“I guess they were too busy trying to keep the team from dying,” Alyssa replied dryly. Paul furrowed his brow and she instantly regretted her tone. Before she had a chance to say another word, they stopped in front of the door and Paul pulled out his badge.
“Here we go,” he said.
He swiped it through the keypad next to the door, waited for the short beep, then entered a code.
Alyssa braced herself for the sound of an alarm. For an unimaginably long second nothing happened. Then the light on the panel changed from red to green, and the magnetic seals released the glass doors. They parted with a swooshing sound, opening into the dimly lit room ahead of them. She let out a deep breath, unaware she had been holding it.
Paul flashed her a grin before motioning her to enter the room with an exaggerated gesture.
“After you, Dr. Morgan,” he said.
Alyssa smiled a thin smile and held his gaze over her shoulder as she entered the room. A moment later the automated lights broke the darkness. She gasped at the size of the space before her. Dozens of shelves stood in neatly organized parallel rows, each holding scores of crates and boxes of all sizes.
“This could take a while…” she said, sagging.
“Don’t you fret,” Paul gave her a reassuring look and moved to a computer terminal sitting at a desk near the door. “Our cataloguing system would make Mr. Dewey proud.” He swiped his badge across the reader and glanced at the monitor.
“Row 14, Section C,” he said after a few seconds. “Let me see if I can access the logs for the shipment.”
He keyed in several commands. As he studied the display, his face turned glum.
“What is it?” Alyssa asked.
“Well, the good news is that all the items that were in the tunnel have been moved out of quarantine and have been decontaminated. The bad news is that they are being stored in the secured area.”
“Secured area?”
Paul pointed to another door at the back of the room.
“Can we get in there?” Alyssa asked.
He hesitated. “Theoretically, yes. But,” he pointed at a camera monitoring the door to the secure storage area, “the surveillance cameras would pick us up the moment we enter. You need a special requisition to go in there.”
Alyssa felt a lump rise in her throat. “What about the laptops? Can we at least get our hands on those?”
“Let’s see…” Paul slid his finger down the list on the monitor.
“Got it! Field laptop computer—Kaden Morgan,” Paul said. “Item twelve, shipping crate three.”
Alyssa lit up. She turned and scanned the numbers on the shelves then ducked into one of the aisles. Paul hurried after her as she paced through the aisle, her eyes moving up and down the labels affixed to the crates sitting on the shelves. She pointed at one of them. “Here it is!”
Paul helped her drag the crate from the shelf and they opened the lid. Alyssa reached inside and pulled out a laptop, a triumphant look on her face.
“It’s his!”
Paul grinned and gave her a thumbs up. “What are we waiting for? Let’s boot’er up!”
Gavriel deftly maneuvered the Jaguar into the tight parking space along the busy four-lane street outside of the World Health Organization and turned off the engine. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, savoring the brief respite. He removed the thin leather gloves from his hands and rubbed his temples, trying in vain to tune out the pressure building behind his eyeballs. He reached into his pocket. The touch of the small metal box heightened his anticipation, as he flipped it open and removed one of the small pills. He placed it under his tongue, relishing the familiar burning sensation and awareness of the adrenaline thrumming through his veins.
He forced himself to open his eyes and glanced out of the driver’s side window across the diligently manicured grounds and large square toward the entrance of the modern-looking facility. He reached for his phone and typed a message.
ON LOCATION
Gavriel watched the display as the replies came in. A message, a photograph, another attachment. He glanced at the photograph, his contact inside the building. He scanned the message.
SECURITY CREDENTIALS: COMPLETE
ID DELIVERY: BRUSH PASS
RENDEZVOUS: MAIN LOBBY, 5 MINUTES
He opened up the attachment and studied the floor plan, his mind and senses sharp as a razor.
Alyssa and Paul sat on the floor of the storage facility staring at the laptop monitor. Paul glanced away from the display and turned to Alyssa. She drew her long, espresso-colored hair into a tight ponytail, exposing her high cheekbones and the graceful lines of her face. Her teeth tugged at her chapped lower lip as she scanned the folders on the desktop. He suddenly realized it was the natural, gentle down-curve of her full lips and her understated elegance that made her so appealing, perhaps even more so because she seemed disarmingly unaware of it.
As if sensing his gaze, she looked at him. She lifted her eyebrows in slight surprise. He quickly turned back to the monitor. If she noticed his embarrassment, she didn’t show it. She leaned forward and flicked the touchpad.
“Check this out. It looks like three of them were wearing helmet cams—including Kade.” She hesitated for a second before she double-tapped on the file named KM_CAM1.
Paul moved closer to the display. He was distinctly aware of Alyssa’s shallow and rapid breaths only inches from his neck as the playback began.
Gavriel looked up from the floor plan and checked his watch.
Time.
Slowly, he stretched the thin leather gloves over his hands then reached into his shoulder holster and pulled out the Glock semi-automatic pistol. He ensured the seventeen-round magazine was at capacity then threaded a silencer onto the barrel, re-holstered the weapon, and stepped out of the car.
Alyssa felt a pebbling of goose bumps creep up her arms as she stared at the display. The view from Kade’s helmet camera showed him and the team moving along a long, dark corridor.
“He was right all along,” she whispered, unable to keep her voice from shaking. She gasped as the camera panned to the side and focused on a dead body on the ground, tatters of clothing still clinging to the corpse. Her father bent over the body and examined it briefly then took a ring off the skeleton’s finger and held it up. They heard her father’s muffled voice when the camera view whirled and the screen showed Ed Wallace standing in front of a tall stone door encased in a blue light.
Paul sat up in his chair. “What—?” he started but stopped when Alyssa put her hand on his arm, never taking her eyes off the screen.
They watched breathlessly as Kade rushed to Ed Wallace. The camera view moved from Wallace to the door and focused on its center, the origin of the strange glow. Carved into the stone was a magnificent bird, its talons gripping a triangular crystal, the source of the brilliant blue light that bathed the tunnel.
Alyssa brought her hand to her mouth as her mind struggled to comprehend what she saw. Paul continued to stare at the monitor.
Kade’s breathing became labored and he began to cough. A moment later, the camera bounced erratically and the audio feed picked up multiple scattered voices, all talking at the same time. Kade groaned and the scene before them disintegrated into chaos. Grunts and screams filled their ears as the camera caught a glimpse of a person in a biosuit sinking to the floor, clutching his head.
“Everybody out! Now!” her father’s strained voice shouted through the audio feed. His command broke through the chaos and brought a brief moment of order. Seconds later the camera picked up the team staggering toward the entrance. Kade turned and lumbered painstakingly in the opposite direction.
“What’s he doing?” Alyssa yelled, desperation in her voice. “Get out of there!”
The screen showed Kade stumbling toward the stone door, his hands slowly moving for the triangular object, which still emitted the strange blue light. He grasped it and tugged at it for several long seconds, interrupted by fit
s of coughing. Finally, he pulled it free and the blue light disappeared. Kade turned and staggered toward the entrance.
Paul flicked the touchpad. Alyssa noticed that his hand was trembling, but he managed to back up the video and pause it. He zoomed in on the object in Kade’s palm. It was a transparent crystal, the size of a man’s fist, cut in the shape of a pyramid.
Alyssa and Paul stared at the image. She turned to him, unable to find words. He met her gaze, a puzzled expression on his face.
Alyssa pressed the button to continue the video. Her father lumbered toward the exit. He collapsed on the floor only feet in front of the opening in the door and the image on the screen went dark.
“Is this it?” Alyssa asked, dread creeping over her like an icy chill. Her hand shot toward the touchpad. “Wait! His camera is still recording.”
She moved the time slider forward and they watched as Kade rolled over and brought the crystal to his face. The camera followed his eyes as he slid the object into a zippered pocket in the front of his suit. A few seconds later, he moved his head toward the opening and the camera focused on two pairs of hands reaching through the opening and pulling him to the other side. Concerned faces looked at them from the monitor. Paul stopped the video.
“You okay?” he asked, touching her shoulder.
Alyssa wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She inhaled deeply and nodded.
“Please tell me they shipped back the suits,” she said.
“Even if they’re in there, we’d be picked up by the security camera. Besides, we don’t even know if that… thing is still in your father’s suit.”
Alyssa stared at Paul, her earlier anxiety replaced with determination.
“I’m going after that crystal. If you don’t want to help me, please stay out of my way.”
Paul shook his head, less surprised at the harshness of her words than the ones about to come out of his mouth.
“That cup of coffee is going to cost me my internship,” he said, only half-joking.
“Wicked schemes first. Coffee second,” Alyssa replied. “So how do we get in there?”
Paul considered for a moment then smirked. “How good are you at climbing?”
Gavriel entered the lobby and strode up to the security counter. He barely acknowledged the slight, bespectacled man pacing toward him. As the two men passed each other, the other man covertly handed him a security badge.
Gavriel continued to the checkpoint and scanned in the badge. A second later, the light turned green and he stepped through the gate.
He visualized the building layout he had memorized from the map as he turned right and stalked along the corridor toward the elevators.
8 World Health Organization, London
Alyssa and Paul flattened their bodies against the wall, staying out of the field of view of the security camera pointing at the door to the classified storage area. Alyssa examined the device as they continued to inch their bodies underneath it. It was mounted in the corner, about ten feet off the ground. If they could get under it without being detected… This might actually work.
“You’re sure there isn’t another one inside the room?” she asked Paul, quietly.
“Positive,” Paul whispered back. “I’ve been in there a couple of times. Just the one monitoring the door.” He swallowed. “I suppose this isn’t a good time to ask if you’ve changed your mind?”
Alyssa looked at him in silence, her jaw set.
Paul’s brow knotted, eyeing the wall. “And you’re sure you can do it?”
“If you give me a boost, I can wedge my feet between the walls. Just make sure you get in and out quickly.”
“What if something goes wrong?”
“We run.”
“Anything more detailed?”
“We run fast.”
Before he could muster a reply, she took out her phone and put it between her teeth. Paul backed into the corner and laced his fingers, making a foothold for Alyssa. She approached Paul and placed her hands on his shoulders. A smile tugged on Paul’s lips, but he kept his face straight.
“Don’-get-any-ideash,” she mumbled in his ear, her teeth clenched on her phone, before stepping her foot into his palms.
Paul grinned and lifted her up. She deftly stepped onto his shoulder with her other foot and pushed herself up, using her hands to balance against the walls.
She took the phone out of her mouth and held it next to the camera, aligning the views. She took a picture then looked at it.
“That’s as good as it’s gonna get,” she said to Paul. She used her free hand to balance herself on the camera mount as she moved her feet off Paul’s shoulders and wedged them against the walls forming the corner.
“Here we go,” she said and lifted the image on the phone in front of the lens.
“Go,” she yelled in a whisper to Paul.
“Hold it steady,” he said, sprinting for the door.
“I hadn’t thought of that!” she called back. “Just hurry up!”
Paul keyed the code into the pad and disappeared through the door.
Alyssa slowed her breathing and focused on the phone, trying to keep it steady and aligned in front of the lens. She ignored the slow burn starting to creep into her legs and arms.
She barely registered the beeping of the keypad at the far end of the large room.
You gotta be kidding me!
Her brain kicked into overdrive as her eyes darted between the main entrance to the storage facility and the door to the secure area. She glanced at the camera and the wires running into the wall.
Time for Plan B!
She grabbed the wires and yanked them out as she jumped to the ground. She spotted a clipboard sitting on the desk and grabbed it. She faced the shelves just before the main door opened.
Alyssa kept her back to the door, trying to ignore the footsteps approaching her. She methodically moved her gaze between the items on the shelf and the clipboard, checking off imaginary boxes on the paper. The footsteps stopped. Alyssa took a deep breath and turned.
The man facing her was short and stocky, with broad shoulders and a bull neck that bulged beneath the dark gray suit. Close-cropped, wiry hair clung to his head as he eyed her silently.
“Oh, good afternoon, sir,” Alyssa’s hand flew to her chest. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”
The man studied her coldly, his lips pressed together.
“I was just finishing an inventory for Professor Garrison,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “May I help you find anything?”
The man kept her gaze, unblinking. Alyssa looked back at him and smiled, ignoring the beads of sweat forming on her temples.
Paul knelt next to a large crate. He froze as he heard Alyssa’s voice outside the door.
“… for Professor Garrison. May I help you find anything?”
Paul grunted as he rushed to replace the heavy lid. His mind raced. He glanced around the room then grabbed the box closest to him and rushed through the door.
The stranger wearing a gray suit stood next to Alyssa. His eyes were cold as he shifted them from her to Paul.
“Good afternoon,” Paul said to the man and moved closer to Alyssa. “Here’s the rest of the inventory for Professor Garrison.” He held out the box toward her.
“Perfect,” Alyssa replied and read the label—and took half a step back. “Body fluid samples from the cholera outbreak in Yemen.”
Paul almost dropped the box.
“Very well.” Alyssa turned to the other man. “Are you sure we can’t help you with anything, sir?”
The man appraised them silently for several moments then shook his head.
“We’ll be on our way, then,” she said cheerfully and stepped toward the exit.
As they approached the strange man, he seemed to hesitate for a moment, then he moved aside to let them pass. Paul felt the man’s eyes on his back as they continued to the main door and strolled through it. The moment they heard the door cl
ose behind them, they broke into a sprint for the elevator.
The ding of the approaching elevator stopped them dead in their tracks. Alyssa stared at the box in Paul’s hands then pushed him into a side corridor and jumped after him. She motioned Paul to follow her behind a large crate before she ducked behind it.
They huddled motionlessly and listened to the elevator doors open and the footsteps echoing in the corridor. Alyssa slowly peeked out. She caught a glimpse of a man in a security guard uniform an instant before Paul yanked her down and scowled at her.
Seconds seemed like minutes as the security guard paced toward the storage facility and keyed the code into the pad. A second later the door opened and he entered the room.
“Go!” Alyssa whispered and pushed Paul ahead of her into the corridor. “And leave the box!”
Paul happily obliged and they dashed into the elevator. As the door closed behind them, Alyssa took a deep breath.
“Did you get it?” she asked.
Paul gave her a smirk.
“Well, did you?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pyramid-shaped crystal.
“You did it!” She laughed and threw her arms around him. “That was a close one!”
Paul gaped at her, dumbfounded. “You’re completely out of your mind, you know that, right?”
“You’re just jealous because the voices only talk to me,” she said, then leaned forward and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
She snagged the crystal out of his hand and lifted it up to the fluorescent light. The scattered light from the crystal filled the walls of the elevator with hundreds of dancing fireflies that moved in unison as she rotated it in her hand.
“What in the world is this thing?” she asked.
Paul hesitated for a moment, considering. “I have no idea, but I know just the guy who might be able to help us.” He pressed the button for the fifth floor.
Gavriel stepped up to the large crate in the center of the room. The hair on his neck stood up as he spotted the open latch. He kneeled beside the crate and pushed the heavy lid to the side. He studied the white biosafety suit for a moment then pulled it out and read the name tag.
Heir of Ra (Blood of Ra Book One) Page 6
