Page 54 of Tracking the Alpha
“Afraid so.”
She sighed loudly. “Fine.” She stood and roughly hauled Wendell to his feet.
Before they could start opening cells, the elevator doors shut, and Barrett could hear the hum as it left.
“Where’s it going? I thought you said everyone on the medical team was off duty,” Barrett stated, glaring at Wendell.
“Don’t get peeved at me. I can’t control what they do. Maybe someone was in the mood to work.” Wendell cocked his head. “Looks like it hit the main level to grab someone.”
“Who?”
“Dunno.” Wendell shrugged.
“Freya.” Barrett just had to say her name, and she understood.
“On it, Captain.” She quickly moved to flank the elevator in case it descended to their level.
It didn’t.
The elevator stopped at sublevel six, and Barrett glanced at Wendell. “Why would anyone go there? I thought you said it was for the dangerous patients.”
The guy frowned. “Not sure why anyone would be there at this time. Meals have already been delivered for the day, and there’s no testing scheduled.”
Barrett’s blood turned cold. “Is the elevator the only way out?” he asked Wendell.
“More or less. There is a utility shaft with a ladder that no one uses, but it stops at the first subfloor.”
“Show me,” Barrett commanded because something inside him screamed that he needed to go, now.
Only that warning came too late. The vents in the hall began to hiss, and Wendell whispered, “Someone activated the gas.”
Chapter Sixteen
Tanis roused slowly and groggily to find herself lying under a bright light. She turned her head and blinked, startled to find herself in what appeared to be an industrial-type kitchen. Stainless-steel counters, large stainless-steel doors to either a walk-in freezer or fridge, wire shelving holding bulk-sized cans.
When she tried to sit up, she discovered she couldn’t, as she’d been bound in place. The strap around her chest had no wiggle, which led to sudden panic as well as ineffectual thrashing.
“Should have hit her harder,” grumbled Major Stevens.
Tanis whipped her gaze to the other side and spotted the major, his military jacket missing for once, with his sleeves rolled to his elbows.
“What are you doing? Untie me at once,” Tanis demanded even as she recalled his threats back in the forest. Was this how it ended? Fed to his Dr. Moreau-nian creations?
“As if I’d forgive your treachery. In cahoots with the enemy, and as if it weren’t bad enough you helped him get inside, Brittany says she smelled him all over you.” His nose wrinkled. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised a backwoods injun would fuck a dirty dog.”
Her breath sucked in, not only at the racial slur but the fact he knew what happened between her and Barrett the night before. “He is going to kill you.”
“Doubtful. You see, once you admitted to him being inside, I made a call to the general so he could lay a trap for Patient 73. Did you know he actually made it inside the facility, all the way to B5 where he used to live? Foolish dog thought he could free them all.” The major’s lips twisted in amusement. “He’s since learned otherwise.”
“What have you done to him?”
“Me, nothing. The general, though, he activated our safety measure and put the entire floor to sleep. All it took was the press of a button and poof.” Stevens exploded his hands. “The gas would have knocked him out in seconds.”
“You didn’t kill him?”
“Why would we do that after all the trouble we went through trying to capture him? After all, he is still one of our greater successes. A prime example of the possibilities when the protocol is properly applied.”
“Success,” Tanis snorted. “I don’t think he’d agree.”
