On the other hand, that lack of communication came with its own problems.
“Listen to me,” I said, taking her by the arms, “I didn’t come down here to hack a file any more than I’m here to intercept a sample. We have an informant who said that this thing is already fully developed and that they are mass-producing it for an established client.”
That news hit her pretty damn hard. The way you’d expect it to hit someone. Her eyes flared and she recoiled from the hatch as if it was a coiled rattlesnake.
“Are you sure?”
“Sure? No. We have an anonymous voice on the phone. The call was made from a disposable phone that was purchased at a strip mall near here.”
She considered this, then shook her head. “All of our intel indicates that they are months away from a stable bioweapon. Besides, this is a development facility, Joseph. The viruses will be in sealed containers in secured vaults. It’s not going to be floating around.”
“Under ideal circumstances, sure, but what if they realize that they’re being infiltrated? Accidents happen. Believe me, I know. I’ve seen a lot of monsters, big and small, get off the leash.”
Violin chewed her lip. It was an unconscious action with no hint of flirtation in it, but I still found it incredibly sexy.
Yes, even crouching in an airshaft over a lab that made weaponized Ebola, I’m still a horn dog. Not a news flash.
The last number pinged.
“You can’t go in,” I said.
“There’s no way I’m staying out here.”
“I can bring Top and Bunny down here and you can stay topside and watch our backs.”
“Not a chance, Joseph.”
“It’s fucking dangerous in there, Violin.”
“Well,” she said with a coquettish smile, “then I’ll have to be very careful, won’t I?”
I didn’t answer that. But I pulled the hood on and made sure the seals were perfectly tight. I don’t mind taking risks — that’s kind of a professional responsibility, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve taken some really dumb risks over the years in situations where I didn’t have the time to think up a better plan. But give me a few minutes to plan and I’m the most cautious guy you’d ever want to meet. There are no second chances when it comes to accidents involving one of the world’s deadliest pathogens.
Violin and I drew our guns. We shared a nod, then I lifted the hatch.
Chap. 4
Bug fed us the route.
Down a metal ladder, along one corridor, through a doorway, down some stairs, through more doorways and more corridors. At each point we encountered a security barrier — a retina scan, geometric hand scanner, keycard box. MindReader was deep inside the system now, though, and as we approached each doorway the scanner lights went from red to green. Nothing and no one stopped us. Not surprising, since the first three levels were administrative. Funny that even evil and corruption generate a lot of mundane paperwork.
I tried to imagine who would come to a place like this to fix the copier.
Did they have evil copier companies?
Then we reached the bottom level and stood inside the stairwell, stealing covert glances through a small wire-mesh window in the door. Twenty feet away was a heavy-gauge steel door, and outside stood a guard. Big, tough-looking, and alert. He had a Sig Sauer in a belt holster and a Heckler and Koch rifle slung from one muscular shoulder.
Bug said, “Okay, Cowboy, we have sixteen rooms at that level. Employee records indicate a security staff and lab personnel working on all shifts. You’re too deep for thermal scans, but figure anywhere from nine to fourteen people.”
“We see one guard,” I said. “How many others?”
“Four on the schedule. You want me to send backup?”
I cut a look at Violin. She was a superbly trained assassin. A world-class sniper and one of the deadliest knife fighters I’d ever met. Faster than me, and I’m really fast.
“We got it,” I said, “but don’t let anyone upstairs fall asleep.”
I nodded to the door. “You as good with a pistol as you are with a sniper rifle?”
Violin cocked an eyebrow. I told her why.
Chap. 5
As soon as I opened the door the guard whipped around in my direction and brought his rifle up. What he saw was a man in a black hazmat suit.
Specifically, he saw a man in a hazmat suit who took a single wobbly step before collapsing as if dying.
The soldier stared in horror for half a second, caught between needing to know who I was and yelling for help.
Violin leaned out the door and put two bullets in him. One in the heart, one in the head.
Perfect shots, nearly silent, the pfft sounds following each other so quickly they almost sounded like a single report. The guard went down. Without a sound, without a pause. One moment he was alive, and the next he was meat slumping to the ground.
There is a part of me that is constantly appalled at the fragility of life and the grim candor with which an invitation to die is spoken to total strangers. I did not know this man, and it was likely that I’d never know his name or anything about him. Somebody else in another enforcement agency would handle clean up on him. Another person I didn’t know would sweep this man’s life into the trash can.
As I got up I glanced at Violin. There was no flicker of mercy or regret or anything on her face. I had the tiniest flicker of distaste at that before I reminded myself of where she’d been born and under what circumstances she’d been raised. In light of that, it was amazing that she was not, herself, a monster.
I checked the BAMS unit. The lights were still green.
I tapped my earbud. “We’re at the door, Bug. Let us in.”
The security locks clicked.
I took the lead as I nudged the door open with my shoulder. Directly inside was a small room with rows of hazmat suits on hangars, a sign-in log, and a pressurized door. We had to let the hall door close and seal before the inner door would open. The air had that distinctive smell of ultrafiltered air, which never smelled quite right to me. I guess I’ve become habituated to pollutants.
Still had green lights on the BAMS.
We went through the pressurized door and found ourselves in a kind of central courtyard that had three short corridors leading to big doors marked — I kid you not — One, Two, and Three.
Violin turned to me. “Do you know which lab has the Ebola?”
“Nope. Want to see what’s behind door number one?”
She nodded without a smile. I doubted she watched many game shows. I let it go.
We crept toward that corridor, flanked the entrance, and were just about to make the short run to the door when it opened.
A small man in a white lab coat stood there.
He should have been shocked. He should have shrieked and yelled and called for backup.
Instead he smiled.
A small, cold smile.
The four security guards behind him all had guns; all of them had laser sights on me.
“So,” said the small man in the lab coat, “this is fun, isn’t it?”
I recognized his voice.
It was my informant.
I said, “Ah, balls.”
Chap. 6
“Drop your guns,” said the little man.
“Not a chance,” I said, pointing the barrel at his face. He was almost close enough to grab and use as a shield; definitely close enough to kill with my first shot.
The guy seemed to guess what I was thinking. “Shoot me and my guys will kill you.”