horribly bored. She’d been on night watch for the better part of six months and was starting to suffer the normal problems that came with working through the night.
Loss of social connections. Disorientation regarding what day of the week it was. A looming depression that one could almost see coming.
Standing up behind the woman, Gus paralyzed her thoughts for a split second. To her it would feel like a heavy sense of deja-vu.
But he needed her to be in a different frame of mind, and this was how he’d do that.
“Lauren,” Gus whispered in her left ear, caressing the right side of her face with the backs of his fingers.
Flattening himself low to the ground on her right, Gus dodged out of her view as she spun around.
Then he turned the corner and dipped around the edge of the building.
“Wh-wh-what?” Lauren asked, her voice quivering. “Who’s there? I kn-know someone’s there.”
Gus said and did nothing. She was now in the perfect frame of mind for him to work with.
The fear rolling off her was perfect. She tasted of roasted walnuts. It was lovely.
Easing his head out around the corner, Gus got an eye on Lauren. She was slowly turning around in place, looking in every direction. Her flashlight was out now, despite the area being well lit. Even if she looked right at him, Gus was fairly certain she wouldn’t see him.
Her mind was unfortunately firming up quite quickly. Her training was starting to assert itself, as was her natural bravery.
Dipping into his horror-magic, he built a small spell that would begin to change her thought patterns. Being a telepath and a Boogieman gave him a unique set of talents.
Slowly, Lauren�
�s control was slipping now. Her flashlight’s beam began to shake slightly as her mind started to lose its ability to keep itself together.
On top of that, he gave her a subconscious thought. That she couldn’t call and report this in. There was nothing to report. Until she actually found something, it might be all in her head.
As she turned her back to him once more, Gus darted forward.
He casually struck at her thoughts, sending her into a mental paralysis again.
Working quickly, he stuck an arm around her hips and then drew the flat of his hand across her belly. Pushing with just a little force, he could feel her hard muscles flex and jump under his touch as he went.
Moving past her in the same motion, he leaned up into her ear.
“Lauren,” he whispered, and then he leapt upward.
He grabbed hold of the light post above her, then looped his legs around it and looked down.
Lauren was trembling uncontrollably now. Her breathing erratic and loud.
“I-I-I know someone’s there,” she said. “Come out now or I’ll be forced to shoot!”
Brave girl. Braver than those little men at the gate.
Smirking, Gus tugged gently on his control of her thoughts. He’d practically invaded her brain at this point. Using her growing lack of presence of mind, he dominated her.
Carefully, he pushed a thought into her head.
Someone was inside the lobby, and that was why she could hear them. If she found whoever it was, she could easily call it in, and that’d put an end to this.
The flashlight spun toward the door and lit up the interior of the lobby.
Immediately, she grabbed the card at her side and pressed it up to the card reader.
Marching forward, Lauren courageously entered the lobby with her rifle raised.
Gus dropped down without a noise and slid past the woman into the lobby.
Now he had to de-escalate Lauren back down to nothing. If she remained this amped, it would make her much more likely to stick around or be too alert.
He pulled on his horror magic once more, deciding to utilize the illusionary part of it this time.
An illusionary cat bolted out from deeper in the building, meowing at Lauren as it zipped past her and ran outside.
At the same time, Gus removed the spell that’d been clouding her thoughts. He zipped up the fear he’d been causing.
And he devoured all of it, draining it from her like she was a juice box.
As a finishing touch, he gave her a sense of resolution and satisfaction. Like the whole thing had just been her imagination and she’d only heard a damn cat.
Slinking down behind the couch in the lobby, he watched her.
“Fucking… stupid… ugh. Ugh!” Lauren growled, her rifle pointing down at the ground now. She turned her head toward the door. “You stupid bastard, I almost shot you! Fuck. When the shit did they get an office cat? Damnit. I’m going to freakin’ beat the hell out of Billy. Why didn’t he tell me about it? Fuck.”
Grumbling, Lauren went back out the lobby door and closed it behind her. Then she checked the lock. Flicking her flashlight off, she went back to her guard post.
He could tell she wasn’t completely over the experience. There were traces of fear still lurking about her. She was also doubting herself quite a bit.
Looking around the lobby Gus focused in on Janelle’s scent. It only went inward, and it didn’t come back out.
Going to find a corpse, aren’t I?
Not liking where this was going, Gus began to stalk the halls of whatever building this was. He followed Janelle’s scent as it meandered along. It was almost as if she was being given a tour.
Gus luckily didn’t find anyone patrolling the interior. Nor would the cameras be able to pick him up.
The only person seen entering the building this night would be Lauren. Who had left just as quickly.
When he reached the elevators, Gus decided to take the stairs. He didn’t like elevators one bit. It was bad enough that they could be designed to trap certain Para species, doubly so that someone would have to explain why an elevator was working with no one in the building.
Thankfully, he’d found that fire escapes didn’t have cameras.
Taking the stairwell upward, Gus skipped every floor till he made it to the top. This was the floor he’d seen the man on. It was unlikely anyone other than this man would have tried to take care of Janelle anyways.
Pulling open the door as slowly as possible, Gus looked around hoping he wouldn’t find any cameras.
Having a door mysteriously open on camera wouldn’t do.
Sure enough, there was a camera just outside the door.
Frowning he looked at the mechanism that would close the door. It seemed a simple enough thing. If he could shear the screw holding the arm in place, he could make it look more like a malfunction.
Reaching up, Gus stuck a clawed fingertip against the head of the screw and pushed. With a ping, it ripped free of the body, and the whole device came free of the door.
It hung there clattering, looking for all the world like it’d just broken open all on its own.
Let’s just hope they believe that. The fewer questions, the better.
Gliding out of the stairwell, Gus entered the hall. He immediately found Janelle’s trail heading straight into the office.
Damnit. She didn’t come back out.
Moving up to the office door, Gus looked for a name plate.
And found none.
Once more, he was surprised there was nothing here to identify it as anything. Everything of the sort was a blank slate.
Or… or it’s been scrubbed.
Did me sending Janelle get her killed and alert them to the fact that we were looking?
Fuck.
The scent led in and didn’t come back out.
Can’t get in without busting the door. Lockpick time.
Looking around, he was surprised to find there were no cameras pointing at the front of the door. Which didn’t make Gus feel any better about finding Janelle alive.
There was likely no record of her ever having made it to this floor.
Reaching to his side, Gus pulled out his lockpick set.
Rather than spend time on getting the tumblers, Gus opted for the stupid approach. He took a city rake and just mashed it back and forth rapidly through the lock as he pulled on the tension wrench.
With a pop, the door came unlocked and opened.
Tucking away his tools, Gus entered the office.
It was cleaned out. There was nothing here that held any personal touches whatsoever. There wasn’t a single “touch of home” item throughout the entirety of it. It was as if it’d never held an occupant.
Janelle’s scent went right up to the desk.
And stopped there.
Frowning, Gus went to that spot and stared at a small, glowing purple dot there.
He’d never seen anything like it. It seemed like a spell floating in midair. It wasn’t much bigger than a dime.
Using a claw, he hooked the magic and pulled down.
Suddenly it opened wider, magic spilling out wildly in every direction.
Mmm? I wonder what this is.
Pulling further, Gus found himself staring into what looked like a large room. Almost like a warehouse.
It was empty, but the lights were on. He could see Janelle’s scent moving away towards a distant door.
Clicking his tongue, Gus pulled on the portal, because that was what it was, and stepped through. He wasn’t going to leave her to her fate. He just hoped he hadn’t stepped halfway around the world.
Looking up at the lights above him, Gus stayed to the center of the warehouse. He was more likely to blend in with a flat color and distance than against a wall here.
He moved to the door and tried the handle.
It was unlocked.
Turning it slowly, he pulled the door open. Outside he found it was nighttime. Which meant he was still
somewhere in the same relative time zone as where he’d been.
Nighttime and incredibly cold. Achingly so.
It was as if he’d opened a door to a world of ice.
In the distance, he could see what looked like a very large stone wall. One that reached up incredibly high and had towers spaced all throughout its length.
It felt familiar to him. Very familiar, like he’d been here before. But nothing clicked for him. Nothing jumped out and told him where he was.
Stepping out and closing the door behind him, he instead focused on Janelle’s trail. It was there and easy to follow. Moving across the semi-frozen grass quickly, Gus chased it along.
There was no one out here, and nothing was moving. In fact, the more he looked around, the more he realized the warehouse he’d just left was hidden.
Heavily so.
It was painted in the colors of the surrounding trees, and it had a cover over it that was full of leaves, twigs, and anything that would help make it look like part of the tree canopy. There were no windows on any surface, and the whole thing looked to be made out of wood.
I shouldn’t have come here, should I?
Eventually Janelle’s trail reached a dirt road. There it got much fainter.
Got in a car.
Looking up the road, he could see the direction the scent went. Straight toward the distant walls.
Except now he knew where he was. Knew what he was looking at, in fact. He’d been here.
And recently.
He’d come here to get Chloe.
“The fuck is going on,” Gus muttered.
Gus moved forward at a walk, not wanting to risk being seen. He was fairly certain it was the exact same location, but he wouldn’t know till he got to the front. Where he could read the sign or read someone’s mind.
Never met the warden. Or the assistant warden.
Everyone warned me about the assistant warden, too.
Is this whole thing a staging area? Are there more prisons involved? Most of the ones like this are run by the military in one way or another.
That could be how they’re all linked and why they have as much power as they do. How they were able to get so many Paras working for them and moving in the same direction.
If they used criminals to get it all done, all the better.
Swing Shift: Book 2 Page 18