He moved in beside his buddies, studied the layout. The fence sat about twenty meters in front, nothing but open ground and raked dirt between the forest and the line. The facility stood tall in the background, a few lights on the west side gleaming in the dark.
A flare of light broke the darkness, a large beam swiping the open section before stopping fifty feet out, pausing for a while, then swinging back.
Bodie counted the arc — ten second sweep, five second pause, then twelve back. Barely enough time to sprint to the fence, cut their way through, then dart inside. But they’d make it work.
Tierney pointed toward the facility. “Movement.”
Bodie focused on the building, froze as a silhouette crossed from one window to the next — an empty gurney, a hulking figure pushing the end. It didn’t take much to imagine Rowan’s father on the bed. Fragile. All but lost to the outside world.
Rowan moved in beside him, face grim, hands fisted at her sides. She didn’t talk, just stared at the windows until the silhouettes vanished.
Nick shuffled in beside Bodie. “Okay, I’m impressed. The fence is formidable, but the microwave towers…” He sighed. “Those are gonna be interesting.”
Bodie frowned. “Don’t you have some kind of gadget that bypasses that kind of tech?”
“I’m not Batman, jackass, though… Hold that thought.”
Nick slipped out of his pack, rummaged through it. The spotlight kept sweeping, every pass identical to the last. Automated, which eliminated any timing errors. As long as they didn’t get pinned, they’d be fine.
Nick reappeared a moment later, two small units in his hand. “These are next-gen EMPs. They work locally to disrupt any electrical signal they come in contact with for about fifty feet on either side, but only for a couple minutes before they burn out. They won’t fry the circuits, and they won’t destroy the sensors, but they’ll give us a window. What’s designed to resemble a temporary glitch. I can use one to get us in, the other to get us out. Assuming we’re all still breathing.”
“Will security notice?”
“Killing the power’s gonna pop a code on their end, brother. No way that’ll go unanswered.”
Dalton motioned to a tower off to their right. “I count two guards. One smoking, one on a tablet. Nothing else in view. I can take them out if they get too interested, but even my suppressed rifle won’t be silent.”
Bodie nodded. “All we need is a straight shot to the fence. Once we’re through, we can deal with whatever resistance they throw our way because we’re not leaving here empty handed.”
Tierney nudged Bodie’s shoulder. “We’ve got a massive spruce close to the fence line on our left. Might provide a bit of cover from anyone inside the building. Good place to cut through the fence, too.”
“Agreed.” Bodie took a breath, pushed it out. “Okay, Dalton, you’re our overwatch. Buck and Nick will go first. Buck’ll snip through the fence after Nick kills the power to the microwave sensors. We’ll all dart through, Dalton bringing up the rear, then pray we can reach the building before any reinforcements arrive.”
Dalton checked his rifle, moved closer to the tree. What Bodie assumed was the best sightline as Nick readied the unit.
Bodie counted down the spotlight and rotating cameras, uttered a hushed, “Now.”
Nick and Buck took off, hauled ass across the open section, Nick tossing the unit against the pole. It snapped into place, a slight hissing sound arcing through the air before the hum fluttered, then stopped.
Buck had his wire cutters working the chain a second later, each snip insanely loud in the stillness. He sliced a man-sized line up the links, popped through before the spotlight swept back, continuing without a hiccup.
They waited for the next window, then took off, feet flying, dirt shifting beneath their boots. They didn’t stop, just dove through the opening, rolling into a striking position beyond the fence.
Dalton appeared out of the darkness a moment later, rifle at his chest, boots not making a sound. He got halfway across when the ground bottomed out beneath one foot, dropped him thigh-deep into some kind of gopher hole. He hit hard, everything jarring to a stop as the spotlight reached the far end, paused.
Voices rose from the direction of the tower, boots clanging down metal steps. Those guards Nick said would be sent to investigate the power outage. Their entire op going sideways as the spotlight jerked, started moving.
Chapter Nineteen
Rowan’s world narrowed into the blinding white spotlight sweeping toward Dalton as he tried to twist his leg free, the beam seconds away from pinning him in the center of the light. Ruining any chance of finding her father before they’d even accessed the building.
She didn’t think, just took off, dove back through the fence and over to Dalton. Tierney appeared a heartbeat later, helped her heave the man up, half-dragging him to the fence line as the light panned through the spot, continued moving for a few feet, then stopped.
Rowan held her breath, chest plastered to a pole, every muscle tensed as the circular beam backtracked — paused over the hole in the ground.
They held still, Bodie and the others fanned out on the other side, weapons aimed at the voices slowly getting closer, looking ready to take on all of Holt Graves’ forces if necessary. No doubts. No hesitations. Just their unwavering courage. Unyielding loyalty.
Time ticked in the background, the men moments away from rounding the tower’s base, catching them all stuck against the fence, when the spotlight moved off, quietly resuming its pattern.
