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204
Quinn and Nate made their way carefully along the row of parked cars until they came to the back of the Ford. They waited a moment to be sure they hadn't been noticed, then Quinn reached up and attached a small ball of a putty-like substance to the bottom corner of the rear passenger-side window. When activated by heat, it would work its way around the rubber weather strip lining the window and enter the interior of the car as an odorless gas. Within moments, whoever was inside would be knocked out for up to two hours.
Quinn waited a moment to be sure the putty was staying in place, then retrieved a small plastic packet from his coat. He carefully opened it and removed a thin, mesh fabric pad. He placed this directly over the compound on the window, careful to cover the putty completely, then took several steps back.
They watched as the ball began to reduce in size, the pad not only heating it but also directing the gas to go into the car instead of out onto the street. When it was done, Quinn looked at his watch and waited a full three minutes before nodding to Nate.
'He's out,' Nate said, after he'd peeked into the front of the car. 'That stuff's cool.'
'Are you ready?' Quinn asked, all business.
Nate nodded.
Quinn put a hand on Nate's back. 'Remember –'
'To tell you everything,' Nate finished.
'Good man.' Quinn made a final scan of the street. All was quiet. 'Okay, into position.' Nate nodded, then moved across the street to a spot they had determined prior to arriving. Quinn
checked the guard one last time. The man's head was tilted back against the seat, his mouth half open. Quinn glanced down at the sentry's chest to make sure the man was breathing. He was.
After giving Nate a quick wave, Quinn moved over to the fence. He quickly scanned the street and the water plant for signs of another sentry. There was no one.
After taking a deep breath, Quinn pulled himself over the fence and dropped down on the other side. He found himself on a short driveway that ran in front of the building and around to the south end, where the door was.
In the left-hand pocket of his jacket was the key Duke had given him and a small but powerful flashlight. Quinn removed the key but left the flashlight. For the moment there was enough residual light to see what he was doing. As he neared the door the silence that had enveloped the street was replaced by a muffled, low-level hum. It took him a second before he realized it was coming from inside the building.
He slipped the key into the lock and turned it. The lock was a little sticky, but it appeared to be old, so that wasn't surprising. After he heard the latch click, he slowly pulled the door open. There was no light coming from inside. He took a deep breath, then stepped into the building and closed the door behind him.
He was instantly enveloped by total darkness. He remained motionless for several moments, listening. Other than the loud hum, there was no other noise. He shoved the key back in his pocket, pulled out the flashlight, and turned it on. A quick sweep of the beam revealed he was alone.
'Nate, how's the street?' Quinn asked.
'Freezing,' Nate said, then added, 'all quiet.'
'You should be used to the cold by now,' Orlando said.
'I seem to remember you not being too happy when you had to stand in front of the Dorint,' Nate said.
'I was just faking it,' she said. 'Thought it might make you feel better.' 'Enough,' Quinn said. 'In case anyone's interested, I'm in.'
He aimed the light at the front of the building and began to make a more thorough investigation of his new surroundings. It didn't take long to discover why it was so dark inside. Wooden baffles had been erected over the inside of the windows and were secured firmly to the walls. As an added precaution, thick cloth strips had been affixed to where each baffle met the wall, guaranteeing no light from outside could seep in.
To the side of the door was a steel reinforced panel. The panel was mounted on tracks and could easily slide in front of the entrance, effectively sealing off the room.
He uttered aloud, 'What the hell do they need that for?'
'What're you talking about?' Orlando asked.
He described the baffled windows and the security door to her. 'Everything looks recently installed.' He noticed there was a distinct odor in the room, too. Not offensive. In fact, quite the opposite. Clean,
almost antiseptic. But not like a hospital. The antiseptic smell of a hospital was tinged with medicine and death. This smell was the clean of a room thoroughly disinfected, scrubbed from top to bottom and then wiped down with an abundance of ammonia.
'What do you think it means?' she asked after Quinn described the odor to her.
'I don't know.'
'Tell me about the rest of the room.'
He pointed the flashlight toward the ceiling. 'The room's big all right. Just like Duke said. Cavernous. Maybe seventy feet to the ceiling.'
'What's that noise?' Orlando asked.
Slowly, so he wouldn't miss anything important, he swung the flashlight around to his right.
'What the hell?' he said.
