“Keeping my kidney in great shape for you.”
“You’re such an ass. And it’s not your kidney I’ll be coming for. But that’s another story. Let’s get back to all the national security laws I just broke.” She touched her tablet, putting up some new photos. “Once I restored the image enough to recover all but the last couple of digits, I started searching. I knew we were in trouble when someone in cyber tried to track my computer ten seconds in. I won’t go into details of what it took to get the intel, but it looks like all the hardware they had in that abandoned cannery traces back to a shell corporation, which eventually leads to Veridian’s CEO, Miles Walsh. But not their main headquarters. It’s to a covert testing facility the CIA and DIA set up fifty years ago. They grant access to whichever company they’re in bed with to conduct unsanctioned and frankly, unethical human experiments. Veridian got the keys to the place about ten years ago, and they’ve been busy ever since.”
Nick’s phone chirped.
Sloane pointed at the screen. “I just sent you a snippet of some of the horrors this facility has unleashed, and it sounds like this ghost-drug’s the new flavor of the year.”
Nick scrolled through a few images, shaking his head at Bodie when he peered at them over Nick’s shoulder. “No need to sell it, Sloane, just give me the address, and we’ll go say hello.”
“Are you high? You can’t just waltz up to their front door and ask to see all the people they’re holding captive. It’s a black site. Evidence, warrants, entire SWAT teams mean nothing. They’ll gun you down before they worry why you’re even there. But since this place doesn’t theoretically exist, you can take a stealth team and try to free everyone. Gather what you can, then burn the rest.”
“When have I ever waltzed?” He grunted when his shoulder shifted. “I still need the address.”
“It’s on your phone, but there’s a catch.”
“There always is.”
“This one’s pretty big.” Her shoulders drooped as she kicked her feet up. “It’s on some high security acreage south of you. Very remote. There’s only one road in, and it’s got laser-activated sensors, K-9 teams and lots of former-spec ops guys with guns, run by our resident former-SEAL turned mercenary asshole, Holt Graves. No way you’d get anywhere close before you’d either be surrounded or dead.”
Bodie stepped up beside Nick. “That sounds like more than a catch.”
Sloane looked at him. “You’re Bodie Page, right? The guy who’s been trying to get Nick to retire.”
“That’s right, and I’ve simply given him an option.”
“Maybe if he’s still alive at the end of all of this, he’ll get his head out of his ass and take it because he’s too damn stubborn to know when it’s time to walk away.” She smoothed her hand down her sweater. “There’s one chance. I’ve heard there’s a trail up to the facility. Backwoods. Treacherous. Lined with traps and remote monitoring, with enough twists and turns even seasoned trackers get lost. Though, back-room chatter says there’s a guide in your area who’s been there a few times. I don’t have a name, but your buddy Buck might know someone who does. Regardless, it’s the only option that won’t alert everyone to your presence long before you reach the place. I can do some digging — try to get more intel. But for now, that’s as good as it gets.”
Bodie held up his hand. “You’ve done more than enough. I’m not sure thank you is sufficient.”
“You free those people, and maybe I won’t shoot Colter the next time I see him. I’ll be in touch.” She leaned forward, finger hovering over the screen before she stopped. “Oh, and I took the liberty of setting up a joint special operation group with Nick’s department and Rowan’s task force — got you surveillance authority that’ll make this raid legal, or at least, legal enough they won’t toss any of you in jail when everything goes off the rails, which we all know it will.”
Nick inhaled. “Now who’s high? The director will have your ass if we have to use that to save ours.”
Sloane merely snorted. “See? This is the problem. You have zero faith in me.”
“Or maybe I don’t want you to get burned for helping me. That I care what happens to you.”
A hint of a smile quirked her mouth. “Just when I think I know you, you do something to prove you might just have a soul, after all.” She looked away for a moment. “Besides, I did it through his computer. If anyone tries to connect the dots, he’ll have to admit he was compromised, and we both know he’s too damn narcissistic to do that.”
“You requisitioned an entire JSOG unit from the director’s laptop? Christ.”
“Again, no faith.” She glanced off-screen when someone knocked on her door. “Gotta go. Call me later with an update, and Nick?”
Nick perked up. “Yeah?”
“If you get my best friend killed, I’ll hunt you down, and I won’t make it quick.”
The screen winked off, Sloane obviously cutting the feed.
Bodie clapped Nick on the back. “And you claimed you two weren’t friends.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “Trust me, the woman’s scary good. Could take us all out in our sleep. But that’s not important.” He turned. “Well, Landry? Any idea who our mysterious guide is, assuming it’s not really you?”
Buck shoved his hands in his pockets. “Sadly, it’s not, though, there’s only one person I know who has the skills to be in the running. And I think I know the place Sloane means, have seen a hint of it from my boat, and she’s right. If it’s where I think it is, the route’s insane. Sheer cliffs, thick forest, and the way the shoreline curves back on itself funnels the wind across the rocks. Creates massive windshear, not that having Foster fly us there is an option. The shoreline would bounce the rotor noise all over the place. They’d know we were there long before we could rappel down. Picking us up is definitely in the cards, though.”
Bodie nodded. “What about taking a boat?”
“Sure, if we don’t mind getting crushed by the rocks. There’re rip currents all over the place. Even Zain’s wife, Saylor, would be insane to try it, and I’d rather not put her in that position, considering she’s pregnant and would never turn us down.”
