Brain Storm, Cat Gilbert [read books for money TXT] 📗

“The underground structure runs beneath the mountain and the offices, training center, and security offices are all located here,” he said, moving back to the table and pointing to a section of the map, some distance from where he had marked the lodge location on the map.

“Where do the Watchers and Handlers stay?” I asked. “Do they live on-site?”

“There are quarters for the Watchers in the underground area, places to stay when they come in for reports or are waiting to be dispatched.” He pointed to a new area, opposite the underground quarters, beyond the lodge. “We’re pretty much restricted to that area, which is why I haven’t seen but a handful of the Handlers and staff. I’ve heard that the Handlers stay in the lodge, separated from the Clients, but I don’t know much more than that.”

We didn’t have much to go on. We had a vague idea of the layout and where people might be, the operative word there being ‘might’. At least we knew that Matthew Hughes was on site, which should have made me feel better, but for some reason, just didn’t.

“Why did we see Hughes?” I asked. “Why, out of all of the people who work there, out all of the people we could have seen and didn’t, why did we see the one guy we needed to see?”

“That is sort of weird, isn’t it?” Trinity piped in. “What was he doing?”

“He was going from the lodge to one of the other buildings,” I answered her. “Mac, you said there were entrances to the underground facilities from the lodge and the three outbuildings, so if he was headed underground, why didn’t he use the lodge and keep out of sight?”

“What’s in there?” asked Jonas, pointing to the building on the computer screen. “Above ground?”

“The security offices,” Mac answered grimly, confirming my worst fears. It was a large building, indicating the probability of a large security force. He pointed to a darkened area behind the building. “And this is where they keep the dogs.”

Dogs? Well, that narrowed down the options on the table. Jonas was absolutely right. Getting to Hughes was going to be tough, not to mention dangerous. Problem was, we were out of options, and I had a bad feeling we were running out of time.

“Okay,” I said, releasing the breath I’d been holding since Mac had dropped his bombshell of news. “I’m going for a walk.”

I left them sitting there in silence, still looking at the screen, slipped on my jacket and slid out the door.

The crisp mountain air cleared my head almost immediately. Still warm during the day, the nights were decidedly chilly, making me glad that I’d had the presence of mind to grab my coat. The sun was nearly down, but there was still enough light to follow the path that meandered through the cabin area. I made a couple of circuits through the grounds to wear off some energy and finally settled down on a rock by the river just as darkness fell. I watched as the moon slowly appeared in the sky, edging its way out from behind a mountain top. The rushing water tumbled over the rocks, the cascading surface reflecting the sky above in shimmering bursts of light.

I’m not sure how long I sat there, lost in my thoughts and the roar of the river. The smell of coffee brought me out of my reverie, and I looked over, expecting to see Mac, surprised to see Trinity instead, standing a distance away, holding a couple of steaming mugs.

“It’s beautiful here,” she said, walking over to hand me a cup. “Peaceful.”

I hadn’t realized how chilled I was until I wrapped my hands around the hot mug. I nodded in agreement and took a grateful sip of coffee, letting the steam wrap itself around my face, taking its warmth deep into my lungs.

“You ready now,” she asked, “or are you going to stay out here until you freeze to that rock?”

“I’m ready,” I answered, getting to my feet, which wasn’t easy since my whole backside was numb. “The boys getting restless in there?”

“Oh yeah,” she said, looping her arm through mine to help me balance. “There’s two big men in there, spoiling for a fight and no one to pound on except each other. They need some direction to point all that male angst at. Besides, Mama D has dinner ready and on the table.”

I nodded as we made our way back in companionable silence, enjoying the peace and quiet. I was so glad she and Mama D were with me. I needed them, and not just for their skills.

Dinner wasn’t quite on the table when we got to the cabin. Mama D had taken things in hand and had Mac tossing a salad while Jonas stood guard over what smelled like garlic bread toasting in the oven.

By the time I finished washing up, everything was ready. Jonas had the decency to wait until Mama D had set steaming bowls of Chicken Alfredo in front of us before starting in.

“Okay, Samantha,” he said, drawing my attention, as he spooned parmesan cheese into his bowl. “I hope you have something else up your sleeve because there’s no way I can see of getting into the compound without someone getting killed. Meaning you.” He pointed his spoon at me for emphasis.

“Why don’t we talk about this after dinner,” Trinity said, giving Jonas a look that would have killed a lesser man on the spot. “And quit with the cheese. You haven’t even tasted that yet, and you’re drowning it.”

She grabbed the spoon and bowl of cheese from him and plunked them down on the table, which, from the look on his face had been a huge mistake. I stepped in quickly before they came to blows.

“No, he’s right, Trinity. We need to talk now. We have a lot of work to do later.”

Mac and Jonas’ faces lit up like Christmas trees. I couldn’t really blame them. It was a relief to finally be able to do something pro-active even if the odds of success were stacked against us.

“Our goal is to get into the facility and get some information. We need to find Brown and see what’s up with Matthew Hughes.” I gave up on attempting to twirl the fettuccine around my fork and grabbed my knife, cutting the pasta into manageable pieces.

“Problem is,” I continued, managing to stab a nice piece of chicken along with a forkful of noodles, “getting to Hughes.”

“There’s no way we’re going to be able to get in there without them knowing about it. The minute Hughes thinks something is off, he’ll set the dogs on us, no questions asked,” Jonas said, cutting straight to the heart of the problem.

“I’m willing to bet he’s in charge on site. If I was a double agent, that’s the position I’d go for. You’re in on everything, can spy on everything, have access to everything and no questions asked.” Jonas nodded his head in agreement with Mac.

“So basically what you’re saying is there’s no way to get to this guy, the one we have to talk to,” Trinity said, throwing her fork down in disgust. “So now what? He’s the only lead we have. Do we cut tail and run?”

“No,” I answered, “we don’t. We needed to know if Hughes was still in place at the facility and we got our answer. If they have Brown, I’d be willing to bet he’s somewhere nearby where Hughes can keep an eye him.”

“If that’s true, then we don’t need to get into the facility to talk to him. We can just follow him right to Brown,” Jonas finished for me.

“That’s a lot of ‘ifs’. We don’t even know for sure that Hughes is involved in this. Say he is, and you do follow him to Brown? What happens then?” Trinity asked.

“If Hughes has Brown and we find him, I intend to take him,” I answered, surprised at the question. Maybe because the answer was obvious to me. I’d accepted that what we had once been, no longer existed. We knew things now that others didn’t. I could do things that apparently no one else could. We were being hunted. The rules had changed.

“What do you mean take him? You can’t just walk in and take someone. That’s kidnapping and in case you forgot, it’s illegal.”

“You’re right,” I said, agreeing with her. “Let me correct myself. When we find Brown, I intend to kidnap him.”

The silence was deafening. I waited, letting the idea sink in. We didn’t have a choice really. At least I didn’t. My mind jumped back to what had happened last night and the overwhelming emotions that had rolled over me. I knew deep in my soul it had something to do with what was going on. I’d been over it a dozen times in my head, and I kept coming back with the same answer, my gut telling me what my mind refused to accept. It had been Caleb Brown I had felt. His horror and fear. Worse yet, the unending blackness that had followed. Had they killed him? Was he working with them, or had they taken him against his will? I didn’t know. The one thing I did know for sure was that he was involved because of me, and if he was still alive, I had to get him back.