Hidden Impact (21 page)

“Oh.” He might have been blushing. Maybe. Hard to tell, but he did look sheepish. “I was an officer when I was active with the US military. So was Harte. I’m in training now, but I have special subject matter expertise in intelligence and other things. So I guess since we don’t use rank in the Centurion Corporation, being private sector and all, the first name usage is our version of addressing someone who is the equivalent of an officer. Sort of a gentleman’s agreement. It’s not quite that simple, but that’s the high-level version of it.”

“So you have authority.” She kept her gaze steady on his. No dodging on this one.

“Yes.” He said it slowly, like he was realizing she’d maneuvered him and was deciding whether he should slip out of whatever she had in mind.

“So you can take me to Gabe and the others.”

“Not exactly.” Caleb studied her. “They’re not on premises and there’s no way I’d take you to where they are. Besides, we’d only be in the way. The operation is planned and in progress. If we want them to succeed then we trust them to do what they need to do.”

“There’s got to be a way to know what they’re doing though. You don’t just wait in the dark for them to come home.” Even as she said it, she watched his expression go pleasantly blank. Wow.

“This time. No. We aren’t waiting in the dark.” Caleb met her gaze with his own and it was inscrutable. “If you and Diaz are a thing, it’s important you accept who he is and what he does. Most of the time, not sometimes, you will have to wait with no word until he comes back. Decide if you can handle that.”

Not a light matter.

“I won’t answer that right away, because what you’ve said deserves time to really absorb.” Maybe other people said something different. But she wanted to give it serious consideration, because it was another truth, a reality of who Gabe was. “But this time, you said you weren’t waiting in the dark, and you didn’t say I had to.”

Caleb chuckled, the seriousness evaporating. “Promise you’ll eat something first. The operation won’t start for a while yet, not until 0200 hours. When it does, I also need your word that you’ll stay in the back of the room with me. You have questions, you ask me. Don’t interrupt anyone else no matter what you hear.”

She pressed her lips together. Despite his levity, she got the impression he’d take her right back out of whatever room this was going to be if she couldn’t follow his instructions. If he was taking the time to make this clear to her in advance, it was almost certain there’d be
something
going on she’d want to question. Could she watch and not ask questions? Not attempt to interfere? A hundred possibilities ran through her head. It was that or sit here waiting.

She wanted to know what was happening. “I promise.”

Caleb dragged his hand through his short cropped hair, rubbing his scalp with his palm. Abruptly, she wondered if he’d stayed the entire time watching over her.

He chuckled. “I’d have never done this before, but I figure you should be there as our good luck charm. You’re the bird dog that flushed up all of this trouble in the first place.”

Chapter Twenty

“One Alpha, in position.” Gabe kept an eye on the corridor, scanning left, then right, and back again as his team crouched around the access to the old air ducts. Literally one eye open since his team had invested in the better-quality night vision gear that covered only one side, allowing the men to retain depth perception and leaving them free to open the other eye in case of a quick change in lighting. It took some getting used to, but allowed for faster reaction time.

It was the edge needed for survival and success, in that order.

“Roger that, One Alpha.” Harte’s voice came low through the comm in Gabe’s ear. “Squad Two in place, maintaining surveillance. You are clear to proceed. Unless you need a minute to recover from the run. It was a long way through those tunnels.”

Gabe grinned in the dark. Sometimes he wondered if he missed the more strict communications practices of active military duty, especially during operations like this one. But then, their frequency was secure and Harte had a good sense of when there was time for banter versus times every word mattered. “A mile or two underground? Didn’t break a sweat.”

“Roger.” Harte might be chuckling, but his words came through clear. “Proceed.”

“Proceeding, sir.” He clamped down on the anticipation driving him to rush forward. There’d been a lot of hurry up and wait to reach this point. His Delta fire team had to break the seal of an airlock fused shut decades prior by the Army Corps of Engineers decommissioning team while Alpha, Bravo and Charlie fire teams stood by on watch. Once breached, Alpha led the way into the tunnel with Bravo and Charlie following, leaving Delta to stand watch at the entrance.

At the entrance to the air ducts, Marc and Victoria had scouted the next stage of entry into the underground complex while he and Lizzy had held their position. Meanwhile, Squadron Two’s fire teams had taken up positions above ground to keep an eye on the site’s activity.

It’d been a lot of waiting. Now that he and his team were inside and on point with a primary plan and a backup, everything they did would be action and reaction. Which was good, because An-mei Cheng had waited long enough.

Using hand signals, he motioned for Marc and Vicky to lead them forward. They crawled through a short stretch of air duct before sliding into the space between a wall and a massive pipe. There was a long-forgotten built-in access for a repair crew on the side of the pipe, allowing them to enter and climb down under the main part of the facility, still underground but a level or two above the matrix of tunnels branching out from the old site. The drain in the utility closet was industrial sized, large enough for them each to emerge and take position before heading out into the more dangerous hallway.

“For a decommissioned ICBM, the facilities are in surprisingly good repair.” Harte’s comment was nonchalant, confirming for Gabe that the camera feeds each of his men wore were in working order despite the underground distance.

“Well-lit, clean,” Gabe responded. There were a lot of these decommissioned sites dotting the United States, leftover from the Cold War when intercontinental ballistic missiles were scattered among “dummy” sites. Over time, they’d fallen into disrepair, and most were condemned. “Funny how this one didn’t show up as having a long-term lease.”

Sites like these could be contracted to local governments and corporations, even private military contractors in decades-long leases for preservation or training purposes. Cheaper for the federal government than maintaining the site, perfect for organizations like theirs to establish a training facility. In fact, Centurion Corporation had similar contracts for other types of sites.

Once his team cleared the glorified broom closet, they set up on the door and communicated through silent touches their readiness to breach it. Marc opened it quickly and the other three poured into the hall, Gabe at the lead, all weapons at high ready.

Never breaking step, the fire team embodied the mantra “smooth is fast, fast is smooth” as they flowed past other doors and danger points in a modified T.

“Not a spider or rat in sight.”

“You’d think someone wanted to maintain good laboratory practices for some reason.” Yeah. They’d confirmed this was their target when surveillance had caught some very interesting supplies arriving. Coated slides for protein and DNA microarrays, multi-well microarray substrates and a long list of other things, harder to pronounce and definitely for genetic research, all received in fairly regular shipments from various sources.

Whoever was maintaining the site had done a good job of hiding the supply draw from the eyes of anyone watching for a virtual paper trail, but for someone with eyes on the site? It was painfully obvious. Right up there with the number of fairly new surveillance cameras installed on the premises.

His team reached a juncture in the hallways and, having established a beachhead, crouched at the corners to wait for Bravo and Charlie teams.

The Bravo team would emerge with a mirrored formation to his own fire team a minute or two behind them to ensure they had heavy support on both sides. Charlie team would follow after, with Delta team holding position at the access point, ready to run in with medical support if the worst happened.

Once the teams had all emerged from the drain and were able to move quickly, he took them forward.

Based on the surveillance and intel they’d been able to gather, there were likely minimal patrols at this time of night. 0200 hours fell well into the graveyard watch, when those assigned to the shift became complacent with the night’s silence and, hopefully, bored enough to doze off. Any other personnel in the facility, maybe more kidnapped scientists like An-mei, should be asleep, and all were likely kept in separate quarters to prevent them from communicating more than was necessary.

Hang on. You have a big sister looking for you.

Gabe hoped they were in time. Edict shouldn’t have had time yet to move An-mei. They’d have needed a green light from a decision-maker in their backer’s organization, Phoenix Biotech, on any semi-permanent location to take her to in any case. And the Centurions were betting on An-mei’s value as a scientist to keep her alive. Anticipated retaliation after the attack on Centurion Corporation ground would push Edict and, by extension, Phoenix Biotech, into taking defensive action. Hopefully it wouldn’t pressure them into making An-mei disappear permanently.

Harte’s voice murmured into his ear-comm, “Squadron Two Bravo reports normal movement above ground. Guards on watch show no change.”

Which was an indicator that all was well below ground, if luck was on their side.

Gabe proceeded forward, working his way through the network of hallways and stopping to check the labels for each of the rooms as they passed, trying to find the labs or the sleeping quarters. The search would be painfully slow unless they found someone to help them. Gabe wasn’t above asking for directions.

Politely, of course.

They moved forward two more hallway junctions before he heard exactly what he was hoping for: footsteps. They echoed around the corner as his teams halted. The person was alone and unhurried. Perfect.

* * *

“What are they doing?” Maylin squinted, trying to make sense of the images on the various monitors. Apparently Gabe and each of his teams were wearing cameras, but the images had been too dark until Gabe’s team emerged in the lighted hallways of the facility. Even so, the video feed wasn’t crisp and the color was a little closer to gray scale. Focus was sharper in the center of the screen but stretched along the periphery. It made it more like a scary movie for her, surreal and tense. As if anything could come at them from any side. They’d all become people who mattered to her. And Gabe? Much more. Indescribably so.

“They’re about to ask for directions, most likely.” Harte stood in front of the monitors, arms crossed. His head turned slightly as he scanned each of the monitors in turn. “It’s what I’d do.”

“We had a good idea of what the layout was inside the underground lab based on the way the military tended to build those old silos. They’re cookie-cutter in some ways. Not the same, but following the same architectural logic.” Caleb tapped a monitor showing an outside view of the area. “But these people could’ve repurposed the interior in any number of ways. It’ll take too long to do a room-to-room search. Our teams need to get intel directly from someone familiar with the operation.”

Possibilities crowded into Maylin’s mind and none of them were the stuff of sweet dreams. She had to remind herself, chant silently.
We’re saving An-mei.

The people who had her sister would’ve done worse to her, would’ve killed Charlie. An innocent man dragged into chaos and it was all Maylin’s fault. Maybe when it was all over she could figure out a way to make up for it, but she wasn’t in a place to think about it. Yet.

For now. There was only the screen and the sudden blur of movement as Gabe rushed forward and grabbed a person mouth first. There was a struggle as they grappled. Gabe had the other man subdued in less than a second. Frightening how quiet, how fast it had been.

“The scientists. Where are they kept?” Gabe’s voice was barely recognizable, the low growl distorted. Maybe he did it on purpose or maybe it was a measure of how different he was with her.

The captured man started to curse through the thing shoved in his mouth, but his words were cut off by a rapid clicking sound and he convulsed. Maylin jumped. Couldn’t help it.

“Taser.” Caleb’s comment was neutral. Harte said nothing, his face a hard mask.

Gabe waved a tiny cylinder under the unconscious man’s nose. As the man came to, Gabe fired off the question again. “Where are they? Where are the scientists?”

The man spit out another muffled insult. Defiance was in the set of his jaw and his stubborn glare.

Gabe tased him again.

“Maybe you should wait outside.” Caleb made the suggestion gently. “I’ll come get you when they move to the next phase.”

Maylin shook her head and hugged herself. Made sure to watch every moment. Gabe was doing this for her. He might have committed other things in the past and this probably wasn’t the worst he’d ever done, but this was for her. If there was nothing else she could do, she could bear witness.

Caleb didn’t argue, only returned his attention to the screen.

The man finally broke, stuttering out a set of directions.

“One Charlie, secure him.” Having given the order, Gabe and his team moved forward.

They moved quickly through the halls, and the cameras blurred a little more on the edges. They encountered one more guard, overwhelmed him with a speedy efficiency that made it look simple. It couldn’t be, but Maylin had no doubts they were very good at what they did.

“Note—no unit insignias on the uniforms. Their badges are worn, they’ve been here a while.”

Harte responded, “Understood, One Alpha.”

Finally, Gabe’s camera trained on a door. He touched a badge he’d stripped off the first guard to a sensor on the left and it flashed green as the lock disengaged with an audible click. Inside, a tiny form lay curled up on a bare bunk. Gabe moved forward and pinned the girl down as she woke, covering her mouth to silence her scream. Gaunt, exhausted, but a beautiful sight.

“An-mei.” Maylin whispered her sister’s name.

Harte didn’t even glance back at her. “Identity confirmed. Acquire the package and get the hell out of Dodge.”

Still gruff, the version of Gabe’s voice she knew returned. “An-mei. Maylin sent us. Can you walk?”

Panic receded from An-mei’s eyes when Gabe made no move. After a long moment, she nodded. He released her and helped her up. Her sister took a moment to gain her balance but then seemed steady on her bare feet.

“She looks okay.” Dizzy with relief, Maylin leaned back against the wall.

Clothes, boots. They could get An-mei those. What mattered was she seemed whole and mostly well.

“They’d want her in good enough shape to conduct their research.” Caleb sounded so incredibly reasonable. “Scientists need steady hands. If she didn’t eat, they’d have force-fed her to make sure she was getting nutrition.”

Hopefully, it hadn’t happened.

They were on the move again and Maylin had to look at Marc’s camera to see An-mei. Gabe had taken the lead again and they were back in formation.

Caleb moved to lean against the wall next to her. “They might have done other things to try to get her to cooperate. Isolation, sensory deprivation. Your sister will probably need counseling. I’d recommend you both stay here for some time until we can find new options for you.”

“They aren’t safe yet. Can we talk about it after? We need them safe first.” It was unlucky to talk about the future before the immediate danger had been overcome. It was tempting fate.

Gunfire burst out in a staccato beat across the speakers. Marc’s camera ran into An-mei’s back; from one of the Bravo team’s monitors, Maylin could see Marc pressing An-mei into the floor as he loomed protectively over her to shield her. Gabe had gone down into a crouch as he returned fire.

“One Alpha, Code 13. We’re under fire. Request immediate assistance.”

Maylin’s heart stopped.

Harte barked orders. “Two Alpha, proceed inside. Two Bravo and Charlie, retrograde to vehicles and prepare for secondary exit scenario. One Delta, stand by.”

“What...?”

Caleb placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. She was glad he kept his distance, though. She might have shoved him off in her anxiety. Instead, his touch grounded her. He stepped into her line of sight. “We’re switching to Plan B. The other squadron was waiting above ground just for this. One of the fire teams is heading in to help and then lead them out to the ground level where the other two teams are clearing a path out. Squadron One Bravo is moving inside now while One Delta will stay below ground in the tunnels to guard that escape route in case they have to go to Plan C. The teams have this under control and are still moving.”

And they were. Marc had hoisted An-mei over his shoulder and was walking fast. The cameras of the Bravo team bounced as the teams moved forward at speed, not quite running but definitely heading somewhere in a rush. Here and there, gunfire burst and Gabe’s teams responded. Victoria wielded an impossibly large gun, lighting up the hallway as she fired. Maylin wasn’t sure if it would be a memorial or a nightmare, but the sounds of shouts and pained cries burned into her brain. So far though, every one of the Centurion cameras continued to move.