Chapter 11
Drake almost shoved her out of the way to get to the door. He tugged at the handle but the door stayed shut tight.
Jamie moved back, a frown on her face. She could understand him being upset at their being trapped, but his expression was closer to a feral animal than a frustrated man.
“Hey,” she said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. “So we have to wait a few hours. I doubt anyone will notice us locked away in this back room.” She glanced around the room, looking for the ubiquitous light-ringed cameras she’d seen in the other offices.
She couldn’t find any. “There don’t seem to be any outside cameras in this lab. We can just hunker down here for a few hours and no one will be the wiser.”
“That’s not going to work for me,” he said, turning his attention to the locking panel. There wasn’t much to see there, as it was all recessed. She heard Drake growl in frustration and bang his fist against the panel. Nothing happened.
“You,” he said, squatting down to address Herman. “How do we disengage the lock? There must be an override.”
The ball responded, a few lights blinking on and off on its surface. “There is an override. You must program the correct sequence into the master control panel.”
“What’s the correct sequence?”
There was a loud buzz from the robotic ball. “I’m sorry. I do not have access to that information.”
Drake straightened. He was getting angrier by the second. “Then who does?”
“This is Dr. Lakewood’s lab. He assigns the codes.”
“Fuck!” For a second, it looked like Drake would kick the little robot to Kingdom Come.
Jamie felt instantly protective of the little creature. She dropped to her knees in front of the ball, putting herself between it and her irate companion. “It’s not his fault,” she said. “What’s the big problem? Are we in danger if we stay here?”
Drake looked like he was close to spitting fire. “You don’t understand, Jamie.”
“So help me understand!”
He stared down at her, and she saw the emotions flit across his face. Frustration. Anger. Fear. Then he turned away and began inspecting the various panels around the room.
“Herman,” he said, “which one of these is the control panel.”
The little ball rolled around Jamie, moving to Drake’s side. “The control panel is the central-most panel on the back wall. If you’ll follow me.”
Herman rolled towards the back wall and stopped beneath a panel. It was comprised of a touch-screen computer interface alongside a bank of switches, knobs, and buttons. Drake followed, leaning in to inspect things.
“Where do you enter the override sequence?” he asked.
Herman gave out another loud buzz. “I’m sorry. I do not have access to that information.”
Jamie wandered closer, keeping her eye on the ball. She wondered what Drake would do now.
“Are there any consequences if I enter an invalid code? Will the lock remain on for longer? Will there be an alarm?”
Again the buzz. “I’m sorry. I do not have access to that information.”
Drake growled, then moved towards the touchscreen. Jamie rushed to grab his arm. “Wait! What if you do put in the wrong code and set off the alarm. Then they’ll know we’re here. Why can’t you just wait it out?”
“I can’t,” he replied, then let out a groan of such anguish that Jamie felt something in her chest tighten.
“What’s wrong?” she asked softly. “Talk to me.”
Drake looked down at her, his brown eyes full of an emotion she couldn’t name. There was something he wasn’t telling her, something important, and she needed to understand, not just for her mission to bring Sylvie home, but because it was integral to understanding the man in front of her.
And for some reason that was of the utmost importance to her now.
