“Cleared for entrance,” one of the men inside repeated, his voice coming out of a speaker somewhere nearby.
The elaborate security door on the large divider began to hum as locks disengaged. Finally, there was a slight sucking sound before it swung open toward them.
“Through here,” the guide said, leading them to the other side.
There were twenty doors in the back half of the corridor, ten on each side, paired in twos. Down the center of the space were three more armed men, walking back and forth as if they were protecting something.
“What is this place?” Ash asked Mike.
“I’m sorry,” the guide said. “No talking here, please.”
Frustrated, Ash fell silent as they continued down the hallway.
The pair of doors their guide finally stopped in front of was the second to last on the left side. He opened an eye-level panel on the left door, looked through it, then closed it again. He gave Mike a nod, then opened the door on the right.
This time it was Mike who took the lead, with their guide staying outside.
As if the whole facility wasn’t odd already, this new room was even stranger. The first part was a narrow passageway that took a jog to the right, then turned back to the left before opening into a wide space with five comfortable chairs sitting side by side. The chairs were facing the wall on the left, which seemed to be made of opaque, black glass.
“Take a seat,” Mike said.
“Where is she?” Ash asked.
“You’ll see her in a moment.” He gestured at the chairs. “You should take the one in the center.”
Once they were seated, Chloe to his right, and Mike to his left, Ash said, “So what now?”
“Now we talk to Olivia. But I want to warn you first, don’t buy everything she tells you. Are you ready?”
“I’m ready.” Though ready was probably not the right word. He had no idea from which direction she was going to enter. And where would she sit? Down at one of the ends? How could he talk to her there?
Mike pushed a button on his armrest.
A voice came out of a speaker. “Station one.”
“This is Mike. We’re ready.”
“Copy that, Mike.”
Suddenly, it was as if the wall in front of them melted away. The opaque black was gone, replaced by clear glass, a window into another room.
There was a bed in the back and a sink on the wall next to a toilet. Hanging from the ceiling in the corner, enclosed by a wire cage, was a television that was currently off. But the most striking thing in the room was the woman sitting on a plastic stool just a few feet on the other side of the wall, facing them.
Her blonde hair was short, maybe no longer than half an inch. She had an angular face with high cheekbones and eyes that seemed to smirk. She’d barely moved since the wall became transparent, staring at it, a smile resting on her lips.
“Can she see us?” Ash whispered.
The woman suddenly laughed. “Yes. I can see you. Hear you, too.”
“This is Olivia,” Mike said. “Olivia, we have some guests who need to ask you a few questions.”
“So I’ve been told.” Her gaze shifted to Chloe. “You look kind of familiar. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
Chloe said nothing.
The woman shrugged, then turned her attention to Ash. “You’re one ugly son of a bitch, aren’t you? Someone throw you in front of a train?”
Ash ignored her comment. “I’m looking for a location, and I’m told you might know where it is.”
“Hold on. You know my name. I don’t know yours.”
He paused for a second, then said, “Ash.”
“As in cigarette?”
“Do you know the location of something called NB7?”
Her eyes widened a fraction of an inch, as if he’d actually surprised her. “What are you? One of their hunters?” she asked, nodding toward Mike. “Out to bag you a big-name baddie, is that it?” She smiled, then leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees. “Have you ever considered for a moment that maybe you guys are the black hats?”
“I don’t care about sides,” Ash said. “I'm just trying to find…some people who are important to me. I’ve been told they’ve been taken to NB7. I just need to know where it is.”
“Look, honey. You might as well stop what you’re doing right now. If they’ve been taken to NB7, then they’re probably already dead. Time to move on.”
Ash tried to maintain his composure. “Just tell me where it is.”
“Out of the goodness of my heart? I don’t think so.”
Ash couldn’t hold back. He jumped up and slammed his fist against the wall. “Tell me where it is!”
“Oh, touchy. Who’d they take? Your girlfriend? Wife, maybe? Your mom?”
“Dr. Karp took my kids!”
Olivia stared at him, once more looking a bit surprised.
“Please,” he said. “Where is this place?”
“Even if I told you, do you think they’d just let you walk out with them?”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
She leaned back. “Really? Because that actually makes it interesting. Whatever it takes?”
“Yes.”
“Hold on,” Mike said. He pressed the button on the armrest. “Cut audio.”
“Audio off,” the voice from earlier said through the speaker.
Ash twisted around. “What?”
“She’s tried to make deals before,” Mike explained. “The one time someone actually took her up on it, it was a trap.”
“I don’t care. If it gets me close to my kids, that’s all I’ll need. I can take it from there.”
“If you’re dead, that’s not going to help your kids at all.”
“And if they’re dead, there’s no reason for me to live. Switch the sound back on.”
Reluctantly, Mike did.
“Can you tell me where my kids are or not?” Ash asked.
“Oh, you’re back. Mikey there telling you not to trust me?” Olivia said.
“Answer my question.”
She held up her hand and wagged a finger at him. “You know very well how this works. Trade-off.”
“There’s nothing I can do for you.”
“Isn’t there?”
He stared at her for a second. “You obviously have something in mind. What is it?”
Her upper lip curled in a faux pout. “I get so little entertainment in here, and you deny me even a little negotiation. Fine. Here’s all I want you to do. When you find the fabulous Dr. Karp, just before you put the bullet in his head, because I know that’s exactly what you want to do, I want you to tell him hi from me, and ask him why he gave up on me. One more thing. If he says anything after that, tell him he’ll be heading to the afterlife before me.”
“That’s it? That’s all you want?”
Her smile was back. “It would mean the world to me.”
“That, I can do.”
“I thought you probably could.”
38
