Page 38 of Tracking the Alpha
The sentry remained in his spot, though. Didn’t matter. Tanis would never get a better chance.
She hightailed it up to the loft and exited from the window on the rear of the building where the sentry couldn’t see. She’d thought it odd they had only the one guard posted to the front, but as she climbed onto the roof and took a good look at the rear of the fenced property, her eyes widened. A bright spotlight illuminated the area and showed a high wall topped in barbed wire and an empty platform. On the inside of the barrier, a wide but shallow trench filled with metal spikes and what appeared to be broken glass. Anything coming over the wall from that direction would be sorely injured. Brilliant but savage. Also a major clue because the fact they’d used traps instead of a sentry seemed to indicate the general might not have access to as many people as feared.
On light feet, Tanis crouched low and made her way across the roofline ridge to the front of the barracks. Did Barrett linger nearby? She sure as heck hoped so since she did this for him. She had a uniform bundled in a weatherproof sack ready to be tossed at the tree line. She’d have to be fast though. Race outside while the sentry was distracted and the cameras offline, get close enough to the woods to fling her package, and race back, hopefully without being spotted. If anyone saw? Her ass was grass.
You’d better appreciate what I’m trying to do. Her gaze went to the forest past the gate, a dark blob that could have hidden an army—or a watching wolfman.
She shook her head. She’d not come up here to stare at shadows. Tanis pulled out her slingshot, armed it with a stone, lined up her shot, and let it rip. The cameras had been placed high off the ground, on poles that rose above and slightly away from the walls. Easy target for someone like her who’d been slinging from a young age.
The stone soared and hit its target with a plink. She crouched low and waited. Had she hit it hard enough? If yes, and she’d broken it, how long before it got noticed? Would anyone bother to fix it at night?
The answer came shortly thereafter. A soldier trotted from the main building carrying a ladder. Tanis didn’t stick around to watch, though. She ducked back into the barracks and headed down to the main level, seeing as how she’d learned everything she needed.
She headed for her room to grab the packed bag, which sat on her uncomfortable cot. As she headed for the barracks exit with it in hand, she almost stumbled as a soldier entered.
Wait, that wasn’t?—
“Barrett?” she blurted out without thinking as she recognized him.
His lips quirked. “Hey, sweetheart.”
“What are you doing here?” she exclaimed.
“Taking you up on your invitation. Nice sling-shotting by the way.”
He had been watching! And been busy. She eyed his uniform. “Guess, I didn’t need to go through the trouble of cobbling you together an outfit,” she grumbled.
“You don’t sound happy to see me.”
“Why did you leave last night?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“Can we go somewhere we’re less likely to be overheard and seen?” he asked with an arched brow.
“Are the soldiers coming back already from their meeting?”
“No idea, but I’m feeling a little exposed.”
“My room’s right there”—she pointed to the flimsy door—“but it’s not exactly soundproof."
"Planning to be noisy?" said with a smile that had her clenching in a most inappropriate spot given the situation.
How dare he flirt when he’d yet to explain his abandonment? “If you’re caught here…”
“I’m fucked. I’m aware.”
Her lips pursed. “There aren’t many places we can go. The main building entrance requires facial recognition and permission to enter. And the windows are barred. Pretty sure a soldier would notice if we tried to remove them.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” His gaze went up and down the hall with the many closed doors. “Not all of these rooms are in use.”
“How can you tell?”
He tapped his nose.
“Of course.” How could she have forgotten? “I’ve been keeping count since I got here, and including some of the white coats, as well as the general and major, I’m up to twelve people.”
“How many doctors in that number?”
“Three.”
