Release, page 16
“Hello?”
“Hi. It’s Harper. I wonder if you have some time tonight to see me?”
* * * * * *
Earlier, as Seth had watched Nate escort Tam and Eli through the jagged cut edges of the fence, he’d had some misgivings about being on this mission. But the self-doubt had receded with the excitement of being back in the game. As the clock ticked on, even that had dimmed from the sheer tedium of waiting. The third time he checked his watch and found that less than a minute had passed, he promised himself he wouldn’t look again.
As he clumsily slipped on his night-vision goggles, cursing his prosthetic, Seth wondered how many places like this there were between Los Angeles and Long Beach. He was sure he and Nate had barely scratched the surface when they’d found chemical plants, paint factories, insecticide production facilities—not to mention that huge tract of fenced-off poisonous land in Inglewood. Jesus, if any one of these places had a serious accident, it would make Bhopal look like Disneyland, given the population of Los Angeles and the lax attitude most of the facilities had toward security. Sure, they all had 24-7 guard shacks at the entrance, but when had that ever stopped serious interlopers?
In short, he thought as he scanned the edges of the structures and buildings, this aging insecticide facility was not atypical. Tons and tons of biotoxins of various sorts, nearly as lethal to humans as to insects, and three people had gotten into one of their innermost labs in minutes.
The spot they’d chosen was nearly a mile from the guard shack, and from what he and Nate had determined, it took the security force nearly an hour to make their rounds. They’d been unable to determine what security they had in the labs, since most of the lights were on all night, making it difficult to tell if someone was patrolling the halls by following the flashlights.
The entire compound was surrounded by hurricane fence topped with razor wire, but security cameras were few and far between and, as near as Seth and Nate had been able to see, they had absolutely nothing really high-tech.
The fact that Seth had been able to pull Nate’s truck—license plates obscured with mud—so close to a fence in the middle of the plant spoke volumes to Seth about their security.
Movement caught his attention, and he focused the glasses on the figure of a security guard coming around the corner of some kind of cracking tower—all huge pipes and peculiarly shaped levers and wheels. This time Seth did check his watch—and was startled to realize Nate and the others should be on their way out.
Without losing sight of the slowly approaching guard, Seth started the engine, then picked up the radio. He clicked the send button in the agreed-upon signal and waited for a response.
Nothing.
He tried again.
Still nothing. Shit, the one thing they’d been unable to check at all was if the radios would work inside the building.
He clicked the send button again. “Nate?” he whispered.
* * * * * *
Harper hurried to the door of the old Lincoln Heights house, trying hard not to actually scurry. Luckily Kate opened the door even before the first knock.
Once inside, she was surprised at how nice the place looked despite the building’s age. She could tell that all the furniture had either come with the house or that they’d gotten it secondhand, because nothing really matched, but it didn’t matter. There were pictures on the wall, mostly of Vince and Kate, but some of older people who must have been their parents. There was a really nice afghan on the couch, a big old TV and lots of books in built-in shelves. But it wasn’t the furniture that made it so welcoming, it was the feel of the place. They cared about their surroundings, which was more than she could say about her house. “It’s great.”
“Mostly Vince’s doing,” Kate said, taking her coat and hanging it in the front closet. “He thinks we need to have things around us to remind us what we’re fighting for.”
“Interesting logic.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s right.” Kate led her into the kitchen. “Coffee? Tea?”
“Tea, thank you.”
Kate busied herself at the stove while Harper tried to figure out what the hell to say. This was entirely new for her. It felt as if she’d never confided in a friend before, but certainly she had. No one could reach the age of thirty-four without having one good friend.
“So you kicked Seth out, huh?” Kate turned and handed her a mug of tea.
“Well, that makes it easier to begin,” Harper said, a too-familiar blush heating her cheeks. “Yeah, I kicked him out. Did he tell you about Smith?”
Kate nodded. She took her own mug and led Harper back to the living room, where they sat across from each other, Kate in a big green chair, Harper on the couch. “He saved your life.”
“But he was also the reason Smith was a danger. Anything could have happened. There are innocent people working there who don’t deserve to die because of what we’re doing.”
“But anything didn’t happen. They may not be in uniform, but the guys are still Delta. They wouldn’t have let anyone get hurt.”
“You can’t know that. It’s not a situation of their choosing. There was no plan, no way of anticipating that Smith even had a knife.”
“You’re right. Someone might have gotten hurt. But I doubt very much it would have been a bystander. I’ve watched these guys in action and I’ve never seen them make a mistake.”
“Except for the one.”
“What one?”
Harper put her mug down on the coffee table without taking a sip. “The one that got us in this mess in the first place.”
“You think they had a choice?” Kate asked, clearly shocked.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t there. I didn’t see anything except the escape.”
“The whole reason you’re alive today is because of them. You think Omicron would have let you live, knowing what you do?”
“I didn’t know the gas was government sanctioned until you told me. I found that village by accident. I didn’t want any of this.”
“Oh, and I did? Can you honestly tell me that knowing those villagers were killed by the U.S. is all right with you? That you would have turned your back rather than doing something about it?”
Harper sat back, the pressure in her chest so heavy she’d have thought it was a heart attack. But it was something else. An attack of conscience. “I don’t know,” she said, as honestly as she could. “I still have trouble processing that anyone could have killed so many innocent people, and for such a horrible reason.”
“Well, then, what did you expect from Seth? He’s been a soldier all his adult life. He’s a real patriot, one who’s willing to die for the principles. Losing his hand was like taking his gun away. It devastated him.”
“It kept him alive.”
“And we’re all grateful for that. He didn’t deserve to die.”
Harper closed her eyes. Why had she come here? What did she expect from Kate? She hardly knew the woman.
“Why did you ask him to leave?”
She opened her eyes again even though she didn’t want to. “I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“That somehow Omicron would find the clinic. That people would be killed.”
“Then why didn’t you leave?”
“Me?”
“You’ve been a danger to your clinic since day one. Omicron is actively trying to find you. It’s a miracle that we all haven’t been killed. But you can’t put this on Seth.”
“But—”
“Harper, wake up. You’re part of this whether you want to be or not.”
Harper stared at the pictures on the mantel above the fireplace. She hadn’t put up a single photo in her own home. Every wall was blank, just like her life. There was no one there, no one to care about. The fact that Seth cared enough to want to save her life was still difficult to compute. “I can’t leave the clinic. They need me there.”
“We need you here.”
“I saved Seth’s life. If you get hurt tomorrow, I’ll do everything I can to help.”
“I know you will.”
“So where is he?”
“He’s with Nate and Tam at some kind of laboratory where Tam’s testing the antidote.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“What isn’t?”
“Point taken. When will they be back?”
“Don’t know.”
“And Vince?”
“He’s there, too.”
“You’re not scared?”
“I’m scared all the time. But that doesn’t stop me. I can’t just curl up into a little ball and whimper.”
“That’s what you think I’ve done.”
Kate shrugged. “I’m in no position to judge you, although I guess I have. Seth is a damn good man. It was hard to watch what you did to him.”
Harper sighed, wishing…wishing she was someone else. “Once a month the clinic sponsors a booth at a street fair. We hand out condoms and educational material.”
“I know.”
“He came there today. To make sure I was safe. I said some pretty awful things to him.”
“Oh,” Kate said flatly, the single word filled with meaning.
“Yeah.” Harper got her tea again and sipped the strong brew. It was good, just sweet enough.
“What are you going to do?”
She looked at Kate, her long, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, her legs curled up underneath her. She seemed so sure. She’d grown up since Kosovo. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to know each other better overseas.”
Kate smiled. “I tried, you know.”
“You did?”
“Remember all the times I asked if you wanted to get something to eat? When I invited you to the late-night get-togethers at my apartment?”
She did. It hadn’t been difficult to come up with excuses. She just didn’t do that kind of thing.
“You chose not to get to know any of us. Even the men.”
Harper hadn’t been completely alone back then. She’d gone out with half a dozen guys, most of them medics or physicians. But nothing had come of it.
“I don’t mean this to hurt your feelings,” Kate said, “but I think you should hear this. Those guys weren’t shining examples of chivalry. They talked. To the secretaries and the accountants, to the soldiers. And they weren’t particularly kind.”
“What did they say?”
“That you were safe. That you screwed like they would if they thought they could get away with it. Basically they figured they could get what they wanted from you with no strings, that they didn’t even have to like you.”
The words were like a gut punch, and she couldn’t deny any of it. That’s exactly how she’d been—how she was. All she’d wanted was sex, nothing more. No strings, no connection at all.
“I just think you might actually like Seth if you let yourself.”
“I do like him.”
“Really?” Kate shook her head. “Does he know that?”
“It’s late.” Harper stood, wanting out of there so badly it was all she could do not to run. “I’m sorry I’ve kept you up. And I appreciate the…tea.”
“No problem. You know how to reach me.”
They walked together to the closet and Harper donned her coat.
“He’s staying with us now. Nate doesn’t have the room now that Cade’s here. Hell, he didn’t have the room before that.”
Nodding, Harper went to the door. She tried to think of something to say, but her thoughts were such a mad jumble. “Thanks.”
“Don’t be a stranger.”
Harper let herself out, and when the door closed behind her, she felt desolate. As if she’d lost something big. Something she’d never realized she had.
* * * * * *
Nate slowed his breathing and forced himself to remain calm. He could see Tam and Eli struggling to follow his example, but, knowing they didn’t have his years of experience and training, he couldn’t fault them for shifting nervously. He focused all his attention on trying to hear what was happening outside the door.
What he hoped was that the security guard would think the intruders had fled deeper into the lab. That way, his attention would be focused into the depths of the room rather than on the immediate threat—Nate right by the door.
The door handle turned and Nate tensed.
Slowly and with an amazing lack of sound, the door opened and a somewhat overweight, red-faced guard stepped in, peering toward the darkness at the back of the lab, his weapon thrust forward.
Nate stepped toward him, grabbed the man’s right hand with his left and smashed him in the face twice with his right fist.
The look of surprise faded from his face as the guard slipped to the floor unconscious, his weapon in Nate’s hand.
“C’mon,” Nate said. He motioned to Tam and Eli. “We’ve got to get the hell out of here.”
* * * * * *
Seth’s heart pounded. In other circumstances, he would simply have crept up to the guard and killed him. But the man was a civilian, and to do him any serious damage would make everything the government was saying about the team seem true.
Seth made sure the truck was in neutral, opened the door and slid out.
He ran lightly to the hole Nate had cut in the fence and slipped through. Staying close to the fence, he padded quietly toward a position near the end of the building.
He stood silently in the shadows.
He was so focused on the guard that they were both equally startled when the side door of the building burst open and Nate and the others came running out. Cursing under his breath, Seth leaped forward as the guard keyed his radio.
Although Seth and Nate had talked about it, they had not yet worked out any nonlethal moves for Seth with his new status. He ran straight at the guard and, with a great roundhouse right, clocked the man right in the jaw.
The man fell to the ground, dropping his radio, and Seth ran to join the others outside Nate’s truck.
“I guess the radios don’t work through these walls,” Seth said.
“Might’ve worked out for the best,” Nate said. “There was an inside guard, but he didn’t call for backup.” He turned to Tam and Eli. “Get in the back and stay down.”
The two of them didn’t hesitate, and when the door closed, Seth couldn’t see them at all.
An alarm started in the near distance, and Seth took that as his cue to get the hell out of there. He headed for the passenger side, but Nate grabbed his arm. “Hey, you’re the wheelman on this job,” Nate said.
Seth looked surprised but pleased and quickly ran to the driver’s side as Nate hopped in and closed the door.
The first of the security carts—not unlike golf carts—appeared from their right, and Seth grabbed the steering wheel with his prosthetic, shifted the truck into reverse and stepped on the gas, the tires spitting hard-packed dirt.
Heedless of the danger, the cart pushed through the cut fence and moved in front of the truck, a passenger with a bullhorn yelling, “Halt. Halt.”
Seth shifted into drive and accelerated forward, swerving at the last minute so the bumper caught the cart and sent it spinning as the truck hurtled toward the front of the plant in the darkness.
It didn’t stay dark for long, however. The entire front of the property was now well lit, and Seth saw a pair of the security carts racing toward him.
As they closed in, he switched on the headlights. And when the two carts parted, he shot directly between them.
Eli knocked on the sliding window that separated the cab from the truck bed. “You guys do this all the time?” he asked, voice quavering.
“Nah,” Nate said. “We just do this for fun. Hell, when we get serious…”
“Listen,” Tam said. The bantering stopped, and all ears strained above the sound of the powerful V8 engine.
“Sirens,” Seth said. “They called the cops.”
As the big pickup careened past the main gate, Seth hit the brakes, sending the truck into a controlled skid, which, not coincidentally, raised an immense and impenetrable cloud of dust. He stopped as the front tires touched the pavement of the Pacific Coast Highway, then turned quickly right, toward the sound of the sirens.
Driving carefully, at normal speed, he pulled into a gas station as the first police cars zoomed past, sirens wailing.
“I’ll gas up,” Seth said. “Nate, how about cleaning off those plates?”
“You got it,” Nate said. He was grinning as he exited the cab.
Chapter 17
There was only one stop to make before Nate could head home. After Seth and Vince had gotten out at Lincoln Heights, he’d dropped Cade and Eli off at his place. Now he looked at Tam in the passenger seat. She stared straight ahead, her hands folded in her lap. She hadn’t said a word since their escape, and he doubted she would. There hadn’t been a chance to discuss the experiment. She’d said it had failed, but that was all. From her expression he knew it was bad. Not something she simply needed to tweak but a real blow to their plans. “Is there anything I can do?”
She shook her head. “It’s over.”
“What do you mean? The antidote doesn’t work?”
“No, it works. But it has to be injected. Which is fine if you’re the only one they’re targeting, but that’s not what they’re doing. They’re going to let this stuff out over whole villages, and unless we can think of a way to get an injector to every person, they’re all going to die.”
“Are you sure? Could you have gotten bad results? Maybe there just wasn’t enough time.”
“I’m sure, Nate. I’ll admit I’m not an expert, but I know how to read a gas chromatograph and a mass spectrometer. The antidote lost all effectiveness when exposed to oxygen.”
“We’ll think of something.”
She turned to look at him. “We’ll think of something? I’ve been in the horrible cave for the last eighteen months doing everything in my power to think of something. I don’t have a solution. I’ll never have a solution.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Why not? It’s the truth.”
He got on the freeway and headed toward the lab. It was late, so the traffic wasn’t bad, but he kept to the speed limit, as always. The last thing he needed was to be pulled over by a cop. What an ignominious end that would be. “What you need is rest. I can’t believe how hard you’ve been working, and it’s time to take a break. Maybe in a few days—”
