Night Watch (Kendra Michaels #4)(98)

“Okay, we can immediately eliminate those. What about the ones that don’t end with your dying?”

“Still problematic. But there are some things in our favor. This facility seems to be operating on a skeleton crew. At any given time, there are only perhaps four armed guards present.”

“Only?”

“Dyle could afford an army, but I’m guessing he wants to minimize the number of people who know about this operation. They’re probably private security officers he uses in his riskier overseas trouble spots. As far as I can tell, John Jaden runs the entire team. White hair, tan, gray eyes, about forty. He has a special place in Dyle’s organization.”

Kendra stiffened. “I think he must have been one of the men who took me. I recognize the description. What kind of special place?”

“He’s a combination of enforcer and executive troubleshooter. I only knew him in the latter role when I was in London. It was only when Dyle decided he needed more firepower after we took off for California that Jaden showed his true spots. He’s quiet, superb at his job, intimidating in an iceman kind of way. He sometimes leaves the team and does private jobs for Dyle.” He added grimly, “I’d bet Shaw was one of those jobs. It was Jaden who took me down in my hotel room that night. I didn’t have a chance against him. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was the one who planned and carried out your abduction. Dyle was very disappointed that the first attempt against you failed. He’d want a sure thing this time.”

“Anything else?”

“Only that each one of those men carries an automatic rifle.”

“… which brings us back to your violent-death scenarios.”

“Exactly.”

Kendra glanced around. The two entrances were situated on each end of the long room. “Any idea what’s on the other side of these doors?”

“They always come and go from the door on the far side. That’s the central living area. I assume the other one leads to another room or perhaps another building.”

Kendra turned back and looked at the door behind her. She shook her head. “There’s been a tiny bit of sand tracked in from that entrance. It probably leads outside.”

She squinted at the light brown walls. “What kind of building is this?”

“Prefab carbon fiber. Light, but very strong. It’s easy to transport and assemble on-site, often used in military operations. An entire village can be erected in just a few hours.”

She reached out toward the nearest wall and drummed her fingers against it. It felt almost like plastic. She turned back to Waldridge. “Could an acid weaken these walls?”

“Afraid not. Carbon fiber is extremely resistant to chemical attacks. It’s very similar to sturdier metals in that respect.”

She nodded. “Damn.”

Waldridge stepped back toward the workbenches. “But I think you’re on the right track. They’ve given me a fairly well-equipped lab that could work to our advantage. Properly combined, chemicals can be awesome weapons. The problem is, we still need a way out. Brute force isn’t going to do much for us against those automatic weapons.”

“I might have that part covered,” she said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

She opened her hand to show him a small rubber capsule, about an in inch long. “I swallowed this before I was taken.”

“What is it?”

She tore open the capsule. “Have you ever heard of a bump key?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

“Neither had I until Jessie decided she had to pull out all the stops and get me something more than that GPS to keep us alive. She’d used it in Afghanistan. It’s a specially cut key that you insert and strike as you turn it. Each strike causes the tumblers to jump for a moment, just long enough to enable the lock to be thrown.”

“It actually works?”

“According to Jessie, it works on about 95 percent of the locks out there.”

“And you have one?”

“I have six. All contained in this capsule. It has to be the right size as the lock you’re trying, so I brought an assortment. Jessie got them for me and showed me how to do it.” She glanced at the doors on each end of the lab. “There’s a good chance it will work here.”

Waldridge looked at the keys in her hand. “You regurgitated that capsule when you first woke up…”

“I really wasn’t all that nauseous. I just had to get it out.”

“You might have told me.”

“I didn’t know if the place was bugged or anything about the situation.”

He smiled. “You did come prepared for a rescue mission.”

“Sorry I couldn’t swallow an AK-47.” She walked over to the workbench. “So assuming I can get us through that door, what do you have in mind for those chemicals?”

“I’ll show you later. But we’ll need to be very careful with them. Volatile.”

“What isn’t in this situation? I’ll leave it to you. If it’s got to be done, we’ll do it.” She looked down at her side. “But everything would have been simpler if I could have managed to keep that device.” Her glance lifted to him again. “You’re all right? Once we get out of here, you’ll be able to function? That stuff they gave you didn’t cause you any internal damage? You said not to the heart or brain, but anywhere else?”