Replica(63)
“You don’t know any such thing. Swear it. On your life.”
He handed me a blade, then covered my hand with his, staring into my eyes. “I swear on my life I will not kill Lea or Ivan tonight.”
I jerked loose. “I caught the ‘not tonight.’ Just so we’re perfectly clear, any time after midnight still counts as tonight.”
A slight grin lit up his mouth. “Agreed.”
We crossed the dunes in no time and made a wide sweep around the perimeter of the building. When we got to the tunnel entrance, we studied it for signs of movement.
“Derrick’s intel still holds,” Antonio said, lowering the binoculars and handing them to me. “Only one guard.”
I grabbed the binoculars and peered through them. “I don’t want to kill him.”
“That’s ridiculous. He’ll die in the blast anyway.”
“Probably not. He’d be far enough from the blast.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. This is your mission, so I’ll do it your way.” He gave me a knowing look. “But next time we’ll do it mine.”
“There will be no next time.”
“We’ll see.” He stuffed the binoculars into his backpack. “So what’s your plan?”
“Shoot him with a tranq dart. I found a gun in the back of the truck.”
He shook his head, his dislike for my plan evident. “Your circus. You take the lead. I’ll follow.”
“What about the cameras?”
“They make a sweep, so once it moves past us, we’ll take him out and run for the entrance. I’ll tell you when.”
We waited for nearly a minute before he said, “Take him out.”
I was surprised he didn’t question whether I could make the shot—he just accepted I could. I got the guard in my sight and squeezed, thankful when he staggered and then crumpled to the ground.
“Go!” Antonio took off running for the entrance, and I followed. He tugged the key card from the guard’s shirt and handed it to me to hold over the card reader.
When door slid open, Antonio dragged the guard into the empty hallway. “We need to find a place to stash him.”
“How about there?” I asked, pointing to a door. It had been listed as a janitor’s closet on the schematic. To my relief, that was correct.
“Where to?” Antonio asked after he dropped the guard’s legs on the floor in the closet.
“This way.”
The plans indicated the laboratory was close to the ventilation room. It couldn’t hurt to see what I could discover. The reporter in me couldn’t help it.
We’d gone down a flight of stairs and made it around a corner when I heard voices. I grabbed Antonio’s arm and tugged him toward a nearby door. To my relief, it was unlocked. I dragged him in with me, though I almost regretted it when I discovered we were in another cleaning supply cabinet.
Antonio gave me a ghost of a smile as his chest pressed against mine and his arm snaked around my back, pulling me closer. But his body was tense as he strained to hear the conversation from the hallway. I wasn’t surprised to hear them conversing in English.
“—difficult to be done in time,” a woman said, her voice growing louder.
“I don’t care,” a man responded in a short tone. “The time table has been accelerated and it happens tonight.”
“Sir, the suits haven’t been fully tested,” the woman protested. “Our people might not be protected.”
“Ms. Danvers, we are about to annihilate an entire village of two hundred and thirty men, women, and children. There are always casualties in war. We shall deal with losses, even if some are on our side. Is the antidote ready?”
“We think so.” She sounded flustered.
“Then put the antidote in the canisters like we discussed and hose them down. That should be sufficient.”
“But it hasn’t been fully tested. Can I offer a suggestion?”
He sighed. “Yes.”
“Your original plan was to drop a bomb with the toxin in it. But what if you send in a tank and spray the village? I think it will help with the problem of the toxin getting caught in the wind and carried to a nearby village.”
The man was quiet for several seconds. “Fine, it’s a good idea. Make sure everything is in motion within the hour.” Their voices faded and Antonio looked down at me, his mouth pressed into a tight line.
Suddenly, this thing had gotten a whole lot bigger.
CHAPTER 29
LEA
The T intersection in front of us beckoned along with Ivan’s scent. And the scent of several other werewolves. But there were no signs of struggle, no claw marks dug into the walls; worse, there was no smell of a struggle. Ivan’s adrenaline should have been through the roof, throwing off a scent trail so strong, a blind man could have followed it.