Page 108 of A Touch of Treachery
I blew out a tense breath, turned around, and kept moving along the center corridor.
The metal doors vanished, replaced by smooth walls.More corridors and junctions appeared, and I stopped at each one, trying to figure out where I was and especially where Desmond might be.This place was a labyrinth, and I had no idea how much farther it went—or if Desmond was even here.
Once again, the corridor curved, so I followed it and stepped into a much larger, wider space.No one was visible, although a door was set into the wall a few feet away.I sidled in that direction, then tried the knob.
To my surprise, the door was open, so I slipped inside.Unlike the other rooms, which had been empty, this area was someone’s office, although it was pretty spartan, with only a desk, a chair, and a couple of other pieces of furniture.
I hurried over to the laptop on the desk and hit the space bar, causing the screen to flicker to life.Unlike the laptop in Henrika’s library, this one was locked.Excitement coursed through me.This had to be one of her work computers.
I fished a flash drive out of one of my zippered pockets and stuck it into the laptop.Diego’s handy-dandy decryption software went to work and automatically downloaded the laptop’s contents.
I scanned the rest of the office, and my gaze landed on a small refrigerator in the back corner.Curious, I crouched down and opened the door to find ...bags of blood nestled inside the cool space.
I blanched and drew back.Whose blood was this?And what was Henrika doing with it?
I fished out one of the bags, which had a barcode on it, along with several numbers.According to the information, the blood had been drawn a few hours ago, and it was type A-positive.
A relieved breath whooshed out of my mouth.Desmond was type O-negative, so this wasn’t his blood.Although that didn’t tell me whose blood it was or what Henrika was doing with it.I snapped a photo of the information on the plastic, then slid the blood bag back into the refrigerator with the others.
A soft chime sounded, indicating that Diego’s software had finished its work.I yanked the flash drive out of the laptop and slid it back into my pocket.I didn’t see anything else noteworthy, so I left the office and continued down the corridor.
I’d only gone about fifty feet before the corridor opened into a large square area filled with desks, tables, and chairs.A thick layer of dust coated the furniture, and it didn’t look like anyone had touched the items in ages.
Crack!
Crack!Crack!
Crack!
Bullets zinged by my head.I darted forward and dove behind a thick wooden desk.
Crack!
Crack!Crack!
Crack!
Bullets thunked into the desk, shooting splinters of wood in all directions.I peeked around the side.Three guards were standing at the opposite end of the square reloading their weapons.I swung my gun around the side of the desk, focused on the man closest to me, and pulled the trigger.
Crack!Crack!
He screamed and tumbled to the floor.I grimaced at both his screams and the sharp retort of the shots.I had never enjoyed killing, but I would do it to save myself, just like my father had taught me to.One man down, two to go—
Crack!
Crack!Crack!
Crack!
This time, bullets whizzed behind me, smacking into the concrete wall and knocking out small chunks of stone that stung my body like gray bees.I glanced back over my shoulder.Three more guards were rushing up the corridor from the opposite direction, all of them raising their guns to fire at me again.
My heart squeezed tight.I was pinned down and trapped.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
DESMOND
Istaggeredfromonecorridor to the next, following the sounds of the gunshots.I kept one hand on the wall for balance, even as I greedily gobbled up all the electricity I could sense.The lights flickered as I passed underneath them, and several exploded as I poured their energy into my body, trying to heal myself as much as possible.The crash and tinkle of breaking glass trailed after me like a symphony announcing my presence, but I didn’t care.
