A second generator fired up not far away. Lights in the lab flickered back on. “There. Just enough juice to power up these computers. And to get us out that lab door.”
He pointed to the vent in the roof where they made their entry. “Collette can only reach us through there. In a minute, I will have the information we need downloaded into a file. Cover me as I try to upload Willy’s package into their system.”
She nodded and raised her assault rifle toward the ceiling, tightly wrapping the sling around her left arm for sight control and planting it on her right shoulder.
Gerrit typed in a series of commands provided earlier by Willy. The first person to poke his head through that vent above would get an unwelcome surprise.
He opened up a website that Willy provided. Gerrit typed in a code and connected the program files to the site. He clicked a button to activate it, and copies of the computer files and attached data in the lab began to upload to Willy’s website. While this function clicked away, he removed the USB drive, inserted it into another active computer, and drove the driver’s content into the lab’s servers with one click.
A gunshot exploded above them. Glancing up, he saw Alena crouching behind a file cabinet, firing three-round bursts toward the ceiling. Someone had followed their path through the venting system. Several shots ricocheted off the wall in front of him.
“Gerrit, make it quick. It’s Collette,” Alena yelled back between bursts of gunfire. “She has us pinned down.”
“Give me a second and I can give you backup.”
“Quick. We’re sitting geese here.”
“Sitting ducks,” he muttered to himself, working on the console. Willy’s program began to feed into the lab’s memory banks like cars on the German autobahns, digital highway where information flowed into and out of the lab at full speed. The content flooding into the lab’s storage servers was a gift Willy wanted to leave behind. Sixty seconds was all the time he needed. Right now, that seemed like an eternity.
Alena fired another volley into the ceiling.
Ten seconds left.
He glanced at the screen and saw the final seconds tick off. Suddenly the screen switched back to the primary program. He quickly withdrew the portable drive and shoved it in his pocket.
His earpiece activated and Thompson’s voice transmitted. “We are moving into place for backup. Get out of there. Now!”
Gerrit clicked his acknowledgment and yelled over to Alena. “Okay, pull back. Time for Phase II.” He grabbed a bag Thompson had given him as they moved deeper into the lab, away from the vent in the roof where Collette lay hidden. He reached in the bag and withdrew a satchel and a package of malleable detonation cord. He packed the explosive cord around the door.
“Alena, time to say good-bye to this place.”
She scrambled closer as he blew open the lab door. He waited until she dashed past him, then turned and heaved the satchel into the lab. He slammed the door shut and pointed to where the hallway made a ninety-degree turn to the right. “Wait around the corner and give me a second to catch up.”
Once they rounded the corner, he pulled out two radio transmitters. “Fire in the hole,” he yelled before triggering both. The ensuing blast ripped through the building, almost knocking them off their feet. As the dust settled, he peered around the corner. The explosion had caved in the entire entryway, leaving a pile of rubble. He was sure the secondary explosion inside the lab had destroyed most of the computers and servers.
“Time to get out of here.”
Alena and he ran down a long dark hallway. Gerrit yelled into his mike, “Willy, give me a fix on any security in the area.”
Willy’s excited voice came over the air. “I’ve got you in sight. Cameras are out, but our heat sensors show a lot of activity. Keep moving in the direction you’re headed. Off to your right, about twenty or thirty yards, a group of security personnel are huddled together. Looks like they’re confused.”
“And what about the locals-cops and firefighters?”
“On the scene. Firefighters are still back in some kind of staging area, but Albuquerque’s SWAT is moving in. They should be hitting the place any minute.”
“Thanks, Willy. We’re moving out and should be at the rendezvous site in about one minute.”
“Got it. Be careful.”
Gerrit smiled to himself. Bombs going off. Firefights ranging right and left. And Willy wants us to be careful. He tapped Alena’s shoulder. “Let’s go home.” Into the radio, he said, “We’re on the move.”
“Roger that.” There was a moment’s delay until Willy came back on the air. “SWAT is at your twelve o’clock. Move to your left about forty yards. Redneck and Mr. Stars and Stripes blew a hole in the outer wall and cut a path through the concertina wire in all the confusion. SWAT can’t see it from their location.”
Gerrit acknowledged Willy with two clicks on the radio and moved in that direction.
Willy came back on the air. “Update. Stars and Stripes moved back to the pickup site. Redneck will cover your retreat.”
“Ten-four.” Gerrit said, as he and Alena moved closer to the outer wall, weapons at the ready.
A huge figure loomed from the shadows as they drew near. Redneck emerged, cradling his rifle. “Took your sweet time, jarhead. Let’s get outta here.” He pointed toward a jagged hole in the wall. “Made it easy for you.”
Gerrit patted him on the shoulder and moved toward the door. He was about to step through when he heard a startled gasp from Alena. Whirling around, he saw Redneck holding a semi-auto handgun to her head.
“Easy there, Mr. G. Lower your weapon, slow and easy.”
Gerrit froze.
Alena gazed at her captor with an anguished look.
Redneck grabbed a fistful of hair and pressed the gun against her temple. “I’m not going to tell you twice, Gerrit. Drop it.”
He started to lower his rifle, never breaking visual contact.
It happened in a flash. One blink and he saw movement in Alena’s left hand. A flash of metal as she plunged a knife into Redneck’s upper thigh.
Before Redneck could react, Gerrit squeezed off two rounds straight at the giant’s head. His head snapped back and he fell, slamming into the floor with a thud.
Dead.
Alena looked at Gerrit as if in shock. Her expression seemed to ask the unspoken question.
Why?
Chapter 47
Harrogate, England
Oh, God. Give me strength.
Another powerful blow snapped his head to the side. Joe tensed, waiting for another strike. And another. One of Kane’s goons kept pounding him with blows. Face, stomach, kidneys. His tormentor knew how to hurt someone.
Pain came in waves, each blow taking away his breath, making him cry out. Fear almost paralyzed him as he struggled to free himself from the chair. It was useless.
Kane emerged from the shadows and waved off the attacker. He moved closer, inches from Joe’s swollen face. “We are just getting started, O’Rourke. Remember Chicago?”
Just the mention of that city, that attack, made his heart jackhammer. God help me stay strong!
Kane looked into his eyes and leered. “This is going to get much worse. You’ll wish my boys had dropped you off the roof in the Windy City by the time I am finished. Unless you tell me what I want to know. Do you understand?”
Joe glared back, fighting his fear.
