Page 41 of The Vigilante's Lover
I step to the door and put the key against it, near the frame. The scanner begins its journey down my body, but I quickly tap a command. A second later it beeps, and the scan stops. The door pops open. I release my held breath. Sam is a genius.
The hallway beyond is empty. I pull the key off the door and walk back toward the central silo. If I guessed right about their security protocol, no one there will pay me any mind as long as I don’t draw undue attention to myself. Time to test that theory.
I enter the central silo and pause for a quick glance, looking for an unoccupied station. I spot one on the next level up, across from where I am. Staying close to the wall, I circle the silo and head up the stairway. At the top I stand aside to let someone pass by on the stairs. He looks at me with a blank expression and I give him a polite nod.
“Pardon me,” he says, and continues on his way down.
I breathe a sigh of relief. Another test passed. As long as I don’t encounter anyone who actually knows me, I’ll be fine. None of the hallways have glass screens that will give away my name or fugitive status as I walk. The rooms are another matter, but I don’t plan to enter any.
I arrive at the empty terminal. The interface is familiar, and I pull up a map of the complex. Nothing is labeled, but it looks like the entire east wing is an addition to the original military installation. Carter said Mia was going to the “East Room.” She’s probably somewhere in that addition, but where?
The tracker.
I told Mia the sticker on her neck was capable of all sorts of tricks, but really it’s nothing more than a GPS locator, seriously old tech. If I still had my Blackphone this would be child’s play, but even without it I can find her if the system here is set up like the ones on the West Coast. I tap through a few screens. Tracking a person would require a log-in that would compromise my identity. But I’m just doing an inventory check on the devices, same as any low-level worker could do.
Bingo. The screen lights up, showing the location of trackers in the complex. A cluster of them are together far below, probably a storage room. But one is all by itself. In the east wing.
Mia.
I memorize the layout of the complex. We can’t go out the front door, obviously, but there are six emergency hatches. Four of them have scanners for access and actual guards. Two are in an unused section of the silo. Probably permanently sealed. I can probably take out the guards, although it’s risky with Mia in tow. I may have to take a chance on the others.
Between Mia and the unused hatches are a number of those scanner doors, but I should be able to pop them open with the skeleton key. Until they figure out I’m gone and put the whole silo on lockdown.
No time to waste.
I set the terminal back to what it displayed when I found it. Another trip up the stairs takes me down a connecting passage to a second missile silo. Unlike the one I just left, this silo is still bare concrete, just a huge circle that once housed the actual missile.
Below me sits a helicopter at the ready. Too bad that thing wouldlight up like a Christmas tree on every Vigilante sensor if I flew it out of here. It would be a great means of escape otherwise.
No, on foot is the only way. I will take pleasure dragging Mia through the woods in her ankle-breaking shoes. Nothing will be too harsh for that murdering liar.
Down the corridor to the east wing, I pass two young women in Phase One white suits. We exchange pleasantries as we pass. I try to picture Mia in one of their outfits, but it’s no use. She was never a Vigilante. She’s the enemy.
At the entrance to the east wing is one of the scanner doors. I think this one will be as simple as the one to the interrogation room.
But this one starts scanning me several feet away, costing me precious seconds. I slap the key on the frame. The green line sweeps down as the key’s display lights up and flashes different codes. A second crawls by. The beam is below my waist. I’m not sure what will happen if it IDs me. If we go into lockdown, I’m screwed.
Just as the beam hits my knees, the key beeps and the beam vanishes. The door slides open. I grab the key from the frame and say a silent thanks that it got me through another door.
But this journey is taking too long. I sense my time is about up.
I hurry down another hallway, this one much more modern than the others and decorated in soft blues and grays. Another turn and the room should be straight ahead. No one else is in this wing, at least so far. That’s a good thing, because every inch of the place has glass on the walls. My info screen is displayed for anyone who will pass by. The pulsing red of the fugitive label is visible at a good distance.
Obviously, unauthorized guests are regular visitors to this section of the silo. Quite possibly the system has already sent out a silent alarm. When I was director, my silo did not have a wing like this, so I do not know the protocol.
Mia’s room should be dead ahead. Yes, I see it. It has a window looking in. Probably a one-way mirror. I approach it carefully.
Mia passes in front of the window and my stride falters. I am so angry at her. I know she had a hand in killing Klaus. But now that I see her again, I remember how innocent she looks. How lost.
I stuff it down. She is the enemy.
Just as I walk up to the door, an alarm goes off. Damn it. Mia looks around at the noise.
I slap the key on the door. The display lights up and scans through the codes, then gives me a discouraging noise. I reset it and try again.
Nothing. The door won’t open. Lockdown. Shit.
The one-way mirror. Can I break it? I have nothing to protect my hand, so I rear back and give the window a solid side kick. It vibrates but otherwise doesn’t budge. Mia looks at it, startled. She backs away.
