Page 34 of Atone in Darkness
Tyson shrugged. “They never said, and I didn’t ask. Everything was on a ‘need-to-know’ basis. I didn’t need to know.”
Eli had spent much of his military career dealing with top-secret missions, so he couldn’t fault the man for not pushing for answers. At least he’d given them enough information that theyweren’t going in completely blind.
They’d reached the front door. “Everyone stand back until I check to make sure they didn’t wire the place to blow if unauthorized personnel try to enter.”
Eli checked the door frame for any sign it had been tampered with. Nothing. He gave the door handle a slight tug. Unlocked. He swung it open wide and jumped back to see what happened.
Tyson apparently hadno such reservations, or maybe he was feeling suicidal. Either way, he marched through the open door and kept going. When he made it to the far side of the lobby without incident, he motioned for the others to follow.
Three went left to check out the guards’ quarters andthe area that Tyson had never been in. Eli, Jake, Tyson, and Doc headed the other way, clearing each room they passed to makesure they didn’t miss any nasty surprises along the way. When they reached the back hallway that ran across the length of the building, Tyson turned right first. Most of the rooms looked like people had grabbed stuff in a hurry on their way out. The end of the hall widened out into a pentagon with a single door in the center.
“This is the apartment I mentioned.” He pointed to a narrower hallthat opened off to the right. “That will take you back to the front of the building and the side exit.”
Unlike the other doors, this one was locked. Eli stood back and then kicked with everything he had. It took three tries before it finally gave. Doc stood guard at the door while the rest of them searched the rooms. If someone had been living there, they sure hadn’t left much of a mark on theplace, although he had to wonder why the shower curtain had been taped to the ceiling. Otherwise, there were no photos, no computer, nothing that revealed the personality or identity of the former tenant. They had a little better luck in the bedroom. The clothes in the closet made it clear that a woman had been living there and that her taste ran to rather plain slacks and blouses paired with whitelab coats. No bright colors, no prints, no real personality.
Eli pulled one of the lab coats off its hanger and studied the name embroidered above the pocket. “What do you know about her?”
“She introduced herself as Dr. Riggs, but I have no idea if that was her real name or not. Seemed pleasant enough, but we didn’t exactly socialize.”
He studied their surroundings. “I’ve wondered what happenedto her after my group was transferred out. There were a couple of women guards when I was stationed here. But as far as I could tell, our replacements were all male, which left the doctor the only woman in the compound. None of my crew would have bothered her, but I can’t vouch for the new guys.”
Eli hoped for her sake that Tyson was wrong about his former coworkers, but there was nothing theycould do about it now. “Let’s check out the rest of the building.”
It didn’t take long before they reached the lab at the opposite end of the building. Eli paused in the entrance to look around. Marks on the counter showed where stuff used to be. Judging by a few electrical cords left behind, it had most likely been electronic equipment of some kind. A treadmill, an exercise bike, and some weightswere in the back corner.
“What did they do in here?”
“This is where Dr. Riggs worked. She had a bunch of machines on the counters. It all looked high-end, the kind of stuff you’d see in a medical or research lab, but I can’t tell you what she was working on.”
Jarvis vibrated with growing tension. “Can’t tell us or won’t?”
Tyson didn’t take offense at the accusation. “Can’t. No one ever saidwhat she was doing, and I don’t know anything about that kind of stuff. Maybe if I looked at some pictures, I could pick out what some of it was.”
Jarvis didn’t respond, but shoved his way past them to stalk farther into the room. When he glanced to his right, he started cursing loud and long. Eli gave him a wide berth butpeeked around the corner to see what had finally shattered the other man’stight control over his emotions. The small room looked like it belonged in a prison somewhere. The metal chair in the corner was broken in pieces, and the cot had clearly been slept in. The blanket that was wadded up on the floor was covered with dark splashes of dried blood.
Eli spun back to shove Tyson up against the wall, his hands clamping down tight on the man’s throat. “Is that a fuckingcell?”
Tyson’s face flushed red as he struggled to breathe and speak at the same time, but he made no effort to break free. “Probably, but there was never anyone in it as long as I was here. If there had been, I would’ve done my damnedest to break him out. I don’t hold with that kind of shit.”
Eli stared into Tyson’s steel-gray eyes for several seconds before letting him go. Tyson had swornhe’d walked away from his former spec-ops group when he couldn’t live with the orders he’d been given. He’d drawn the line when one of the men in his unit tried to kill Eli’s former commanding officer. For now, he’d take him at his word.
“I believe you.”
Tyson looked a little surprised as he rubbed his throat. “Like I said earlier, my crew was pulled out with no notice. If they brought a prisonerhere, they did it after I was gone.”
Jarvis looked dubious, but he didn’t press the issue. “We’ve seen everything there is to see here. Let’s keep moving.”
Doc shook his head. “Give me a few minutes to collect samples. When we get back to headquarters, Dr. Young can run DNA tests to prove one way or another if Chase was here.”
He collected the specimens with his usual efficiency and tuckedthem into his pack. When he was done, they all filed back out of the lab toward the front of the building. When they opened the door of the last room by the side exit, the smell of death poured out. A man dressed in a black uniform was sprawled on the floor. Tyson moved into the room to study the body. After a cursory exam of what he could see while standing there, he crouched and gingerly rolledthe body over. Blank eyes stared up at the ceiling.
“Double tap to the back of the head, both shots aimed to do maximal damage. No idea who he was. He’s been dead a day, two at the most.”
Doc was already pulling out the supplies to do another DNA swab. Identifying the poor bastard might help their investigation, but they’d also make sure someone retrieved the body. He might have family sittingat home and wondering where he was.
“We’re done here.”
Jarvis led their small parade back to the lobby, where the others were already waiting for them. “Anything?”
