Page 34 of Sergi
“For the last six months.”
“That must have been exciting to watch.” Ginger turned red when the team glanced at her, but then everyone chuckled.
“You have no idea,” Bella replied, bringing the conversation back to her. “The feeds come from several cameras of the parking lot, so I caught this guy arriving in a limo. He appeared a bit scattered when Lorenzo’s security led him to one of the go-fast boats. He hunched over when he walked, kept looking back at the limo, and held his briefcase under his arm and tight to his chest. He seemed like he wanted to be anywhere else and was terrified someone might take the case.
“After the first couple hours of watching, only certain people appeared important enough to take over on the go-fast boats rather than the ferry, but it was his actions that made me dig further. Let’s just say I called in a debt and was able to run his face through a face-recognition program and found his passport photo. I assumed he was likely vampire, so I ran his name through the House rosters and got a hit.” She glanced around, but it was more theatrics than anything. The room was glued toher every word. “Dr. Krasinski works for House Larkin, who we know owns the lab that has been studying the fertility issues for Lorenzo and the Council. He spends most of his time outside the US and his passport stamps reflect travel between Bucharest and San Francisco by way of London. He comes to the US at least once every three months.”
“To report on the lab work,” Lucas suggested.
“Most likely.”
“So what does this give us?” Decker asked.
“A direct connection between this vampire, House Larkin, and Lorenzo.” Devon considered if it gave them anything else. “It also puts the good doctor in Romania. The question is, where is he now? Though I assume he’s locked up in his lab.” Devon considered their options. “Send a copy of the photo to Remus to share with the shifters on the docks.”
“If he shows up, do you want us to intercede?” Remus asked.
Devon nodded. “On his return to the airport.”
Remus nodded with a grim smile.
“This doesn’t help us get into the mountain,” Lucas said.
“No.” Bella changed the display to show the location of where the red dots disappeared. The next shot was of a single-lane dirt road that disappeared in and out of the dense forest canopy. “We backtracked this road to a small village. The road appears to only run between the lab and village, with no other connecting roads. There are a few small trails, most likely created by hikers, horses, or motorcycles.”
“It would be dangerous to use the road,” Lucas said. “But it would be worth checking out the town.”
“Agreed.” Bella turned to the team. “However, if we have a three-member team on motorcycles with all-weather camping gear and hunting bows, they would look like hunters if intercepted. The plan isn’t to reach the parking lot but to build a defense parameter about a mile from the entrance.
“I want Rafael to relocate to the village and monitor the road for a day or two. He could provide some valuable intel on how often it’s used and what type of vehicles are going in and coming out. That would still give him time to meet us at the first checkpoint.” She turned to Devon. “I’ve asked Rafael his confidence rating on whether he could do this without being noticed. He believes the risk is low.” She winked at Harlow. “It appears he’s learned a trick or two from Jamal. He can stay under the radar, and we can monitor his movement.” She paused and glanced at the room before turning a concerned gaze to Devon. “And to be honest, I think he’s a bit stir-crazy. We should put him to use.”
“What about the motorcycles?” Devon asked.
“Rafael believes he can have them waiting for us.”
“Alright. Rafael has a go. What about the entrance?”
“Two teams would be best.” Bella changed the screen to show a parking lot in a forest with various red, blue, and yellow marks drawn over it. “Based on Rafael’s input, this is the best software rendering of the parking lot we could put together. These red circles are where the underground blinds are. We don’t know if there are more security measures in place, but from what Rafael reported, these seemed efficient enough to capture a small group of infiltrators. The yellow line is a best guess on perimeter security. There are a lot of woods. It’s possible, since the lab has been there for over a century, that they’ve had time to build a solid defense grid.”
“You don’t sound like you believe that.” Lucas, as Devon had expected, was becoming a well-rounded cadre member. His specialty wasn’t security, but he had a knack for it, which was a reason he and Ginger had survived the hunt for theDe første dage.
Bella shrugged. “The satellite images and Rafael’s report tell us this is rough terrain. The facility is in a mountain whichmeans the underground blinds were created with explosives. If they had additional underground security outside this yellow line…” she pointed to it. “The landscape around it would be vastly different than the old-growth forest. If they hung cameras or other monitoring devices, the wild shifters would eventually dismantle them. The team believes there’s an underground tunnel that leads from inside the mountain to these blinds. When an alarm is triggered, they send a security team through the tunnel to the blinds. They could send as many guards as needed for any type of incursion.”
“But this is just a guess,” Remus said.
“Yes. The only other option is for the security team to rush out of the building and jump into the blinds. It’s possible they might keep security details down there 24/7, but an underground tunnel makes more sense.”
“And if they used explosives for the blind,” Decker added, “it’s easy enough to blast a tunnel.”
“Let’s prepare for both options.” Devon stared at the screen. “With only one way into the facility, we only have to worry about one access point and possibly the blinds. On the other hand, that also means the lab’s security team only has one point to focus their defense.
“This is why the plan includes a second team. We know they’re using tranquilizers, so the first team will be fully covered with a mesh suit designed for shark divers. It should prevent any dart from piercing it. The second team will be heavily armed. We’re not taking prisoners.”
Bella glanced around the room, but no one seemed to have a problem with Devon’s kill order.
“How are you getting in?” Lucas asked. “Rafael might not have spotted them, but there must be other security measures at the doors.”
Bella grinned and pointed at the blue circles on the display that identified two oversized roll-up doors and a separate double-door entry. “We’ll blast the doors open. As far as additional security, we’ll have to make those decisions on the ground. We might have to wait for the first team to get darted and see what they do. Then we go in Level One infiltration.”
