The card that has his name on it. If they find out that I was there, they will know it was his card I used. I don’t like this one bit.
“What do you want me to do with this when I’m done?” I ask, watching his reaction.
“Put it in my locker when you go get my uniform,” he says nonchalantly.
I nod as more cars turn into the parking lot. It’s almost time.
“They said they are selling the formula to some big shot,” Samuel throws out there.
His words make my head snap back to him. He’s busy watching his co-workers walk into the building off in the distance. I can’t read his expression, but it has to do with news of losing his job. If they sell the formula, that means they won’t be making it here anymore. He mustbe worried about what he’s going to do for income. Hope he doesn’t think I’ll be offering him one anytime soon. I know I promised it, but I was lying. If he sold out his bosses to me, he would sell out me to someone else.
“If you don’t get it tonight, you’re fucked. Good luck, man.”
He rolls up his window and drives away. The plastic card digs into my palm as I clutch it and think about what he said. This is the only chance I have. He didn’t know how right he was when he said I’d be fucked if I didn’t get it tonight. My entire future is riding on the next half hour of my life.
No other cars enter the parking lot or drive down the road as we watch the clock slowly count down. After five minutes, I signal Dustin to drive over and park in the shadows of the building.
“Keep the car running and be ready. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I get out of the car and pull my ball cap down to cover my face more. My hand finds the butt of the gun in my waistband, and it calms me some. I keep to the wall of the building and quickly make my way to the door. Sliding the card through the reader, I hold my breath hoping that Samuel didn’t fuck me over, and it will work. The light turns green as the door unlocks.
I walk calmly down the corridor, imagining the sketch of the building. Turning left at the second hallway, I see thelocker room and enter it. When I see locker number seven, I open the door and put the key card on the shelf. I get dressed in the white lab monstrosity he calls a uniform, and when I put on the fucking face mask it doesn’t fit right. But it’ll hide my face better than nothing. My nerves spike as I slip the gun in the pocket of the suit and exit the locker room.
It’s now or never, and never isn’t an option anymore.
Once I get to the hidden door inside the broom closet, I search for the button that will gain me access. I push it, and the door slides open. Taking a deep breath, I stick my head out and peer up and down the walkway. I see no one, but I can hear people talking down the hall. The meeting is still going on. I don’t have much time to get this done and get out. Glancing at the doors, I find the one I need two rooms down. I check the hall one more time and quietly walk to it. My hand turns the knob, and I wait to hear for some kind of alarm. There’s nothing. I ease it open and slip inside, leaving the door open just enough to hear if someone comes by.
I glance around the sterile, white room in awe. It’s something from a wet dream. Everything needed to create greatness is here, and I don’t have any of it. My place resembles a trailer park meth lab compared to this. Wishing I had more time to inspect everything, I push myself over to the desk and flick the mouse on the computer, bringing it to life. It’s password protected, and I don’t have time to crack it. I wouldn’t know where to begin even if I did. Instead, I start rummaging through the papers on the desk, hoping to find the formula, but come up empty handed.
Frantically, I make my way around the room, searching every last piece of paper I can find. There is nothing. Not a fucking thing. The clock is ticking, and soon I’ll have to leave before I’m discovered. This will not end this way. I didn’t spend thousands of dollars to get nothing. My blood boils as I look around the room and take a breath to calm myself.
Think, fucker, think. If I were running this lab, where would I hide the formula besides a computer?
I turn around, taking in the pristine equipment lining the tables. Beakers, Bunsen burners, a microscope, and scale are on one side, and a whole bunch of other shit I’ve never learned about line the other. It’s as if it’s set up in stages. Rounding the table, I start checking labels on anything and everything in sight. Some of the ingredients I have for Snap mark the containers. They are all here. Every single one, and some that I didn’t know were in it. Running to the desk, I grab a pen and paper to write them all down.
I start at the head of the table covered with ingredients that I know are part of the first stage. Some have handwritten measurements on the labels, and I write that down too. A smile spreads across my face as I jot down everything that I see, but it’s quickly erased by the footsteps pounding down the hall.
My feet freeze to the spot as my heart thumps in my chest. Sweat beads on my forehead as I look around for a place to hide, but there isn’t anywhere to go. The footsteps get closer, and I run for the door to hide behind it. Just as I get there, the door slowly opens, and someone stands on the other side. My chesttightens as I hold my breath and my heart pounds out of control. As slowly and quietly as possible, I reach for the gun in my pocket and squeeze it in my grip. I can’t allow someone to find me. But I can’t shoot them here either. Everyone will hear the gunshot and come running. There are too many witnesses, and I can’t kill everyone. If they see me, I’ll just have to take them.
They make another hesitant step into the room until I can see him. He looks around as if he knows someone is in here with him. If he turns enough to the left, he’ll find me. Shaking his head, he walks over to the desk and stops as he stares down at the mess of papers I left behind. Silently chastising myself, I bite my lip as he lays his hand on top of them.
He knows I’m here. There’s no leaving him behind.
I grab the doorknob and silently close it, thankful there isn’t a click, and raise the gun. He glances over his shoulder and does a double-take, whipping around when he sees me standing there. Shocked, he lifts his hands in surrender, and his mouth drops open to speak.
“Don’t make a fucking sound,” I whisper, the mask muffling my voice.
The man closes his mouth and swallows. His head bobs in understanding, and he stares at me as if he knows me. Have I met him before? He doesn’t look familiar. If he’s in the lab to get something, then he more than likely knows the password for the computer and can get me the formula.
His arms tremble as I creep toward him, watching forany signs of retaliation on his part. Stopping a few feet away, I pull the mask down to hang around my neck, and he gasps. They know about me. Samuel must have narked me out. I’m going to find that bastard and skin him alive.
“All I want is the formula,” I say quietly, to get him to relax some. “Give it to me and you live.”
“Okay, man. I’m going to reach for a pen and paper,” he chokes out. Leaving his left hand raised in the air, he turns his head and reaches for a pen and the first piece of paper he can get a hold of. He leans toward the desk and begins writing it down off the top of his head. This man knows the formula by heart. That means he knows how to make it. The entire process. He could teach Dustin and me how to do it all. I wonder if he can alter it without fucking it up.
“You have it memorized?” I snort.
“Of course, I—” He pauses for a second, choosing different words. “Yes. We make it here.”
