Oppenheimer clawed with one hand for the device, but Claire lifted it out of his reach.
‘Double my salary,’ she said. ‘And if it’s sex you want, get some other poor bitch to do it, understood?’
Oppenheimer’s eyes widened with rage and he shook his head.
Claire squatted down beside him, the tubes still out of reach, and considered him for a moment.
‘Do you realize how hard it is for a girl to get ahead these days?’ she asked conversationally as Oppenheimer’s terminal breaths gargled somewhere deep in his esophagus. ‘It’s as if we’re just pawns in rich men’s games. Tell me, Jeb: how much is your life worth?’ Claire’s gaze turned stony and cold. ‘How much is it really worth?’
Oppenheimer’s vision began to darken and his heartbeat pulsed weakly through his skull as he finally nodded frantically. Claire knelt down beside him and shoved one of the tubes into his cold, bony hand. Oppenheimer grabbed it and shoved it as far down his throat as he could. Claire took a second tube, put it in her mouth and sucked hard.
A thick green sludge poured from Oppenheimer’s throat into the tube. The old man dropped the tube and sucked in an immense whistling breath as Claire stood up, the mess now contained in the chamber between the tubes. Oppenheimer lay for a moment before slowly struggling to his feet.
‘Where… did… they go?’ he whispered to her.
‘Quarantine,’ she said, then raised the plastic tubes and chamber to his face. ‘Back-date my salary from when I started, or I’ll sell out quicker than you did when I sucked this shit from your lungs, understood?’
Oppenheimer glared at her, but he nodded before hitting the concealed button on his desk.
‘Security to quarantine, arrest and detain Ethan Warner and Nicola Lopez immediately.’
Ethan rushed down the stairwell, leaping four steps at a time, with Lopez just managing to keep pace behind him. He came to the bottom and barged through a set of double doors into a corridor, just in time to see two large, suited men running side by side toward him, their combined shoulders almost as wide as the corridor itself.
A fist flashed into Ethan’s vision. He let his own momentum keep him moving toward the fist as he nipped sideways, a thick arm shooting past his face. He folded his own arm over it as the big security guard stumbled past him, and drove one knee deep into the man’s belly. The guard folded over at the waist with a grunt of pain and sprawled onto the ground beside him. Ethan released his grip as the second guard whipped a nightstick from his belt and flicked it open, stepping over his fallen comrade and lunging at Ethan with the point of the nightstick while reaching out for his throat with his other hand.
Ethan dropped instinctively and pivoted on his right foot, coming up under the nightstick and driving his fist into the guard’s groin. To his surprise the guard was quick, jerking himself away from the blow that glanced across his thigh and whipping the nightstick down toward Ethan’s head. Ethan raised an arm to block it, only to see Lopez catch the man’s wrist in one hand and whip her elbow into his eye like a slugger sending a ball out of the park.
The guard staggered backward and away from her as Ethan leapt to his feet, fists up and ready. Lopez pulled her baton from beneath her jacket, prowling forward as Ethan covered her, forcing the guard back toward the door he was protecting.
‘You’re not under arrest yet,’ Ethan said, ‘but you try to stop us getting into the laboratory and you will be, understood?’
The guard wavered but stood his ground, switching his gaze nervously between them. He was a big man but he was cornered, outnumbered and uncertain of his chances. Any bravado he might have harbored had deserted him in a hurry. Quite suddenly, he turned and dashed through the laboratory door. Ethan lunged after him, slamming into the door as it closed and a heavy locking mechanism slipped into place on the other side.
Ethan turned and strode toward the fallen guard, seeing keys hanging from his belt, but before he could reach for them the double doors at the far end of the corridor opened and a dozen more security guards blundered through.
‘Stay where you are!’
Ethan backed off, watching as they moved to block his access to the laboratory. Lopez held her baton close by her thigh, ready to lash out at anyone who dared touch her. Behind them, standing silently, was Jeb Oppenheimer. He looked at them for a long moment, then raised one hand and wagged a crooked finger at them.
‘Now, that wasn’t very nice, was it?’ he asked.
‘Let Willis go,’ Ethan hissed. ‘You’ll only make it worse for yourself if we report back that he’s being held here.’
Oppenheimer’s features creased into a soulless grin.
‘Who says that you’re leaving?’ he asked. ‘Ever?’
Ethan was about to open his mouth to reply when half of the security guards rushed him at once, smashing into him like a freight train and driving him to the ground. He heard Lopez cry out as she too was overpowered. Within moments, they were dragged to their feet with their arms yanked up around their shoulder blades.
Jeb Oppenheimer walked slowly toward Ethan, leaning on his cane with each stride.
‘It would appear we have three subjects for dissection this evening,’ he murmured in delight.
‘State police will be in here within minutes,’ Ethan snapped. ‘You’ll be in jail by nightfall.’
‘For what?’ Oppenheimer asked, looking deep into Ethan’s eyes. ‘Where is your evidence? And there’s no reason for the county sheriff to obtain search warrants, no matter how much you cry foul. Corporate privilege, my unfortunate young friend.’
Ethan was about to speak when a disembodied, digital voice interrupted them.
‘Mister Oppenheimer?’
Ethan recognized the voice of the old man’s secretary, Claire. Oppenheimer made his way to a panel on the wall and pressed a button.
‘What is it?’
‘The state police are here looking for Warner and Lopez. What should I say to them?’
‘Tell them we’re down here!’ Ethan shouted. ‘Tell them Tyler Willis is here!’
Oppenheimer smiled at Ethan. No reply came from the intercom.
‘Money, Mister Warner, provides far greater loyalty than morals.’ Oppenheimer’s smile disappeared as he considered his dilemma, and then he keyed the microphone again. ‘Tell them that Warner and Lopez are just leaving.’
Ethan felt a wave of relief as Oppenheimer stepped away from the speaker and approached him, glowering with fury.
‘Rest assured, Mister Warner, that by the time this is all over I will enjoy watching you die.’
‘If so, I’ll be sure to take you with me,’ Ethan growled.
The guards pushed and shoved Ethan and Lopez out of the corridor, maintaining their grip on them as they rode the elevator back down to the foyer. The robotic receptionist didn’t even glance up as they were manhandled out of the glass doors, where a pair of squad cars and two USAMRIID vehicles were parked.
Ethan saw Enrico Zamora, his arm in a sling, standing beside one of the squad cars, and called out to him, ‘Tyler Willis is inside. We need a warrant right away.’
Zamora offered Ethan an apologetic look, as Butch Cutler approached Ethan with disdain etched on his face.
‘You’re to leave this property immediately and not return. You’re also to report to your commander at the Defense Intelligence Agency immediately before returning to Illinois right away.’
Ethan stared at Cutler in disbelief.
‘There’s a man inside this building being held against his will. He needs our help to—’
‘There’s also a burning apartment in Santa Fe, forensics teams on site examining bullets and a wounded officer standing right behind me. I don’t know who the goddamn hell you think you are, Warner, but your time here is done. If you’re not out of this county by sundown I’ll have you both arrested and locked down, is that understood?’