“I know where the key is.” At least, she suspected she did. “Listen, we can sit here all night and debate this, but the clock is ticking, according to you, and your boss wants his virus. So, what’s it going to be?”
The ringleader turned back to the other three, who were all nodding, shaking their heads and shrugging as though they didn’t know the correct answer, but doing nothing meant certain death. When he turned back to her, he smiled, the whites of his teeth jarring against the blackness of his mask.
“We’ll do it your way, but one trick, and you’re dead. Understood?”
“Completely,” she agreed, saving her smile until he turned away.
She had them right where she wanted them. She patted her chest to check on her panic button. It was ready and waiting. She’d click it as soon as they were ready to leave, leading Secure Inc. right to Walter’s door. Of the five in the room, only she knew that once inside, they weren’t getting back out.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Her heart pounding, Iris gripped the tablet tightly. “Where is she? Can we intercept them?”
Mina shook her head. “Not unless you know what they’re driving, which we don’t.”
“How far out are they from Sinlis Park?” Cal asked, grabbing his phone and texting someone while he waited for her answer.
“Twenty minutes, give or take,” she answered. “I don’t know that they’re going to Sinlis Park, but that’s the direction they’re heading in. Intercepting them there is easier since they have to drive through the city to continue on the highway. It’s almost 11:00 p.m., so it shouldn’t be hard to pinpoint them once they’re going slow enough that I can give you landmarks their vehicle is passing.”
“That’s assuming they aren’t coming here,” Cal said, and Mina tipped her head in agreement.
“That seems less likely as they have to know that by now, the research center has been locked down and the cops have been called.”
“Walter’s,” Iris said, slowly turning to address Cal. “She’s taking them to Walter’s.”
“Why would she do that?” Mina asked as Cal pointed at the tablet in agreement.
“Think about it, Cal. You found a lab in Walter’s basement. They took her so she could create a virus, but the samples here at the lab were already dead. Now she needs more samples.”
“But the ones at Walter’s are dead, too,” he pointed out. “She had me turn off the freezer.”
“But they don’t know that,” Iris said with a grin. “Bec knows if anyone walks into Walter’s, they’re not getting back out until Secure One arrives.”
“You could be right,” he said, grabbing the tablet from her. “Mina, don’t lock that house down once they’re inside.”
“I thought that was the point,” she said in confusion.
“It was the point when the plan was to trap terrorists, not scientists. If they think for any reason that she set them up, they could kill her. I won’t risk that.”
“You’d better leave now then if you’re going to beat them there. I’ll patch you into her GPS so you can monitor their progress or in case they’re just passing through.”
Cal checked his watch. “We have a few hours until the board member arrives?”
Mina nodded. “I just checked, and his flight was delayed. Why?”
“I don’t have enough people here to save Bec and keep the research center covered. I’ll have to pull everyone over to Sinlis Park and hope it’s not a trick.”
“A trick?” Iris asked, more confused than ever. “What’s a trick?”
“You mean that they aren’t planning to return to the research center?” Mina asked, and he nodded.
“No,” Iris said adamantly. “She’s taking them to Walter’s.”
“You can’t know that for certain, Iris,” Mina gently said.
“I do know that because I know her!” she exclaimed, tears pricking the back of her lids. “Bec knows I’m here, and she would never endanger me by bringing those guys back here.”
Selina grasped her shoulders in comfort. “We believe you, Iris. Just take a deep breath.”
