Page 95 of A Touch of Treachery
“But these building materials didn’t come here to the hotel.See the delivery address?It’s on the same road as the resort, but the materials were delivered toanotherspot—an address with a number that comesbeforethe resort.”
“You think Henrika had the construction crews work on something else in the area.”Gabriel shook his head.“But there aren’t any other buildings around for miles.At least, none that Section hasn’t already checked out.”
“There aren’t any other buildings we cansee,” I replied.“Henrika has to have a secret lab on the resort grounds, but Desmond and I couldn’t find it, and neither could the other paramortals.That’s because we’ve all been looking for the wrong kind of space.Henrika didn’t need a giant warehouse out in the open.She has other labs that fit that bill.She just needed a private place away from prying eyes where she could brew up Redburn and her other biomagical weapons.”
Understanding dawned on Gabriel’s face.“Like an abandoned coal mine.”
I shot my thumb and forefinger at him.“Exactly.Henrika didn’t fly away on a helicopter.She ducked into her abandoned coal mine hidey-hole and waited for the Section agents to move past her location.Henrika has been on the neighboring mountain this whole time.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHARLOTTE
Gabriel’seyesflickedoverall the information.I held my breath, hoping he would see what I saw, because I couldn’t do this without him.
After a few seconds, he nodded.“You’re right.Clever of her.To literally go underground right under Section’s nose.”
I slapped my hand on the table.“Exactly!An abandoned mine is the perfect place for a secret lab, especially for someone like Henrika who has such a public profile.Her legitimate workers would notice her coming and going in a regular lab, and someone might get curious about what she was working on.But something like this?Henrika would have complete privacy.Since the lab is so close to the hotel, no one would think twice about her sailing off to enjoy a day on the lake and then sailing back later, after she finished working in the lab.All she would need to do to sell the illusion would be to take a few photos on the lake with the hotel in the background and then post them online.”
I let out a bitter laugh.“And that’sexactlywhat she’s done.I’ve looked at dozens of photos of Henrika in a boat on the lake over the past few months, and I never suspected a thing.”
Gabriel held up his hands.“You don’t have to convince me, Char.I know how smart you are and especially how good your instincts are.The real question is, are you going to share the intel with General Percy?”
I thought of the disgust and fury in the General’s icy gaze after Desmond had been taken.“No, I’m not going to tell Percy.He won’t listen to a word I say.Even if by some miracle he did listen, he’d want to send a strike team into Henrika’s lab.The more people who are involved, the greater the risk to Desmond.”
“What about Gia Chan?”
I shook my head.“Gia believes in me, but General Percy has operational control of the mission.She can’t go against his orders.”
“And Evelyn Hawkes?”Gabriel asked.
A few weeks ago, I’d told him about Evelyn really being Maestro, so he knew how powerful she really was—and not to annoy her.
I thought about it for a few seconds, then shook my head again.“No.If I went to Evelyn and she acted on the intel, then General Percy would realize she is Maestro.I’m not going to blow her secret identity as Maestro unless absolutely necessary.”
I blew out a tense breath.“Besides, Henrika set this whole thing up to play outexactlylike the Mexico mission.She has a hostage, and we have no leverage.If she sees a strike team, she might just go ahead and execute Desmond.”
My heart squeezed tight.“I can’t risk that.I can’t risk Desmond dying in the crossfire like my father did.”
My heart squeezed tight again, but I breathed through the sharp spikes of pain.I needed to focus on saving Desmond right now, not on all the specters of spies past that were haunting me.
“Okay,” Gabriel said.“Let’s see what the two of us can do.First things first.We need to find exactly where Henrika is hiding.”
Using the reports from the Section agents about where they’d last seen Henrika and where Bryce and the guards had abandoned their vehicles, I reviewed all the topographical maps of the area, along with drone and satellite surveillance photos.It didn’t take me long to find an old coal mine about a mile away from the clearing on top of the mountain where the helicopter had taken off.I kept digging, and eventually, I found a map of the mine, although it was dated several years ago.
I printed out copies, then Gabriel and I bent our heads, poring over the information.
Several minutes later, Gabriel sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.“The mine entrance should be easy enough to find, but we don’t know how many men Bryce might have inside or what other security measures he might have rigged up.This is at least a three-person job.One person to run point and navigate through the mine, one person to provide security and deal with any threats, and one person to help Desmond.”He cleared his throat as though he didn’t like what he was about to say next.“Slick is probably going to be in ...rough shape.”
I grimaced, and another spike of worry slammed into my chest.Gabriel shifted in his chair, clearly uncomfortable, but he was just laying out the facts.We didn’t know what Henrika might have done to Desmond, how badly she might have hurt him, and we needed at least one more person for the mission.
Gabriel picked up his phone from the tabletop.“I could call in some folks from my crew, but they’re all on other assignments, and it will take them a few hours to get here.”
“Desmond might not have a few hours left.”
Gabriel gave me a helpless shrug.The phaser might be able to walk through walls, but even he couldn’t make an ally magically appear, someone who would help rescue Desmond no matter the consequences.
I looked out over the maps and surveillance images again, trying to conjure a solution.My gaze landed on the photo of Henrika and Feliciano Salvador smiling with the beautiful sunset and glimmering ocean behind them ...
