| |
I slipped down the empty hall to the corner of the intersection. Winston followed without protest. The thugs I'd heard outside the closet had mentioned that they were going to the garage next to the lab. If I could find them, I could find the lab. And a lab was the best place to find a kidnapped scientist.
The mental image of my tutor tied to a chair like in the movies, pleading with the Snake to let him go, hurried me down the hall. If Matt and I hadn't been dumb enough to eat drugged cookies, we might have been able to stop his kidnapping in the first place. I wasn’t going to let him down again.
Pressing my back against the wall, I peered carefully around the corner to the left just as Mrs. Gunther disappeared through a pair of steel double doors about halfway down the hall. I stuck my arm out to keep Winston from rounding the corner and giving us away. The room she'd entered had to be the garage.
As soon as I was sure Mrs. Gunther was out of sight, I glanced anxiously behind me and down the other arm of the hallway. If we were caught now, Dr. Kestler, Winston, and I would all be toast.
The coast was clear. I tiptoed to the closest door beside the garage, motioning for Winston to follow me.
He complied, with only a deep sigh to show his irritation.
I tried the doorknob as gently as I could. It was locked. The keys Matt had borrowed from the guard opened the door to a storage room. That left the door on the other side of the open garage doors.
Please let us get by without being seen. I crept over to the edge of the double doors and paused to listen for the men inside. We had to dash past the doors while the men were too busy to notice us, or we'd be joining Dr. Kestler all right – in captivity.
“Make sure the coast is clear before you cross.” I stood right next to Winston’s ear and whispered, “We can’t afford to be seen.”
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Winston growled.
I refrained from answering as I turned back to the doorway. The answer to that question would depend a lot on his actions in the next few minutes.
“So where am I supposed to take this stuff?” someone asked from inside. We were running out of time.
Peeking around the doorway ran the risk of being seen, but a quick peek was far better than running by recklessly. I poked my head around the doorway and jerked it back quickly, getting just enough of a glance to locate the people inside. The man speaking was leaning out of the window of a truck cab talking to Mrs. Gunther. Two other men were finishing loading boxes into the truck.
SATURN would love to know where they’re going. I can afford a minute. I hope. Ignoring the fluttering in my stomach, I flattened myself back against the wall as I listened for Mrs. Gunther's response. Winston nudged me impatiently. I shook my head silently without taking my eyes off the doorway.
“Same place you took McCully and his wife,” Mrs. Gunther answered. “Have them ready for more questioning when he gets there.”
Questioning? My heart skipped and I dropped my head back against the wall weakly. The Snake lied. My parents are still alive!
Biting my lip in indecision, I looked at the door to the lab beside the garage. Can I rescue Dr. Kestler and still follow them to my parents? The only way I even had a chance to follow that truck would be to leave now and get my car from across the street. Even that was slim. I had to rescue Dr. Kestler first, and hope that delayed them enough for Matt to bring Chris.
Another quick glance assured me the men were still busy with their loading. Dashing across the broad opening, I paused on the other side to make sure Winston made it over safely. He did exactly as I had done and made it beside me without drawing attention to us. Perhaps he wasn’t going to be as big a liability as I'd thought.
Relieved, I turned back to the slightly open door beside me. I listened carefully and peeked through the partly open door. To my right, I could see a heavy wooden desk covered with scattered papers held down by a glass paperweight. A long table full of assorted scientific equipment stretched across the back wall. Dr. Kestler, wearing a white lab coat, was working alone at this table with his back to the door. Quickly, I shoved the door open just enough for Winston and me to enter and closed it behind us.
“Dr. Kestler,” I whispered urgently, crossing the room and laying my hand on the preoccupied scientist's shoulder.
Dr. Kestler jumped and turned to face us.
“Cadet McCully! What are you doing here? Who’s your friend?” The surprise on Dr. Kestler’s kindly face turned to worry. “Don’t tell me they got you, too!”
“I’ve come to get you out of here,” I answered, cutting Winston off as he opened his mouth to introduce himself. There wasn't time to explain the whole story. I guided Dr. Kestler to the door.
“How did you know where to find me?” Dr. Kestler looked puzzled. His eyes narrowed and he shifted his body between me and whatever he had been working on. “How much do you know about my experiment?”
“Enough to know we need to get out of here now.” I stretched my arm across his back and pushed him more firmly to the exit.
Winston's eyes flicked nervously toward the door as if he expected someone to burst in at any time. Frankly, I was expecting the same thing. The uncertainty made me almost as nervous as Winston was acting.
“I'll answer any questions you want later,” I promised, though I wasn't sure I had that many answers. “The Snake or his men will be here any minute.”
“But I can’t leave my invention in the hands of these madmen!” Dr. Kestler twisted away from me and started hastily scooping up his papers. “Do you know what they could do with it?”
“Yes.” Just like I had a pretty good idea what they could do to us. “But it's probably already loaded on the truck. We have to leave without it.”
“I won’t leave it,” Dr. Kestler said, his voice rising in protest. “Not again.”
“Forget the stupid invention!” Winston shrilled back at him. So much for his keeping quiet. “They’re going to kill us all if we don’t get out of here.”
“Not so loud,” I said through clenched teeth. If anyone over heard the two of them... “You’ll bring the guards. Then they will kill us all!”
“You’re just as bad as your parents and those other agents SATURN sent to ‘protect’ me,” Dr. Kestler shouted. He seemed to be concerned only for his invention, not at all for his own safety – or ours. “Always telling me what to do with my invention. It’s mine, do you hear! And I...”
I clapped my hand over Dr. Kestler’s mouth. Too late. Footsteps hurried toward the door. We wouldn’t even have time to hide.
“Who do we have here?” Mrs. Gunther's voice was sugary as she and two other thugs entered the room.
Blowing out a frustrated breath, I put on a brave face as I turned toward them. Dr. Kestler gripped my arm with trembling hands. Winston scrambled to stand beside me and tried to put on a brave face as well. He just looked like he was in pain.
“I see you decided to come out of hiding after all.” Mrs. Gunther pointed her gun at my chest. Winston took a small step away from me.
Lord, give me courage. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to look Mrs. Gunther in the eye instead of focusing on the gun. I had to stay strong if I wanted to rescue Dr. Kestler and Winston. Don't let me get us all killed.
“I told you he would eventually come here,” Dr. Kestler spoke up. His voice no longer sounded gentle or soft. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I realized where I'd heard it before. How could I have been fooled?
“You were right, boss,” Mrs. Gunther conceded and chuckled. “Like always.”
Dr. Kestler’s grip on my arm tighten like a vise. That’s where I had heard the voice before; in the darkened room, coming from the shadow that had interrogated us.
Dr. Kestler was the Snake.
Fear stiffened my body as I glared at the evil grin that had transformed Dr. Kestler’s normally pleasant face. He'd managed to fool SATURN and my parents as well.
Dr. Kestler laughed harshly at my reaction. “Surprised, Cadet McCully?”
“You brought us into a trap,” Winston wailed at me. “We’re going to die, and it’s all your fault!”
At a gesture from Mrs. Gunther, one of the thugs grabbed him roughly by the arms as well. Winston’s wails softened to whimpers, which stopped when Mrs. Gunther turned her gun to point at him.
Why didn’t I realize that Dr. Kestler was the Snake before now? Both Winston and I could have been safely outside with Matt and Trinity. I quickly shook off the feelings of guilt Winston's accusations raised. Whether it was my fault or not, I was going to have to be the one to think of a way out. Winston was already too panicked to do any good.
I have to stall Dr. Kestler until Chris gets here. Matt and Trinity are our only chance.
“You’re the Snake?” I knew I was just stating the obvious, but I was still too stunned to think of anything better.
Dr. Kestler laughed again. “SATURN never realized they were helping one of their most dangerous enemies create the ultimate weapon.”
“But why?” I prodded, trying to think of a way to escape as Dr. Kestler talked. We might not have time to wait for SATURN. “Why would a terrorist want to work with SATURN?”
“Are you kidding? I had full access to SATURN's protection and funding. Plus, I rather enjoyed the irony of working right under their noses,” Dr. Kestler said proudly. “And as Dr. Kestler, I had nearly unlimited access to the information at the facilities they kept me at.”
“Then why wreck my parents’ plane and stage the theft?” I asked. In his pride, Dr. Kestler seemed willing to give me the answers I needed. “It sounds like you had it made.”
“Your parents suspected me. Mrs. Gunther planted a remote control device and the bomb in their plane and faked their deaths to keep them from telling anyone.” Dr. Kestler explained. “The nerve gas was supposed to discourage any hope Agent Marshall had that they might be still alive. I could have just killed them, but they have information I need.” His grip on my arm tightened painfully. “I staged the theft to get my invention away from SATURN and my own kidnapping to throw suspicion off myself. Mrs. Gunther suggested the envelope in her dresser as an added touch.”
He smiled nastily at me. “I suspected SATURN sent you and Cadet Marshall to keep an eye on me. That’s why I sent Mrs. Gunther to search your room. When she didn’t find anything conclusive, I had her try to scare you off by running your car off the road.”
“Why tell me my parents died?” I tried to yank my arm loose, but Dr. Kestler squeezed harder. I wasn’t getting free of his iron grip. Don't let him get tired of answering questions before Chris and Matt get here.
“I had hoped to shake you up enough that you'd be willing talk when I questioned you later, but your friends escaped before I had a chance.” Dr. Kestler was beginning to sound bored.
I tried to swallow my panic. If he got bored, he might decide to use us for his entertainment. “Where are my parents now?”
“Question and answer time is over. I believe you have stalled long enough.” Dr. Kestler pulled a small pistol out of a pocket in his lab jacket, let go of my arm, and took a step back. I found myself looking directly into the barrel of his gun as he held it inches from my face. “SATURN will be here soon, and I can’t afford your being alive to tell them what you know.”
He grinned at me maliciously as his finger tightened on the trigger.
“Are you ready to die?”