That was a terrible idea. Huisman liked games, and the only way to win was to ignore them all.
“I don’t think we should go down that rabbit hole. Let’s get into the lab and get out of here. If he wanted to monologue like a good villain, he should have stayed alive.”
He set the note down and moved to the door that led further into the apartments.
Kenzie felt her jaw drop. This wasn’t the lab. It was a decadent bedroom with cream-colored walls and a massive four-poster bed.
And some paintings that were supposed to have been lost during World War II. She was almost sure there was a Picasso on one of the walls, but her attention was now firmly fixed on the big-ass piece of equipment with wires flowing all around and a…damn it. That was a timer on the top.
“What is that?” She asked the question even though she was pretty sure of the answer.
Before he could reply, there was a hissing sound and she realized the door behind them had closed and likely locked. In horror she watched as the clock came online.
1:00:00
0:59:59
0:59:58
Well, she’d known. “Shit. It’s a bomb.”
Ben tried to open the door. It didn’t budge. “Try the key card.”
She knew it wouldn’t do a lick of good. They were caught, and now she wished she’d put a bullet in that asshole’s brain. Damn it. Her father was going to kill her. Her sister would never let her live this down. She tried the security card but all she got was a red light.
There was the sound of something shifting above them as a monitor slid down from the ceiling. It looked like Huisman liked to watch TV in bed.
She bit back a groan as Huisman’s face showed up. Fucker was going to get his monologue no matter what.
It was taped, not live. There was still a shot that Huisman was dead outside, but she wasn’t holding out much hope.
“Welcome, Benjamin. I figured you wouldn’t follow my very reasonable orders, so I had to set a bit of a trap to get you to hear me out. If you are not Benjamin Parker of Canadian intelligence, I apologize. But I think it will be you. You and the American girl. I seem to find you together so often. Welcome. You finally found me. I applaud you, and you’ve managed to catch me at a delicate time. Even now you’re at work in the outside perimeter, taking out my soldiers. I went cheap on the mercenaries. I suppose thrift was my downfall. The good news is the bomb you are currently sharing space with is not cheap. It’s quite expensive, filled with all the best uranium China could get to me. It’s certainly enough to blow the top off this mountain. And it will be enough to send my enriched and hearty anthrax all over the country of Nepal.”
“What the fuck did Nepal do to him?” She wasn’t sure if she believed him. The good doctor was known to lie. Oh, she believed the asshole was going to blow them all to hell, but if he already had the right bomb, why did he need Zach Reed’s mom?
“Why do I care about Nepal, you might ask?” Huisman mused. “I don’t, but the Chinese want it destroyed and they paid me an enormous amount of money to do it. The explosion will destabilize this part of the world. In addition to blowing off the top of this mountain, I’ve rigged something special up there. When my new anthrax hits the upper atmosphere, it will breed and form clouds. It will rain down on the people of this region. Imagine that. Not acid rain. Anthrax rain that only the Chinese and their select friends will be immune to. It will seep into the soil. Perhaps my new bacteria will continue to breed. It will be abrave new world, my friends. Unfortunately, you and I will not live to see it. I think I’ll go out on a high note, but I wanted to leave you a bit of time to contemplate the end of your existence. This is my final gift to you, Benjamin. I give you the gift of time. What will you do with the final hour of your life? I think you will be like a rat on a sinking ship, scratching and panicking to save your own pathetic life. You see, there are worse things than dying.Au revoir, mon ami.”
She wanted to throw up. He was a monster and now he would be the end of her team. She let go of her petty worries about Ben and slipped her hand in his.
41:34
The clock kept ticking.
She was trying to stay as calm as possible. Her dad was out there, and he would figure this out. Or he would realize he had to save the rest of the team. “I think we should cut the blue wire. The only problem is I’m fairly certain this sucker has a couple of land mines attached. I don’t mean that literally, of course, but I think bad crap could happen if I clip the wrong wire. The red wire goes to something that looks like it’s empty, so it’s probably a gas.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him to release some sarin on us if we did something wrong.”
Kenzie sat up, pushing her hair out of her face. She was down to her white jumpsuit. “I could use some optimism.”
“I don’t have any when it comes to that bomb. I think we should try to work on the comms. Neither one of us is a bomb expert.” Ben had tried everything he could to get that damn door open. It wasn’t budging, and he’d nearly killed them both trying to shoot the locking mechanism. Now he was playing around with the tablet he’d taken out of his backpack. A satisfied grin crossed his face. “I’m in his computer system.”
Lou hadn’t been able to bring the comms back online, so she’d been worried the whole system was down. “How did you manage that? Can you get the door open?”
“The TV is a smart screen. It should be able to connect to any system with a signal. Huisman sprang for the best. The satellite connection is still working. It looks like he’s shut down electrical to allthe doors. No one can get in or out.”
“Send out a message before his handlers decide to shut down the satellite.”
His fingers flew across the tablet before passing it to her.
