Mindsiege (Mindspeak #2)(85)

I’m calming Dia and Lin down. Trying to talk them into coming with us when we leave here. Trying to convince them that we can remove the trackers.

Have you mentioned this to Georgia? I don’t know how to remove the trackers without her.

We’ll figure it out.

I stayed to the outer perimeter of the room, not making eye contact with anyone. I wished we could remove every clone within this facility tonight, but there wasn’t time.

When I reached the door to what I believed to be the room housing the tracker server, I studied the panel just outside the door. It was a square panel with a keypad next to it. I held up my palm to test the size. It definitely would measure my entire hand. Maybe it scans each fingerprint. Right about the spot where my middle finger would go was a tiny hole in the otherwise flat surface.

This room looks to have a combination of security measures.

You’ve got to get out of there, Jonas said. Sandra just stormed past me. She’s headed in that direction. I don’t know how you got inside that part of the lab, but she won’t be happy.

Yes, Lexi, Addison said. Sandra is headed right for you. And she’s moving quickly.

I turned on my heels and walked back the way I came. I could use a Marauder’s Map right about now.

I slipped outside the lab and walked in the opposite direction from where I hoped Sandra would be coming. I shed the lab coat and left it on the floor, then stuffed the ID down my shirt.

“There she is.”

I jumped when I heard the voice of Dr. Barracuda herself. I slowly turned toward her. The young lab tech I had assaulted stood beside Sandra, picked up her lab coat, and began dusting it off.

“Sarah, come with me.” Sandra did not look like she was having a good day. And the lab tech was downright pissed.

I debated internally whether I should make a run for it. Where would I go? “Why?” I asked her. I fingered the ring on my finger. The gun pushed against the small of my back, tucked in my waistband.

Sandra looked sideways at the lab tech. “You may go. If no more little girls attack you, you might make it out alive.”

The woman evil-eyed me as she approached, reached up and snatched the glasses still perched on my nose, then spun on her heels and stalked off.

When she was gone, I redirected my gaze back to Sandra. I had swallowed all fear back in Sandra’s apartment when Jack had looked me in the eye and promised we’d make it out of here.

Sandra’s shiver-inducing grin spread across her face. “You think you’ve got this all figured out, don’t you?”

I cocked my head. “Figured out? Are you kidding me? I don’t think I’ll ever have this all figured out. That wasn’t my intention when I turned myself over to you.”

“What was your intention?

I almost laughed. What was my intention? I didn’t have just one. To do the right thing. To save my best friend. To get Ty and Jonas out of my head forever. To discover enough about this facility and Sandra to escape and live some semblance of a normal life. But instead of confiding all that, I simply stared at Sandra. She looked exhausted, like she hadn’t slept in days.

“What if I told you my dream is to have you, Jonas, and Jack working alongside me? I want you to know what Peter, John, and I created you to do. The three of you are very special, Sarah.”

“My name is Lexi. My dad renamed me when he hid me from you. If he had created me to do something so special, why didn’t he tell me?”

“I can’t answer that.” Sandra actually had the gall to appear remorseful when she spoke.

“That’s because you killed him before he had the chance,” I answered for her.

Sandra placed a hand over her heart, a gesture very similar to one I’ve done many times. “I’m sorry your father was killed. That was unfortunate. But I didn’t kill him.”

“Unfortunate? Unfortunate is dropping an iPhone in the toilet. My father was murdered because he was trying to protect me. You expect me to believe you had nothing to do with it?”

“Yes, actually. I was in a coma by the time your father was killed.”

I blinked. Two, three times. “Then, you ordered him killed.”

“You’re smarter than this, Sarah.” Sandra turned and began walking away from me. “Come with me. I have something you need to see.”

Above me, a voice said, “LAB WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN FORTY-FIVE MINUTES.”

~~~~~

We found the blueprint for the trackers. Jack mindspoke to the group. Lexi, where are you? His voice sounded panicked.

I stared at Sandra’s back as we passed the lab. Jack was not going to be happy. We turned a corner and continued toward the interior part of the building. She scanned her ID at a door, then placed her palm onto a scanner similar to the one I saw outside the control room.

I heard a small click. Sandra pulled her hand back and sucked on her middle finger for a second. She didn’t even flinch. The door slid open.

I’m with Sandra. I closed my eyes and braced for Jack’s response. We’re entering some interior room around the corner from the lab.

Turn around. Run. Do whatever you have to do. Get away from her.

Why?

We were wrong. Addison says you’re entering the main DNA lab right now. The tracker server is located on the other side of that room. I’ve got a list of trackers in front of me and who they’ve been designed for. Lexi, there’s one with your name beside it.