As she opened the file cabinet, Charlie tapped her on the back and pointed to his watch. Time was running short. She nodded, opened the file drawers, and flipped through the folders. She found one labeled, orphanage, opened it and was startled to see snapshots of girls. She didn’t have time to process what she was looking at, so she quickly took pictures of them with her phone and replaced the file. At the same time, Charlie downloaded the computer files to another thumb-drive.
The two of them made their way back out the same way they came in making sure not to leave any tracks.
Making their way toward the sanctuary, they both heard voices.
“She’s in the prophet’s office. Our orders are to take her alive, so no shooting.”
Sin ducked behind a stone column and signaled Charlie who had done the same about twenty feet away.
“They think I’m alone,” Sin mouthed.
Charlie smirked. They’d known each other for so long that Sin had no doubt he could read her thoughts and anticipate her plans.
Sin waited until her pursuers entered Heap’s office before running for the door behind the altar. Charlie remained hidden in the back of the church while Sin picked the lock.
“She’s now in the sanctuary.”
“Why the hell did you make us go to Heap’s office?”
“Hell, I’m just following this signal. Now, shut up and stay low. We have her outnumbered four to one. She’s ours now.”
Charlie stayed hidden while Sin remained in plain sight.
She pretended to be having trouble picking the lock. The plan was to take care of their ‘friends’ here before they entered unknown territory.
Charlie waited until the first three passed him before grabbing the fourth in a chokehold. He quickly subdued the assailant and dragged the unconscious body behind the pillar.
“Freeze!” yelled the first guard. “Arms in the air before I shoot.”
Sin slowly raised her arms, eyeing her pistol holstered near her belt buckle.
“Turn around nice and slow or I’ll put a bullet in that pretty little head of yours.”
Sin recognized York’s voice. She didn’t turn, but spoke to stall for time. “How did you find me? I didn’t see you out front.”
“I told you I was better than any Special Forces piece of crap,” York boasted. “I was tailing you even before you drove onto the property.”
Dumb son of a bitch, Sin thought, he doesn’t even know how we gained entrance.
She stood her ground as his footsteps neared. She knew this was going to come down to timing.
“I said turn around,” York yelled.
Sin didn’t respond, she just stared at the face on her watch. She knew Charlie could see what was going on and as soon as York was in position he would give her the ‘go’ sign.
Adrenaline surged through her body as York’s footsteps neared. Sin began to tingle to the point that she thought she would burst. Just when she didn’t think she could hold off one more minute, she saw a red light flash on her watch.
At the same time, York grabbed her shoulder, Sin spun, knocked the gun from his hand, kneed him in the groin, jumped on his chest, pulled her semiautomatic from her waist holster, and held it against his throat. His eyes darted back and forth.
“Looking for someone?” she seethed. “No one is coming to your aid, dumbass. Do you think I would come alone?”
York’s eyes dilated and sweat poured from his forehead.
Sin’s expression turned to stone as she leaned into York and whispered, “I had inside help. You better recheck your friends.”
Sin felt his body tighten and a guttural sound rose from deep in his chest. As the growl escaped his mouth, Sin cracked open his skull like a walnut with the butt end of her pistol.
Charlie emerged from the shadows and held out a hand. Sin grabbed it and stood up. “What did you tell the big fella to piss him off?”
Sin smiled. “I told him I had inside help and to check his friends.”
Charlie shook his head and waved Sin through the open door.
Sin had a hard time delineating all the specifics of the room due to the green tinge from the night-vision goggles. “I’m turning on the lights,” she said. “I need a better look around.”
“Let’s be quick,” Charlie said. “Someone may see them from the outside.”
Sin pushed her goggle up onto her forehead and flipped on the lights.
She stood still, glued to her spot, and took in her surroundings. “It really is a damn movie studio.”
Charlie knew what Sin was thinking. “Stay objective as we process the scene.”
As Charlie went to work on the computers, Sin stood behind the camera that was set up in the middle of the room and followed its sight. It was aimed at the stage. She ran on to the stage, pulled a bottle of luminal out of her pack and sprayed the surface. “Charlie shut the lights off for a moment,” she said.
He did and blotches―small and large―glowed red.
“Shit,” she moaned. “There is blood everywhere up here.”
“Hurry up and take some pictures, so I can turn the lights back on,” Charlie huffed.
Her blood pressure was rising, and her head was spinning as she took the pictures. If I find out those girls were tortured and killed on film, I will castrate the motherfucker responsible. As soon as she snapped the last photo, Sin asked Charlie to turn the lights turned back on.
Charlie started the download sequence on the computer and then he took in the rest of the room. He pointed to twelve monitors, all of which faced the main stage. They were in three rows, set up in a stadium type of arrangement. “That’s a strange configuration for the monitors to be in,” he said.
Sin shook off her emotions and stood next to him. “You’re the expert, what do you think?”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Start taking pictures of the entire room while I finish downloading the files. We don’t have much time before others show up.”
Sin snapped her head toward him.
