Page 68 of Operation: Discovery

“He gave you the go-ahead?” Brendon was more than a little surprised. Nixon usually liked to be around to at least lead them when they were doing something in his jurisdiction.

“I didn’t say that.” Connor kept walking, and the other three followed him.

Brendon wheeled his chair forward, keeping his eyes on everything he could. This felt like a trap. Those inside probably knew someone would come for Dee and were waiting just inside with an ambush. Brendon slowed, realizing that if he was wheeling his chair, he’d have to stop in order to shoot. Not only that, but he would lose precious seconds drawing his gun since he couldn’t safely roll with it in his lap.

They reached the front door and Connor pointed to where he wanted all of them to stand, so no one would be in the line of fire when they went inside. “We open, then case the area. It will be dark in there. No lights. Eyes open.”

He used hand signals to let them know where he was going and what he was going to do next. He tested the door, and it wasn’t locked. “Seems odd that they would just leave themselves open,” Sam said.

“Agreed, unless they were so sure no one would figure them out that they didn’t bother,” Connor said.

Teddy mumbled, “Or the door is just so old it doesn’t work. Let’s stop analyzing and move.”

Connor didn’t respond. Instead, he slowly pulled the door and ducked inside. The others followed and Brendon brought up the rear. He hadn’t noticed that his chair wasn’t completely noiseless until he was rolling into a room that required silence.

He blinked rapidly for his eyes to adjust to the dark just as he heard the telltalepopof small-caliber fire. The muzzle flash came from a catwalk near the ceiling.

“Brendon, take cover,” Connor yelled as he aimed at the source of the blasts.

Brendon quickly scanned what he could see around him. There were some old wooden crates that he could go behind, but unless whatever was in them was pretty solid, that wouldn’t be a good option. If he kept moving, the boxes would hide where he was, but not much more.

A door to his right offered more cover and he headed that way, trying to avoid making noise to draw attention to where he was in the dark. More shots rained from above and the responding fire caught one of the men on the catwalk. He fell to the cement floor with a sickeningthud.

Brendon listened, focusing on everything around him. The gunfire was loudest, but that wasn’t what he needed. Why didn’t he hear yelling or banging? There should’ve been some kind of noise from Dee or anyone else that was captured there. The silence was more sickening than the gunfire.

Another man toppled from above, and the gunfire stopped. Connor caught up to him. “We didn’t get them all. They ran. We’ll have to keep on our guard. What’s down here?”

“Not sure. I haven’t checked anything yet.” Brendon kept rolling now that his eyes had adjusted to the dim light.

Connor held up a huge flashlight and turned it on, bathing the hallway in light as the other three appeared in the doorway. Teddy said, “We’re going to split up and try to follow the runners. If we can catch them, we might be able to get some confessions.”

Connor held up his hand. “Keep the confessions to a minimum before Nixon gets here.”

Teddy gave a salute and herded the two others back out.

“I guess that means it’s up to you and me now.” He headed down the hall.

“What makes you think this is important? I just ducked in here, so I didn’t get shot,” Brendon said.

“Call it a hunch. These are offices. There are probably a few open warehouses in this building, but the offices will be where the people and evidence are because they’re protected from the outside. No windows.” He headed further down the hall, sweeping the light back and forth.

“You’re assuming we’re alone down here?” Brendon glanced at the spotlight.

“Nope, just that with this thing,” he wiggled the light back and forth, “I can blind someone and see what I’m shooting at a lot better than they can.”

Unfortunately, with the flashlight held so high, Connor was probably the safer of the two of them. Brendon continued down the hall, listening, and watching for anything. Shots from somewhere else in the building echoed down the hall.

“Lord, please keep your protection over my men,” Connor muttered.

Brendon stopped and held up a hand, signaling Connor to wait. “I heard something.” He couldn’t be sure, but it was different from the sound of the shots hitting the floor or walls. This was metallic. “Through here.” He pointed to the door on their left. “Might be a trap.”

“Of course it could be. Wouldn’t be any fun if there wasn’t a chance.” Connor led with his gun and flashlight into the room.

A storage area that measured about forty feet by forty feet opened up in front of them. Large metal shelving units ran the entire span, the orange paint chipped and worn. Whatever the shelves had once held was long gone.

“Who’s there?” a hoarse voice came from the back. “Who are you?”

“Who wants to know?” Connor asked even as he moved silently away from the spot where he’d spoken.

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