The Paradise Key (Harvey Bennett Thrillers Book 5)

by Nick Thacker

  Reggie spat. “Day I fight for you is the day hell freezes over.”

  Garza laughed. “You didn’t have the mettle, son. It’s fine — not many of our recruits do. You know that firsthand, don’t you? You took out quite a few of them back in Philly.”

  “What’s this all about, Garza?” Ben asked. “Where are you taking us?”

  Garza motioned toward the door at the back of the room, and the guards holding Ben and Reggie pushed their captives toward the door. Garza reached it first and opened it, then stepped aside and waited for them to walk through.

  The real security chambers, Ben thought. Casinos loved to do this, as well as hospitals and other places where public impression was of high importance. Having Mission: Impossible-level security chambers tended to put people on edge rather than at ease, so having the bulk of the tech and systems behind a second set of doors was common practice. OceanTech, apparently, was no different.

  On the other side of the door the room opened up into a larger space, probably three times the size of the reception room they’d just left. It too was brightly lit, but this room was filled with computer workstations, blinking monitors on each desk and a wall-sized display to their right showing at least thirty feeds from cameras around the facility.

  Ben saw movement on one of the miniature screens and watched as a group of civilians — likely the group of investors Crawford had mentioned — traipsed around the outer ring, making their way from the artificial beach toward one of the cabana-style bars.

  In another image, Ben saw the cafeteria they had just left. It was nearly empty, no one but the cooks and servers standing around, moving a bit to grab a dish or prep some meal. All of the images were black-and-white, but of the thirty or or so screens, none were low-quality. Every screen appeared to have a perfect high-definition feed with no jumping or signal loss.

  The far wall, opposite the door they’d entered, was solid glass, broken in places only for the structural support beams holding the panes together. They were on the first sublevel, so the ocean filled all but the last foot of space at the top of the other side of the glass. A few fish darted back and forth in the water, uninterested in what was happening inside. The light-blue hue of the sunlit water was more than enough color for the otherwise white room, but the bright fluorescents above their heads seemed to be constantly fighting with the streaking lines of light pouring through the glass.

  “Crawford didn’t spring for a designer for these parts, I guess,” Reggie said.

  “No need,” Garza answered. “No one’s supposed to see the inside of this room unless they’re invited guests or security.”

  “I figured. I guess that makes us invited guests?”

  Garza grunted, then walked farther into the room. The glass wall curved inward, the gently sloping concave shape of the inside of the ring revealing just how large the central ring really was.

  The two men holding Ben pushed him forward, and the two holding Reggie followed suit.

  “You planning to hold us against our will?” Reggie asked. “That’s against the law, I’m sure.”

  “It is,” Ben added.

  “I’m sure you’re right,” one of the Ravenshadow men responded. “But where? America? I’m not sure we’re technically in America.”

  Ben considered that. Technically the man was correct, but he wasn’t sure how a company like OceanTech could operate outside the laws of any country. Surely they had to be in compliance with some governing agency?

  Garza spoke over his shoulder as he led them through the long room, the desks on both sides forming a narrow hallway between security personnel at their stations, monitoring different areas of the park. “Adrian Crawford and I are not fans of ‘loose ends,’ as you no doubt have come to know. He and I agreed at the beginning of this project that the security components of the operation would be left to me and my team.”

  “Plausible deniability for him,” Reggie said.

  “So you can do whatever the hell you want with us, and he can say he had no idea,” Ben added.

  “Let’s not get out of hand, boys,” The Hawk said. “I’m not going to do anything to you. There’s no reason to suspect you’ve harmed me or this park in any way. But we will have to detain you for some time.”

  “For how long?”

  “Until we can find your partners, Juliette and Dr. Lindgren, and get you all safely out of the park.”

  Ben glared at The Hawk. “What makes me think you’ve got no interest in our safety?”

  Reggie was less subtle. “I’m going to kill you, Garza. I told you that before, and I mean —”

  “Stop being rash, Gareth. It doesn’t suit you. Get in the cells, keep your mouth shut, and you just might make it out of here without your arms being broken.”

  Reggie’s expression shifted. “Yeah, what’s up with you guys and arms? Everything we’ve seen around here is just… creepy. Is Crawford into that sort of thi —”

  He never got the rest of the sentence out. The submachine guns the men were carrying weren’t long enough to be a terribly effective bat, but they were sturdy enough to prove an effective blunt object against Reggie’s side. He went down in a heap with a groan.

  Ben watched on in silence, feeling the tightening grips of the men holding him and knowing he couldn’t do anything for his friend.

  The guards picked up Reggie from the floor and tossed him like a rag doll into the open door behind him. Ben’s guards shoved him along behind Reggie, and he had to stumble to the side to not lose his balance.

  The guards left, leaving Ben and Reggie alone in the sterile, white-walled room, and The Hawk appeared at the door. The expressionless facade the man had been wearing, the nonchalant attitude he’d been selling, disappeared. “You two are lucky we’re not back in Philadelphia,” he said. “You killed my men. I killed yours. But that debt hasn’t been paid on my side, and it’s clear you feel the same. If it weren’t for Crawford calling the shots around here, I’d have you both thrown into one of the exhibits and be done with it.”

  Ben knew his expression did little to hide his rage, but he didn’t care. “I’m warning you, Garza. You even touch her again, and —”

  “And what?” Garza asked. “You’re going to kill me, just like you did back in Philadelphia. Harvey, there are many men who want me dead, and every single one of them have so far failed. Most of them aren’t around to talk about it. I want nothing more than to add you two wash-ups to that list, so please don’t test me.

  “If you so much as attempt an escape, my men will hurt you. We won’t kill you, but we will start killing the rest of your team. That pretty doctor you brought along? She goes first. Juliette? I’ve had my eye on her since she landed here. But I’m not going to just let her off the hook as easily as Dr. Lindgren. I’ve got quite a few men here who have also had their eye on her, if you know what I mean.”

  Ben rushed the door. He wasn’t as fast as Reggie, but he was larger, and when he got moving he knew he was about as easy to stop as a freight train.

  The problem was that The Hawk was standing outside the door, while Ben was inside. He only made it halfway to it before Garza slammed it shut, the lock mechanism immediately engaging. Ben tried to slow himself, but he crashed against the heavy door and his face smacked against the reinforced rectangular glass window. The Hawk was staring at him from the other side, a sly grin on his face.

  “As I said, Ben,” Garza said, “behave. If you don’t, you’re going to start looking a lot like those bodies down on Sub-3.”

  Before Ben could respond, The Hawk turned and walked away, leaving Reggie and Ben inside the silent, empty room.

  32

  THEY SAW THE FIRST EMPLOYEES on the second ring at the end of the hallway. The hall ended at a set of glass doors which opened when they drew near. On the other side of the doors was a large, open room, set up with tables and chairs lining three sides of the room. A large, open conference room. A stage — nothing more than a simple panel of risers a
nd a podium, sat in front of the tables. A man and a woman looked at Julie and Sarah as they entered.

  “Hello,” Julie said. “We’re looking for —“

  “You shouldn’t be down here,” the man said. “This is restricted area. The entire facility is closed off to guests.”

  “Right,” Julie said. “I know, I’m sorry. But the Subshuttle took us here, and we’re Crawford’s guests. We’re just looking around.”

  The man exchanged a glance with the woman he was standing with, but his expression soured. “Mr. Crawford is looking for you, in that case.”

  “Is he?” Sarah asked.

  “Just called it in. He wants all of the guests back in their rooms within the hour. Something about a security breach.”

  Julie felt a moment of panic, but she forced herself to play it cool. “That — that’s why we’re here. We’re looking for an employee. A scientist who works for OceanTech, I think. Dr. Joseph Lin.”

  The man swallowed, his eyes widening ever so slightly then narrowing once again. The woman took a faltering step back. “You — you know where he is?”

  “No,” Julie said. “That’s why we’re here. We’re trying to find him.”

  “Where did you meet him?”

  Julie looked over at Sarah, unsure of how much she should reveal.

  Thankfully Sarah spoke up. “We ran into him in the hotel, actually. Said he was working on something down here we should see. I’m Dr. Lindgren, maybe Mr. Crawford mentioned I’d be here?”

  Julie almost smiled. Sarah was smooth and confident, that was clear. She held herself well, and maybe her ruse would help them out. Whether or not the two employees would buy it remained to be seen.

  “I’m sorry. He didn’t,” the woman said. “And as Dr. Jones just said, this area is restricted. Now, if you don’t mind heading back the way you came, you can find the Subshuttle entrance —“

  “We’re going to take a quick look around,” Sarah said. “If it’s okay with you.”

  The woman frowned. “No, it’s not okay, actually. There is very delicate research here in the lab, and Mr. Crawford won’t be happy to know that you just walked in and starting poking around.” She took a step forward.

  Going on the offensive.

  Julie knew they were in the right place. These people, while not necessarily criminals, knew something about Dr. Lin, and why he had been acting so frantic. She wasn’t about to accuse them of anything, but they were certainly withholding information. It was more than a simple misunderstanding — they were actively trying to cover something up.

  “Is this where they keep the bodies?” Julie asked.

  The man looked shocked. The woman stood ramrod straight, as if she hadn’t heard Julie correctly.

  “The bodies,” Julie said again. “The ones with missing limbs? Who are they, anyway?”

  The man’s mouth opened, then closed again. “I — you… what are you talking about?”

  “Too late,” Sarah said. “We’re going to ‘poke around’ a bit. Call Crawford if you must. We’ll be out of your hair before he can send his security down here.” She stopped, looked both of them up and down, sizing them up and not trying to hide it. “And if you think you two are going to stop us, well —“ she looked over at Julie, possibly for some reassurance — “I’d be impressed with the commitment. But it would be a mistake.”

  Julie allowed the smile to slip out at that comment. She stepped forward, around the side of the first row of tables. The man and woman had been sitting at the end of the row of tables and chairs to her left, up against the window that looked out into the ocean. There were curtains drawn, covering the view and basking the entire room in a dim yellow light. She assessed the situation. The pair might come toward them, but they would have to contend with a set of tables before they could get to Julie and Sarah.

  And by that time, they’d be in the next room.

  Julie started toward the door on the opposite side of the room, next to the portable stage. Since the rings were circular, her best guess was that this door led further into the laboratory facility, bending around the left until they eventually would end up right back where they’d started at the elevators and the entrance to the Subshuttle.

  Sarah was right beside her, and Julie could see a hint of a smile as they sped up and headed toward the doors.

  She’s going to be a great teammate, Julie found herself thinking.

  The man was yelling at them, calling them back, and the woman was working with a cell phone she’d retrieved from her pocket. Julie couldn’t hear her exact words, but she got the gist: security, Sub-1, two women.

  Now we’re being chased, she realized. That adds a level of drama I don’t want.

  “They’re calling security,” Sarah said.

  “Yeah,” Julie answered. “I heard. That means we’re even more in a hurry than we were before.”

  “Any grand plan?” Sarah asked. “You’ve been in a situation like this before, right?”

  Julie continued to run, but she looked over at Dr. Lindgren. “You mean running from a security team through a research station? Yeah, I’ve been there.”

  “What’d you do in that case?”

  “We had lots of guns, and we had more people.”

  Sarah didn’t respond to that.

  “But they did, too. Far as I can tell this is a smaller operation. So run faster, and let’s see if we can figure out where Dr. Lin’s office or lab is.”

  They found it behind the next door. The single glass door led into an anteroom with another door on the opposite wall, and a sign next to the door that said LABORATORY: MAIN. There was an ID reader affixed to the wall near the door, but the LED light on the panel was green.

  Unlocked.

  Julie pushed it open and barreled into the room, followed closely by Dr. Lindgren. There were two people, a man and a woman, in the room, both hunched over a metal table with a body laying upon it.

  “Where’s Dr. Lin?” Julie asked. The woman jumped, both of them looking up at the intruders. The man cocked his head to the side, trying to understand what was happening, why two strange women had stumbled into their lab.

  “Dr… Lin?” the woman asked.

  “Yes,” Julie answered, breathless. “Dr. Joseph Lin. Where is he?”

  “I — I’m sorry, ma’am,” the woman said, “but he’s… not here. Is there something we can help you —”

  “You two are not supposed to be in here,” the man said, interrupting his coworker as he started to walk toward them. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

  Julie stepped toward him, her shoulders broadening and her chest expanding as she held in a deep breath. She raised her chin, preparing to stand toe-to-toe with the scientist.

  “We’ll leave when we find out what happened to Dr. Lin. And I’d love to see what you two are working on in here as well.”

  Sarah modeled Julie’s confidence, and the man seemed to realize he wasn’t going to win without reinforcements. “I’m calling security, and —”

  “They’ve already been called,” Sarah said. “Your friends out in the large conference room weren’t too happy with our barging in, either. I’d expect them to be here any minute.”

  “What are you working on?” Julie asked again. She directed her question toward the woman still standing near the table, as she seemed to be more concerned with her own safety.

  “We —” she glanced at her male coworker — “we’re just working on our… assignment. We’re under a tight deadline here. Dr. Crawford has us all working around the clock, and —”

  “Dr. Crawford?” Julie asked. “like, Adrian Crawford?”

  The woman nodded. “Yes, of course. He’s the lead researcher for this department of OceanTech. It was all his brainchild. Everything here. Including —”

  “Susan,” the man said, his voice raised a bit in warning. “Don’t.”

  “No, Susan,” Julie said, stepping up to the woman. She was short, her black hair tied back
in a tight ponytail. If it wasn’t for her loose-fitting lab coat and black slacks, she might have been an attractive woman. “Please do. Tell us: what is th —”

  Julie stopped, stumbling backwards a step. She had looked down at the person on the table as she spoke to the woman, and what she saw had caused her to stop short.

  It was a woman, young and dark-skinned like the rest of the people they had seen on Dr. Lin’s phone. Her eyes were closed, but Julie could clearly see her naked chest rising and falling. She was alive.

  And her arm had been halfway removed. A line of blood marked where the pair had been sawing, and the saw itself, metallic and shining with the sheen of crimson, sat nearby.

  “Wh — what are you doing?” Sarah asked.

  The man’s face darkened. “As I said, you two are not supposed to be here. I need you to leave, right now.” The man rushed forward and around the table toward Julie, his arms extended. Julie anticipated the attack and was prepared. She crouched, then plowed upward with her head, aiming directly for the man’s chest. She made contact and the two of them fell, the man landing on his back with Julie on top. He groaned and she felt and heard the air leaving his lungs.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “Tell me right now what this is all about. Dr. Lin came to our room last night and gave us pictures — pictures of people whose limbs had been removed. Much like this one almost is.”

  The woman was shaking, but Sarah had stepped up next to her and placed her hand on her shoulder. “We’re not going to hurt you, but we’re serious. We need to know what this ‘laboratory’ is all about. We’re afraid there might be lives in danger.”

  The woman began to sob. “It’s — it’s too late,” she whimpered. “Crawford… he won’t let us…”

  “Let you what?” Julie asked. She kept one eye on the woman and one on the man groaning and trying to catch his breath on the floor.

  “He won’t let us… leave. We’re here under his orders. We're paid well enough, but we’re contracted into service, and there’s no breaking it.”