How many times had her brothers worked in perfect coordination just like this?
It was something to behold, that was for sure. None of them needed to say anything, they just knew what to do and did it. Was every team this in sync or did the Delta Team’s special abilities take them to a whole other level?
There had been no lights on in the building when they approached, and now that they were inside, she couldn’t hear any sounds at all. It was like nobody was there, but from the thick smell of bleach in the air, it was obvious that someone had been there quite recently. Even without any training at all, she knew enough to know that.
Following along with the others, it didn't escape Cassandra’s notice that the guys kept her and Rose in the center of their little circle. From the slightly annoyed expression on her face, it was clear that irritated Rose, but she wasn't going to complain about it. She was there although she knew nobody had been pleased about it, she wasn't stupid enough to think that she was any sort of asset, so she wasn't going to push her luck.
Besides, it did make her feel safer. Just because it didn't seem like anyone was there didn't mean someone wasn’t hiding, waiting, ready to make their move.
They passed several rooms that looked like labs and offices. Each one was cleared carefully by the guys, but there was nothing in any of them beyond furniture. Desks, tables, chairs, but nothing more than that. The labs didn't seem to have any scientific equipment set out, nor did the offices have computers or paperwork anywhere.
It gave the whole place an eerie feel, like it had been deliberately cleaned down and cleared out because somebody knew they were coming.
Only no one had known they were coming.
Had they?
The smell of bleach and the lack of any signs of life meant that someone had indeed deliberately tried to erase any evidence of their presence or the work that had been done in the building. But had it been done because someone thought they might link the building to the company that paid money to the mercenaries who had come after her, or was it all just one great big coincidence?
As they moved down silent hallway after silent hallway, the guys clearing empty room after empty room, Cassandra began to lose track of time. Her heart hammered in her chest, and her palms were sweaty. It was a good thing she was wearing a pair of black gloves, otherwise she might have lost her grip on the weapon she clutched tightly enough that her fingers ached.
The sound of her weapon hitting the ground would be much too loud in this way-too-quiet building. The guys moved without making a sound, and Rose seemed to be able to do the same thing. The only sounds were her feet touching the floor with each step she took, and she’d already decided that once they got home, she would ask Dragon to teach her how to walk without creating any sound at all.
Home.
It seemed like it was automatic to think of Dragon’s house as her home. It had started last year when she spent months living there, and when she’d gone back to her house, she hadn't been able to make it feel like her home again.
Would Dragon be okay with her living there permanently?
There had been no time for them to discuss the future, and it seemed like it was way too soon for them to be living togetheras anything more than friends. But she didn't want to go back to her house and sort out insurance and getting it fixed or sold and buy a new one, although she had no idea what she would do for a job if she moved in with Dragon and his team, how she would contribute.
When Dragon suddenly stopped in front of her, Cassandra had no choice but to throw out her free hand to brace on his back, so she didn't slam into him and wind up on the ground looking more foolish than she already felt being there with these highly trained experts.
Grateful at least for the night vision goggles the guys had loaned her so she wasn't stumbling about in the dark, she looked up at Dragon as he turned to face her. His expression screamed frustration, but she knew it wasn't aimed at her or at any of them. They’d all hoped to find something there, and instead, to find nothing more than an empty building meant they couldn’t take this lead any further.
Not that any of them would give up.
There had to be a way to find the identity of the woman who had come up to her, even if the lead with the woman who looked like an older version of her hadn't led them anywhere so far. Well, it had led them there, to this suspiciously clean building, but would it lead them to the scientist who wanted to do more experiments on Dragon and his team?
“The bleach is messing with my ability to scent anything,” Dragon said, breaking the silence.
“I'm struggling to hear anything,” Blade added. “I'm guessing there’s some sort of white noise generator somewhere in the building. Every time I think I pick up on something, I can't get a good enough read on it to confirm it’s not just us.”
“What does that mean?” she whispered, although her voice sounded much louder than theirs had.
“It means that someone doesn’t want us here,” Voodoo said softly.
“Even I know the bleach means someone cleaned this place down,” she said. “That means they knew we were coming, right?”
“If my brother knew you were going to be here, I think he would have had an entire army waiting,” Rose piped up. “He knows better than anyone else how dangerous you all are, and you already took out his team when we tried to trap him. He wouldn't have just cleared this place up, doused it in bleach, and left.”
“What does that mean?” Cassandra asked, feeling like she was missing something important that the others all seemed to get.
“It means that if this lab was used by Dr. Gardner, he wasn't expecting us to find it, but someone else was. Someone who didn't want us finding what they’d been working on and getting access to it,” Dragon replied.
“Who?” she asked.
“Only other person I can think of is the woman who tried to warn you,” he answered.
