Page 71 of Undercover Infidel
Bennett’s breathing had grown labored, his face slick with sweat. The blood had soaked through his tactical vest, leaving a trail of dark droplets on the metal floor behind us.
“He’s fading fast,” McLaren observed. “We need to get him out of here.”
“We’re close,” Con assured her, bearing most of Bennett’s weight.
We reached an exit point near the perimeter fence. I peered outside, scanning for guards.
“Clear for now,” I reported. “But we’ll need to move quickly. The fence is thirty meters away.”
Con forced the panel open, and we emerged into the cold night air. Searchlights swept the grounds, creating windows of darkness we could use to cross the empty area.
“On my mark,” I whispered, watching the lights. “Now!”
We dashed across the expanse, Con half carrying Bennett while McLaren and I provided cover. The fence loomed before us, its electrified wires humming with a lethal current. Con attached a device to it that created a temporary dead zone in the electrical system.
“Hurry,” he urged as he cut a gap. “This will only work for twenty seconds.”
We helped Bennett through, then followed quickly, sealing the breach behind us. We made it to our extraction vehicle without further incident, though every shadow seemed to conceal potential threats.
As we sped away from the compound with Dr. McLaren behind the wheel, I watched Bennett in the dim light of the cab. Despite his injury, his eyes remained alert, calculating. There was none of the disorientation or shock typical of a man who’d lost as much blood as he had.
Con applied a field dressing to Bennett’s wound. “The bullet passed through cleanly,” he reported. “But we need to get you properly treated soon.”
Bennett nodded, his jaw tight with pain—or perhaps something else. “Did you get what we came for?”
“Enough to understand what we’re dealing with,” Con confirmed.
The rest of the journey passed in tense silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts.
The safe house felt exposed,though we’d swept it for bugs upon our return. Bennett’s wound had been properly dressed, and he rested on the sofa in the main room, refusing to be confined to a bedroom.
“What’s our next move?” McLaren asked.
Con spread a map on the table, his expression unreadable. “We analyze what we’ve learned and plan our next approach.”
“There’s no time for that,” Bennett insisted, checking his mobile. “We need to relocate. Soon. They’ll find us here.”
“How?” Con asked, his tone casual, but his eyes sharp.
Bennett’s jaw tightened. “Orlov has resources we can’t match.”
McLaren sat silently by the window, her attention seemingly focused on the street outside. I watched herreflection in the glass, noting how her eyes occasionally flicked to Bennett.
Con marked the installation schematic with our infiltration points. “Interesting that the alarm triggered exactly where you two entered,” he observed, his tone neutral.
Before either Bennett or McLaren could respond, Renegade and Archon walked in. Based on the looks on their faces, both were fit to be tied. “I’ll deal with them,” I told Con before leading the two operatives into another room. “What happened?” I asked, looking between them.
“Once we split up from you and Con, Bennett said he was switching things up. He told us to continue to the western perimeter while he and Dr. McLaren inspected the testing location,” Renegade reported.
“He pulled rank,” Archon added. “We heard the gunfire, but by the time we reached the main building, you were pulling out.”
“Copy that,” I responded. Bennett was becoming more of a problem with every passing minute. And, given I outranked him, it was time I set things straight. “Wait here,” I said, returning to the other room.
“If you have something to say, Infidel, say it directly,” Bennett said when I returned.
“Noting facts,” Con replied evenly.
“This is absurd,” Bennett growled. “We were the ones who took fire.”
