Lindsey’s men spun quickly towards the commotion. Between the pervading darkness and the dust cloud hovering over the two women, it was nearly impossible for the mercenaries to see anything.
A muffled pop echoed from the dust, sending a bullet into the forehead of the mercenary nearest the entrance. Another shot struck another man in the throat. The remaining two men didn’t know whether to fire or not. If they did, bullets would ricochet around the room, possibly hitting them in the process. Their indecisiveness gave Jabez and his men the opening they needed. The Arab and two of the brethren lunged at the remaining two henchmen, tackling them to the floor. The rough landing jarred the weapons from the men’s hands. The brethren pounded the men’s skulls against the stone to finish the job, rendering the mercenaries either dead or unconscious. They didn’t bother checking to see which.
Jabez turned his attention to the spot where Lindsey had been standing. The man was gone, though. Dust was still settling in the eerie glow of the lights on the floor. Jabez moved quickly to where the man had been, but he had vanished.
He looked over towards the still pendulum and noticed the bottom of a shoe being pulled into the narrow gap in the corridor. Jabez ran quickly over to the steps but muffled pops echoed out of from between the wedge, sending bullets pinging off the rock nearby. The Arab jumped back and took cover off to the side where he would be out of range.
Inside the passage, Will pulled his dust-covered employer the rest of the way through to the other side. The old man appeared even older amid the thin layer of gray that had settled on him. Lindsey let out a few coughs before patting himself down to get rid of some of the dirt. In his right hand, he held a black 9mm Walther with a silencer on the end.
He looked dead at Firth then across the stone bridge at Sean. “After you, Professor.” He wagged the gun as he spoke.
Firth had been surprised to see Lindsey drag himself under the pendulum, but now his surprised turned to dread as he realized he was the guinea pig for the newly dropped bridge.
“It’s going to be okay, Doc,” Sean shouted across the gap. “Just move slowly, and everything will be fine.” He held out a hand towards the professor, beckoning him to come across.
The Englishman hesitated for a few seconds before moving to the edge of the pit and putting a foot lightly down on the top of the fallen stone. The walkway was easily a foot or two thick, but the stability of the thing wasn’t Firth’s issue. Falling off of it was.
He placed his second foot on the plank and began slowly shuffling his way across gap, keeping his arms up on both sides to help maintain his balance. After what should have taken much less time, Firth reached the other side and grabbed onto Sean’s arm, hopping down gratefully onto the ground.
Will was already on the bridge with his gun in front of him, aimed straight at Sean.
“You know, I always thought there was something fishy about you, Will,” Sean said as his counterpart easily arrived on the other side. “You were so eager, and acted way to green to be a cop, even for a rookie.”
Will jumped down from the bridge and motioned for his employer to come across before turning his attention to Sean.
“Well, it worked. Didn’t it? So, I don’t really care about your opinion. All I care about is finding this thing, killing you, and going someplace where there is a beach and a margarita waiting on me.”
“Lofty goals you have there,” Sean jabbed.
His adversary took in a deep breath through his nostrils before responding. “You know what? You’re right. I should aspire to something more. I think when I’m done killing you and your little professor friend here, I may have a little fun with Adriana. I bet she’ll be a ton of fun.”
Something inside of Sean wanted to snap. He wanted to reach over, grab Will by the neck, and choke the last breath of life out of him. But Will had the gun, and any move at this point would provoke him to shoot.
Lindsey was shuffled across the bridge the same way Firth had done. When he reached the other three, he turned around and fired two more warning shots through the opening at beneath the stone hammer. He spun around with devious intention on his face.
“Move.”
Chapter 53
Emily paced through the tattered remains of the McElroy cabin. She had been on the phone for the last hour with a number of different authorities, including some very highly positioned people from the World Health Organization. No one was budging, though. Everyone she had spoken to had given her the same bureaucratic bull as the previous.
They splashed around terms concerning protocol and due diligence, but the truth was they wanted to do it during working hours. The underlying part was that they likely didn’t want to believe something so large scale could have slipped past their notice.
She had a team of her own agents standing by at the Atlanta Biosure facility, making sure none of the shipments actually left the building. But something had been troubling her since the moment she’d made the first call. She knew that Alexander Lindsey had more than one facility in the umbrella of Biosure. There were several buildings under that name across the country, not to mention any subsidiaries there might be. If he had decided not to put all his eggs in one basket, all it would take would be one phone call to put the wheels in motion. The virus could ship out to any number of undisclosed locations. There would be no stopping it. And if it were as bad as Jenny Solomon believed, the results would be cataclysmic.
Emily had one more play she could make. It would be risky. And if she were wrong, it would cost her reputation, career, and everything she’d worked so hard for through the years.
“Any luck?” Helen asked as she sifted through the wreckage that used to be their home.
“No,” Emily shook her head and ended the call. “They want to know too many details, and for this time of day, we just can’t expedite that information fast enough.
“So, what can we do?” Joe seemed bewildered.
Emily let out a deep sigh. “There is another option, but it’s a last resort. If we are wrong about any of this, it’ll cost me everything.”
“Jenny isn’t wrong, Em,” Joe reassured. “This thing is the real deal.”
She nodded at his comment. “The director of the CIA owes me a huge favor. I saved a few of his agents a couple of years back when none of the other agencies would touch the situation. He can help us secure the other Biosure facilities before it’s too late. If it isn’t too late already.”
Joe appeared skeptical. “You’re talking about a huge operation, spanning across several major cities in the United States. You think they could pull that off?”
“Believe me, they have the resources in place. All it will take is a phone call from him, and the assets will be put in position. And after what we did for him, I have the feeling he won’t question my request.”
“You sure he’s going to honor that obligation?” Helen asked. “Those high up agency guys have a pretty short memory when it comes to that sort of thing.”
“He’ll remember,” Emily began dialing the phone. She put it to her ear as it started ringing. “One of the agents we saved was his son.”
Chapter 54
The four men trudged forward, going deeper into the underground passage. The ceiling had dropped significantly, and was only seven or eight feet. It had narrowed, too, getting to only a few feet wide. Three flashlight beams barely illuminated the tunnel as they continued ahead.
No one said anything, though the special agent inside Sean’s head was constantly watching for a moment where he could turn the tables. So far, Will hadn’t made any mistakes.