"Yeah. Hide that stuff-" he nodded to the lock and tool still clutched in her right hand "-in case anyone takes the time to check out this room."
"Will do."
Ben couldn"t say what it was, but for some reason he hated to leave her standing there looking far too vulnerable. Not that he would put her solidly in the vulnerable category. She was determined as h.e.l.l and fearless-as long as she wasn"t stuck in a cramped s.p.a.ce. But if something happened to her...it would be his fault. She was a newbie, completely untried in a situation like this. She shouldn"t even be involved in this rescue operation, but no one else had her special skill set. He doubted that she"d had this moment in mind when taking all those years of dance and gymnastics.
He cleared his head. d.a.m.n. He was losing his edge far too rapidly around this woman.
Pulling himself into the overhead s.p.a.ce was easy enough. Closing the door and not being able to see her anymore was a lot tougher. How had she gotten so deeply under his skin so fast?
He pulled a tiny but powerful flashlight from his pack and surveyed the area. He had a good four feet of maneuvering s.p.a.ce. A maze of overhead steel beams supported the next floor. Standing straight up wasn"t an option, but it wasn"t cramped by any means. He moved over the steel beams that supported the third floor ceiling. His destination was the area above where the corridor of the floor below flowed into the stairwell. The lines to the cameras, which were the only aspect of the security system reachable without tearing into walls, would be similar in color and shape as all the rest of the lines, but Ben had been briefed on what to look for. An imprinted braillike identification code in the rubber coating of the line would set it apart from the rest.
Moving cautiously, he reached his destination. To the novice the wires all looked the same. Close attention was required to find the subtle difference.
When he"d located the precise line he needed, he marked it with the orange electrical tape he"d brought in his pack. Now, he would move back down into the maintenance room where he"d left Alexander. He would instruct her on reaching the area where he"d marked the line, on how many minutes to give him to get into position and exactly which line to cut at that point.
Time to make an aggressive move and end this insane game.
"Heads up," Jim Colby announced, the warning echoing across the communication link and echoing softly in Ben"s earpiece. "The scanner shows two hot spots heading downward."
d.a.m.n.
"One just exited onto the third floor," Ian Michaels advised.
They were trapped. Ben bit back a burning curse. Those two guards knew someone else was here. They would attempt to set some sort of trap to catch whoever had foiled their little side plans. Giving up wasn"t in their best interest.
"I"ll distract them."
Ben froze. What the h.e.l.l? The voice that whispered across the com link was Alexander"s. Why would she take that kind of risk?
"Steele can continue as planned," she added.
Ben shook his head, told himself he hadn"t heard that in his earpiece. "Are you nuts?" he roared, uncaring that he"d said the words out loud.
"You"ve never aimed a gun at anyone, much less pulled the trigger," he reminded her as he moved more quickly toward the opening that would take him back down to where he"d left her.
Alexander had to be out of her mind. He had to get to her before she got out that door.
"That"s exactly right." Her voice came again. "You have to do what needs to be done. I can"t rescue anyone alone. You can. What I can do is lead these guys away from you."
Michaels and Jim were talking at once. Ben ignored them both. He wrenched the ceiling"s access door open and glared down at...nothing.
Alexander was gone.
Chapter Thirteen.
Temporary Command Center, 2:40 p.m.
"Talk to me, Ben," Jim demanded. "What"s going on in there?" Why wasn"t anyone responding? This was out of control.
"Enemy is in the side corridor on the third floor," Ian reported, "heading toward the main corridor." He shook his head. "This is not good," he said for those in the room only. "Have we lost the connection or are they simply not listening?"
d.a.m.n it. Alexander was there. Right there. Jim banged his fist on the table. She had stepped out of the maintenance room and was standing in the corridor like a...decoy.
The realization hit Jim like a bullet to the brain. "You"d better order your investigator to stand down, Michaels. She"s making a move that will likely get her killed."
"Alexander," Michaels commanded. "You have less than ten seconds to get out of sight. Move now!"
Still no response.
Lucas stepped closer to the monitor where the thermal scanner was reporting the movements under scrutiny. The tension had peaked for everyone in the room. Years of work in situations just like this didn"t make it any easier for him.
"Ben," Jim repeated. "Give me a status." According to the thermal indication, Ben remained in the vicinity of the maintenance room.
"Something"s happening on the fourth floor," Lucas said. He pointed to the Colby Agency"s main conference room. "Two hot bodies have merged at the door to the corridor."
Jim swore. He couldn"t be sure which of those red dots represented his mother.
d.a.m.n it!
For the next five seconds his attention was fixed on the unfolding events in the conference room. The two seemingly merged bodies moved back to the location where the conference table stood. One remained at the end of the table and the other moved back to the door.
No variation in temperature for any of the bodies.
Relief moved through Jim"s veins. He had to a.s.sume that someone had attempted to make a run for the door. Victoria wouldn"t do that. She was far too smart for a stupid move like that.
Jim refocused his full attention on the floor below. Ben remained in position...but the enemy came ever closer to Alexander.
What the h.e.l.l was she doing?
"Is she waiting for him?" Jim asked Michaels. That was crazy. Unless she had one h.e.l.l of a good plan. And even then it was a dangerous risk.
But, if she was caught...their infiltration would be confirmed.
"Alexander," Michaels said again, "move!"
Lucas shook his head, looked from Jim to Michaels and back. "She wants him to see her."
Either that or she had frozen. Jim closed his eyes, wanted to rip something apart. He should never have agreed to allow Michaels to utilize an untrained investigator. She was going to blow this entire operation.
But Penny Alexander had been the only one capable of doing what had to be done.
They had needed her.
Now she was likely going to get herself killed.
As well as everyone else.
Chapter Fourteen.
Inside, 2:45 p.m.
The hesitation that followed Steele"s last rant told Penny he understood what needed to be done in order to accomplish their goal.
But he didn"t like it.
"If they catch you," he argued, defeat in his tone, "they"ll-"
"Want the unlock code before they kill me," she interrupted. "I locked the keyboard so they couldn"t retransmit the transfers I canceled. I know what they"ll want, Steele. You have to trust me to do this. It"s our only option."
"Have you ever been tortured, Alexander?"
The graveness of his tone sent chills up her spine. "We"re wasting time," she argued, avoiding his question. "Stay out of sight, while I lead them on a wild-goose chase."
Penny had locked the door to the maintenance room before closing it. The man coming around the corner any second would never know she"d been in that room.
To guarantee he didn"t grow a brain cell and consider that possibility, she moved quickly toward the return opening halfway between her position and the intersecting side corridor as Steele"s somber voice advised those in charge back at the temporary command center of the diversion strategy they had chosen.
She had chosen.
This was the only way. Experience or no, even she understood that finite point.
She"d just reached the opening when the man dressed all in black rounded the corner.
Ignore the fear.
"Don"t move!" he shouted. He leveled his weapon.
Penny dove into the return opening. Crawled hard and fast along the horizontal metal. She had to make it around that corner before he could get to the opening and fire a shot at her.
"Come back here!" echoed through the cramped s.p.a.ce.
She smiled victoriously as she rounded the corner that would take her out of sight.
"Too late, buster," she muttered as she scrambled for the ninety-degree angle with its steep drop down to the next level.
Dragging her climbing holds from her pack, she braced her back against one wall and her feet against the opposite one. Time was limited but the handholds were insurance in case she slipped.
Lowering herself down the steep drop as swiftly as she dared, she reached the second level. All she had to do was move around that one corner and she would be at the first of the two return openings on that floor. She needed the enemy to know she was going down.
She needed them to follow.
As soon as she hit the long horizontal leg of the tunnel leading to the nearest return, she spotted black-clad legs in front of the return opening. Evidently the guy from the third floor had warned his cohort to watch for her on the second floor.
Excellent!
She had to remember to bear in mind that these men were armed. Either one could shoot at her and she wouldn"t be able to move quickly enough back down the final length of tunnel to avoid being hit.
Her every move had to be precisely calculated.
She hesitated at the right turn and peeked around to see if he"d bent down to check it out. When she spotted his masked face, she caught her breath...loudly. Loudly enough that he couldn"t possibly miss the noise.
"Come out now or I"ll shoot." The hand with the weapon thrust into the opening.
Penny scooted away from the turn, out of his view.
He swore profusely then said something like "got her on two" into his communications link.
Making sure that both followed her was her next step. If she made sufficient noise for them to know she was headed downward, that should suffice.
She curled and rolled her body in the other direction and headed down to the first floor, know that her every move echoed through the metal tunnel. She created enough noise for anyone with an ear to a return grill to hear her movements.
"The man on the third floor has moved back to the stairwell," Ian advised, his usually reserved and neutral tone hard with worry or fury. Maybe both.
Penny kept the fear at bay. Kept moving. Made the drop down to the first floor with all the finesse of an elephant.
"He"s moving down the stairs. Past the second floor," Ian said, keeping her up to speed. "He"s exiting on the first floor. Second floor is still covered by his partner. Steele, you may exit and make your way to the fourth floor if any necessary preparations are a go."
Perfect.
That was Penny"s first goal.
She"d accomplished part one of her plan.
Steele was seriously ticked off at her. He hadn"t said a word to her since she"d taken the decision out of his hands and refused to be swayed otherwise.
If she was lucky she could smooth things over when this was done.
Penny bypa.s.sed the first floor, keeping the volume of her movements plenty loud enough, and headed for the bas.e.m.e.nt.
"You"ve got company in the bas.e.m.e.nt," Ian warned. "Do not proceed to the bas.e.m.e.nt level. You should turn around and head back the other way."
"Can"t," she said, not bothering with an explanation. She"d gone this far, she wasn"t backing off until it was done.
She stopped at the final turn that would take her to the access point in the bas.e.m.e.nt and removed her earpiece. On second thought the scrounged around in her backpack for a Band-Aid in the first-aid kit. Wrapping it around her finger, Penny swallowed back the uncertainty. The Band-Aid would explain the blood if it had been noticed. She couldn"t be caught with the com link, the weapon, or any other professional gear. She placed it all next to the earpiece. This had to look like a one-woman job. Summoning her courage, she made the turn.
Not bothering to set the filter or grill aside, she curled up, did a one-eighty, then kicked at what stood in her way until she burst through the access point. Both the grill and the filter dropped to the concrete floor. She followed suit, landing like a cat on her feet. All those years of dance and gymnastics had paid off after all.