Scarlet (15 page)

"Are there any A.I. defenses in place?" he asked.

"I'm sure there are," Pete said, looking around. "But they don't tell us about them. Guess they consider us under the pay grade for that kind of information."

Morgan had no doubt they did. Unfortunately, he needed the information in order to slip past security. His gaze landed on the hidden vids. He knew just the man to ask. "So where do we start?"

"This way," Pete said, leading them in the opposite direction of the area Morgan wanted to explore.

*    *    *

Red had a headache from listening to the speculation circling the office. There were many, many theories and very few facts. How could she fight this and expect to win? The talk continued on and on. Finally, she'd had enough. She walked into the sheriff's station and the conversation stopped cold. "Don't quit on my account," she said. "It was just starting to get interesting."

The recruits stood upon her approach. "Reporting problems at the training facility, Commander," Juan said.

"I heard. I'll deal with the sabotage later. I'm sure you've all been apprised of the latest situation," she said, looking at Maggie, who had the grace to turn away. "So I won't need to repeat it other than to say I plan to investigate this death aggressively. No one gets killed on my watch. Not even an unknown." She glared around the room before meeting their wary gazes. "If you're ready to learn," she said, addressing the remaining five new recruits, "then I suggest you gear up. We'll be heading out into the desert in less than," Red glanced at her watch, "two minutes."

"Yes, ma'am," Juan said, saluting her before turning sharply and striding to the back of the station with Takeo, Jones, Olson, and Demery tight on his heels.

chapter eleven

It had taken two weeks tracking various shipping arrivals for Morgan to figure out that both the cloned cells and Project Scarlet were being stored in area 47F. Fifty-two people were allocated for the project as far as he could tell. From the schedules he'd glimpsed at the Eye of God's station, they worked nearly around the clock.

There was only one hour that seemed to be unstaffed, and that was when the deliveries were made at 2:00 P.M. Everyone left their positions and helped to unload, including the guards, since the items were environmentally sensitive.

Morgan decided that was when he'd strike.

Placing two video looping devices on the Eye of God's monitoring system would've been hard had Morgan not flirted blatantly with Coleman. By the time he'd finished, Coleman had shared information Morgan had no doubt would be labeled top secret. If he really worked here, he'd bust the man for it. But Coleman acted on the belief that he had a chance of getting Morgan into bed, which was exactly what Morgan had intended. He hated using the man, but he'd had no choice. Time was running out.

The next phase of his plan would be harder. Morgan and Pete began their shift as usual, walking the circuit, checking doors, and observing personnel badges. They were on their way to the loading docks when Morgan told his partner that he heard something. It was a simple ploy that should've worked easily.

Unfortunately, convincing Pete that he'd heard a noise in one of the labs proved more difficult than Morgan had anticipated. Pete was green to the security business despite his four years of experience, which meant he'd never really seen any action. The idea of actually checking out a potentially dangerous situation didn't sit well with the young security officer.

If Morgan hadn't stepped through the door, insisting he'd heard a noise, he doubted that Pete would've followed.

Morgan had spent his weeks on the job casing the areas. He now knew that lab 34 contained all the ingredients needed to make a quick flash bomb. It wouldn't do a tremendous amount of damage, but it would fill the place with dense black smoke, giving Morgan plenty of time to slip out undetected. But he needed to act now before the first vid-loop ended and the Eye of God saw what he was really doing.

“You go that way and I'll go this way," Morgan said, indicating to the right and to the left.

Pete's eyes widened and he shook his head, refusing to move. "I think maybe we should stick together."

"It'll be okay. Holler if you encounter anyone who shouldn't be here."

The young guard nodded, then slowly stepped to the right. He looked back several times to assure himself that Morgan was still there. Any other time, Morgan would cut the poor guy a break, but not today. It had taken far longer than he'd anticipated narrowing down Joshua's and Sarah's location. He'd expected to be back in Nuria by now. Back with Gina.

He forced his mind on the job at hand. If this mission was successful, he'd be able to turn in his notice and leave tomorrow. The thought of being in Gina's arms by tomorrow night caused Morgan's heart to thump hard and his body to tighten in anticipation. He shook his head to clear it.
Finish the job first. You 're not out of here yet,
he thought.

Beakers filled with various chemicals lined rows and rows of tables. Sterile white sheets divided the work areas, creating faux cubicles and the perfect place to hide. The vids would show an empty room, thanks to the looping device. Morgan glanced back. Pete was farther away now, but still watching him. He had to make this convincing or they'd arrest him for sabotage.

"Hey, you there! Stop!" he shouted and jumped behind the nearest sheet where the chemicals he needed were located.

Pete's head shot up and he broke into a run. Morgan quickly mixed the chemicals needed for the flash bomb, then rushed back out. "Run," he said to Pete. "I think he has a bomb."

The young security officer's eyes widened and he skidded to a halt. Fortunately, it didn't take him long to recover. He raced for the open door that led to the hallway without waiting for Morgan. "What happened?"

Morgan caught up with him easily. He gasped, making it sound like he was out of breath. "I'd just rounded the corner at the far end when I saw movement. I didn't catch the person's face because I was too busy concentrating on what they were doing."

A boom sounded, shaking the wall closest to them. Black smoke billowed out, choking the air with its noxious fumes.

"What the hell?" Pete exclaimed, starting to run back into the room.

Morgan stopped him. "Are you nuts? I told you it looked like he had a bomb. We don't know what he used to make it. Looked pretty toxic to me. We need to call the sweepers in."

Pete glanced down the hall. 'They should be coming. I don't understand what's taking them so long. Coleman doesn't miss anything."

"I'll go this way and look for them. You head back down to Coleman and make sure he's notified the other security teams to be on the lookout for a lone male suspect," Morgan said.

Pete started to move, but stopped. "We aren't supposed to split up. It's company policy."

More smoke belched out from the open door, filling the hall with a thick haze. Morgan glanced at it, trying to judge how much time he had left before the sweepers arrived to clean up his mess. He turned back to his partner.

"We don't have time to argue about this. I don't want this guy to get away. I'm sure a capture would look good in both our files."

Pete's eyes lit at the possibility of a commendation. "Okay," he said hesitantly. "But I'll be right back."

"I'll be right here." Morgan hoped that wasn't a lie.

Morgan waited for the smoke to thicken before he sprinted to area 47F. His security badge wouldn't open the door, but the fire would. Morgan fought the urge to open the panel and bypass the security system. He glanced up the hall and saw the doors begin to open. Soon people would be pouring out of the rooms.

"Come on, come on, come on. What's taking so long?" A second later the door slid open ... and Morgan stepped into an empty room.

*    *    *

It had been two weeks without any leads. Recruits were canceling their interviews left and right now that word had gotten out about the stranger's suspicious death. Several others had quit. Red still hadn't managed to find any clues to uncover the person responsible for shooting the unknown. It didn't help that Jim Thornton hadn't ruled out a claw as a weapon for slitting the man's throat.

Everyone in Nuria knew Red was capable of shifting in her sleep. They also knew that all she'd been able to intentionally produce thus far was a single claw. That was enough of a weapon to slice the unknown. The fact that he'd probably been shot with an IPTT weapon only solidified her guilt in the town's eyes.

She glanced around at the five remaining recruits gathered at the water trader bar. Takeo Yakamura, Demery Wilson, Juan Sanchez, Randall Jones, and Keith Olson stared at her expectantly. She was grateful that Yakamura, Wilson. and Sanchez had decided to stay, since they held the most potential. Unfortunately Jones and Olson had started to buy into the talk around town. She could see it in their eyes. Red knew if she didn't find the killer soon, they'd be the next to walk.

"So, gentlemen, what do we have so far?" she asked.

Takeo looked at the other men, then began to speak. "Not much in the way of forensics."

"What does that tell us?" Red asked.

"It tells us that whoever killed the unknown didn't want to get caught," Demery said.

Red stood. "I think it's safe to say that they didn't want to get caught. They went to a lot of trouble to cover their tracks. Anything else stand out?"

The men's faces scrunched in concentration. "The location seems odd," Juan said.

"Why?" she asked. "It's not far from the boundary fence or Nuria."

He flipped through the navcom pictures, looking at the crime scene. "It's too obvious."

"What do you mean?" Demery asked, rubbing a gloved hand over his arm to scratch an itch. The sun would be down soon and he'd be able to remove the protective suit.

Takeo let out a long breath as if this whole line of conversation was boring him. "He means that of all the places the guy could've been killed, the killer picked the one place they knew you'd be tied to, Commander."

Red kept her body relaxed despite the tension coiling inside of her. She'd come to the same conclusion. The fact most of Nuria ignored the obvious only made her angrier. And hurt. She may be an outsider, but they should know her well enough to know that if she was going to kill someone, she'd at least make sure the crime wasn't linked to her. They also wouldn't have found a body, had she murdered the man.

The killer had all but stood up and shouted,
look at me, look what I've done.
That was not the mark of a professional assassin. And it certainly wasn't the mark of someone with more than ten years of tactical team service under her belt.

"Does anyone think the killer is still in town?" Red asked.

Jones and Olson looked away, refusing to meet her gaze. They'd given her their answer. Fortunately, Wilson, Yakamura, and Sanchez had no such qualms.

"I know you didn't do it," Juan said with a half-shrug. "Doesn't matter what anyone else says." His dark gaze shot to Olson and Jones. "As to your question, no, I don't think the killer stuck around after they killed the unknown. I know I wouldn't have, if I'd just shot someone and slit their throat."

"Yeah, it would be stupid to hang around," Takeo added. "They're probably long gone."

Demery stared for a moment, then said, "Commander, can I have a word with you alone?" The white suit he wore didn't hamper his movements as he stepped away from the bar and strode out the door of the water trader space.

Red followed, curious. "What do you want to talk about, Wilson?" she asked.

He turned and smiled, his dark skin parting to show gleaming white fangs. "I thought I'd make you an offer."

Red arched a brow. "And what exactly would that be?"

"I thought maybe you'd like me to use my 'gift' to locate the killer."

Red had considered asking him earlier in the week, but had thought better of it, since there was a chance he'd be psychically detected when he was off remote viewing.

"I don't want you to get hurt," she said.