Page 16 of SEAL's Tempest
The inside of the print shop looked better than the exterior, but not by much. Tempest navigated around the stationery and printing supplies strewn across the floor, dumped from the tipped shelving. As they made their way around the main counter, Josh was shocked the counter was the only item in the store that remained unscathed.
Then she continued farther into the stockroom, slipped around a file cabinet, and disappeared from view.
A moment later, Tempest reappeared with a grin. “Come on. I found it.”
He would never have seen it if she hadn’t pointed out the seam in the wall next to the only file cabinet still standing. She pushed on the edge and the door swung open.
Hidden behind a false wall was a metal door with a biometric lock. It reminded Josh of the locks on the chemical weapon labs they’d discovered in Iraq. He couldn’t restrain the shudder at the memory of the dead bodies they’d discovered when they’d made their way into the facility.
Tempest examined the digital keypad and the retina scanner, then looked over her shoulder at him. “Let’s hope they got my retina scan added to the system, or this was all for nothing.”
“JSOC didn’t confirm that prior to sending you?” Josh hadn’t even considered that it could be an issue.
“No, there wasn’t time. It was a spur of the moment choice to send me with your team. I was supposed to be inserted with the replacement group of aid workers. But when the bombing escalated, they moved up the timeline.” Tempest shrugged.
Typical.Rick Kern missions ended up like that way too often. But he was a CIA operative; Tempest was Navy. It meant Tempest was most likely Naval Intelligence and not just a CTI. Even if he asked her, she wouldn’t tell him. She couldn’t.
Josh stared at the heavy steel door. He’d expect something like that for a vault. Just what the fuck was behind that door? They were told that Tempest was to retrieve some tech under development, but it had to be more than that with all the security.
Tempest typed a code on the digital keypad, then leaned toward the device to scan her retina. They both held their breath while they waited to see if it would work. When the lock clicked open, Josh sighed with relief.
“Thank fuck,” Josh said. “Let’s get this over with and meet the team at the EXFIL point.”
Tempest nodded. “I’ll grab the tech, but I need to trigger the self-destruct mechanism before we go for the entire lab.” She grabbed the handle of the heavy steel door.
Wait. Did she say self-destruct?
ChapterEight
Tempest pulled the door open and stepped into the front offices of the lab. She’d had plenty of time to study the layout of the facility once she’d been selected for the mission two weeks ago. But no one at JSOC could guarantee that the lab hadn’t been destroyed by the continuous bombing. But she couldn’t see any damage as she made her way through the front offices.
“Did they tell you where the tech is located?” Josh asked. He followed her into the room and pulled the heavy door closed behind them.
The loud click sounded ominous and raised the hairs on the back of her neck. There was no reason to worry. The place was deserted, and the entrance looked like they’d walked into a generic office building except for it being eerily silent and dust covering everything. At least there wasn’t any debris.
“Of course I know where it is. They may have just added me to your team, but I’ve been training for this mission for a few weeks.”
After making their way through another digital lock on a door, they turned down a long corridor. They reached a glass-enclosed room with clean room gear hanging from hooks. Through the glass, the actual lab was visible.
“It’s a clean room?” Josh sounded surprised.
“Yes. Give me a minute, and I’ll go in and grab what I need,” Tempest said as she typed in another code. The glass door slid open.
“I’m coming with you. It doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”
Tempest agreed. There were still in danger of being discovered. Once her earlier anger had cooled, she was happy to have him with her. Even more so once the bombs had rocked the ground beneath her feet.
She’d frozen in place before Josh dragged her against the building and used his body as protection. For a moment, she’d been ten again. Her father dragged her and Grace out of the city as bombs exploded all around them. The memory had come out of nowhere. Now, she couldn’t shake it.
They quickly donned the protective suits, including booties, gloves, and full plexiglass masks. Before she entered the lab, she realized she needed the case to store the chips. Tempest grabbed her pack from the floor and pulled out a foil-wrapped package. After making sure Josh was right behind her, she punched in the code to open the airlock. Once they were both inside, she waited until the outer door closed behind Josh and they were enclosed, then she the last obstacle between her and retrieving the tech slid open with a swoosh.
The airtight room looked like it was frozen in time. Tempest entered and looked around for the location of the chips. There were several cabinets along the walls, but only one held the top-secret intel she’d been sent to retrieve. The rest were there as a failsafe if the facility was infiltrated.
The mission package didn’t have the exact location of the chips, but the ones she needed to retrieve were in a cabinet marked with a small smiley face sticker. When Tempest had read that, she laughed, but it was perfect. Anyone looking at it would think one of the techs had put it there for fun.
Tempest started on the left side and carefully examined each cabinet as she searched for the yellow sticker.
“Can I help you look for something?” Josh asked.
