Page 49 of Lure

“Voodoo, back it up five paces. What was that?” On the screen Voodoo did exactly what I asked and he faced a wall of thick glass looking right into an empty lab. Or at least it looked like an empty labspace, but the secure locks blazed red. There was also a warning.

“Not something I really want to open unless it’s necessary.” They had some PPE gear with them, but not enough to risk any kind of failure. Couldn’t really blame Voodoo for that. I wrote down the number on the door.

“You’re good, keep going.” I even managed to sound gracious about it.

“Thanks, dick,” Voodoo said with a chuckle. I grinned wider. Bones was almost to the corporate offices. They were on the far side away from the labs. Lunchbox was inside a lab, his white suit covered him from head to toe.

I took a sip of the hot cocoa and about fucking died. It was creamy, a hint of sweet with a little kick that added a burn and the chocolate was out of this world. I licked the flavor off my lips to glance at Gracie and toasted her with the chocolate.

A small smile softened her lips and Goblin bumped against my chair as he moved to rest his head against her blanket-covered lap. Yeah, she was more upset than she let on. But of course she was.

“Locked and loaded,” Lunchbox said as he left the cleanroom and began to strip off the hazmat suit.

The secondary set of downloads had already begun. This was going to take a lot more time than I wanted. “Set the timers to plus five when you’re on exodus.”

“We still need to finish evac,” Bones reminded me.

“I got it, Cap, don’t worry.” Speaking of onsite staff. I tracked down the security. They were crossing over at the farthest point on the perimeter and beginning to circle back around. “Also, time to pack it up, boys.”

I wanted them well and truly gone. I double-checked the file tree being built. The names were mostly letters and numbers. Nothing actionable.

Yet.

Like any other puzzle, I just needed the pieces so I could begin sorting them out and putting them together. It was like the dossier I was building on our Gracie. The surface image was very different from the woman underneath.

A part of me attributed that to gut instinct. I trusted that instinct, but I needed the evidence to back it up.

“Heading out,” Bones said. “Meeting at exfil.”

“Copy.” Lunchbox’s response was a beat before Voodoo’s. With care, I started setting off some of the smoke alarms elsewhere. We wanted everyone out before we blew it. Collateral damage was to be expected. We already had some, but I’d rather avoid more.

“Tripping alarms. Standby.” My fingers flew over the keys as I set up more alarms, including evacuation measures. The lab’s lockdown features would come in handy for this bit of misdirection. “Jamming cell signal in fifteen. You’re a go for exfil.”

They moved. I tracked them as they took different exits, but linked up outside. The security staff left on site were also evacuating. Their vehicles raced for the guardhouse at the gate while the guys headed west and into the open land that bordered the facility.

It would take them a little longer but they weren’t going to run into anyone and that was how I liked it. The first data room’sdownloads completed at the three second mark. The second data room finished just a second later.

“Two—one,” I said, counting it down for the guys as much as for me. “Boom.” The explosion was impressive. At least what I could see of it on the screens before the cameras went down.

External cams would also go offline without the internal network. I gave it another few seconds. Then there was a crackle over the line.

“We did not use that much C-4,” Voodoo complained.

“No shit,” Lunchbox answered, but there was a note of faintly hysterical laughter under it. They’d survived, and that was always the sign of a mission well done.

“We said they were cooking something up there. Any ideas, Alphabet?” Trust Bones to stay on target.

“Not yet. I’ll start parsing soon. Get clear and then get back here.”

“Might be a little late,” Voodoo commented. “I’m starving.”

The ribbing continued, as much for their own distraction as they committed to the hike as it was to begin decompressing. This hadn’t been as much of a challenge as it could be and I was undecided on whether that was a good thing or not.

Blowing out a breath, I hit mute on my side and glanced back at Gracie. She was sound asleep and Goblin had gone to sleep on the floor between us. I reclaimed what was left of my cocoa and sipped it. Much cooler, but still rich and creamy, I soaked in the sight of her.

Sighing, I returned my attention to the computer. I wasn’t crashing until they were completely out of the zone and on their way back. So, I might as well start decrypting the data. Do this, wait for the all-clear, then I’d get her back to bed.

That was the plan.

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