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Kat and Carpenter parked in the center lot and got out of the car. No one moved along the fence line, so SWAT had been successful. Carpenter radioed the National Guard to move in.
Carpenter studied the parked TGC military vehicles along the riverside fence. He wondered how many corrupt people in Washington and the military had aligned themselves with TGC and secretly pooled money into the facility in hopes of greater future gains.
Carpenter and Kat holstered their guns.
He said, “It looks like everything is about wrapped up.”
Kat sighed. “I hope so.”
***
A black Jaguar slowed outside TGC’s broken gate. Both men wore camouflage uniforms. The driver, tan skinned with a muscled face looked through dark shades. “You’re sure Lucian is in there, Donovan?”
His blonde, fair-skinned passenger pointed his finger on the laptop screen. “Yes, Magnus. His tracer chip shows he’s here on the map.”
“Dammit!” Magnus said. He surveyed the National Guard activity inside TGC’s fences. Dead guards were all along the fence line. “We’re never going to get to him with all this shit going on.”
“It’s a million dollar bounty, Magnus. We cannot let that pass through our hands.”
“Are you seeing what I am?”
“I see it. I know.”
Magnus looked through binoculars. “Damn, what the hell is going on here?”
“Idris’ shop is being closed.”
“That’s good. Good for us.”
Donovan smiled. “In a sense, but without the bounty for Lucian, we’re hurting.”
“There’s no way past all these soldiers and the FBI agents. They’ll see us.”
“Lucian knows too much. We must dispose of him so he doesn’t inform the FBI or CIA.”
Magnus sighed and pulled the car into a parking spot two blocks away where they could keep an eye on the activity at TGC. “He was the best of us. He trained us. I don’t see why he’s considered expendable now.”
“According to Idris, he’s turned against our foundation and sister labs. It’s just a matter of time, and he’ll turn on us. He’s changed, grown soft. TGC must continue. They might shut down the operations here, but they don’t know about the other laboratories. Lucian does. That makes him dangerous if he turns.”
Magnus frowned. Even through the dark shades, Donovan felt his glare. “You think he’s here to kill Idris?”
“At the very least.”
Magnus shook his head in disbelief. “That would be foolish. Without Idris he’ll die. Unlike us, he has to have enhancer injections.”
“Surveillance shows that Brockton has sided with Lucian. He gave Lucian a box of injections, so he wouldn’t be at Idris’ mercy.”
“So Brockton has to die, too?”
Donovan nodded. “We have to get inside and kill them. With our fatigues, we shouldn’t have much problem blending in.”
“No, not here. There’s too much fire power should we be discovered. Even being what we are, we do have our limitations.”
“So we kill the guards, too.”
Magnus shook his head. “That kind of eagerness will get us both killed.”
With several keystrokes on the laptop, Donovan smiled and pointed. “Watch.”
***
A loud squelching alarm cried from speaker poles around the perimeter. In front of one of the military flatbed trucks, two metal doors pushed upward from the asphalt, revealing a set of descending stairs. Armed soldiers swarmed from the bunker like an angry swarm of disturbed ants.
If Kat had not already been looking in that general direction, she would never have heard the doors strike the pavement due to the harsh sirens.
Bullets from three firing soldiers sent Carpenter scrambling across the parking lot toward Kat. She was in midstride when the bullet hit her right shoulder. Carpenter lunged, caught her around the waist, and pulled her behind the car, out of the line of gunfire.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “I think so.”
Carpenter inspected her shirt for blood. “Looks like the vest stopped the bullet.”
Kat closed her eyes and sighed. “It still hurts like hell.”
Carpenter pulled his gun. Kat kept a weak grip on hers. Her arm was numb and she found it difficult to keep her fingers curled around the gun. She massaged her forearm, hoping to gain back control of her hand.
Soldiers approached, firing their weapons. Bullets chinked and ate at the other side of the car. Tyler drove through the gate and swung his car to the front of Carpenter’s. The two cars formed an L, which allowed them protection from two different angles.
The soldiers turned their attention toward Tyler and fired. Denton swung open the passenger door and dove to the pavement. Tyler fumbled with his seatbelt. He tugged and pushed the button, but it wouldn’t release.
Gunfire chiseled the glass. One round burst through Tyler’s forehead, spraying a stream of blood across the roof upholstery. His head slammed back against the headrest and dropped limp against the steering wheel. The car horn blared.
“Tyler! No!” Kat yelled, fighting to stand.
Carpenter shook his head and placed a firm grip on her shoulder to hold her down. “He’s dead, Kat.”
Kat weakened beneath his hold. Tears burned her eyes.
Carpenter said to Denton, “How many soldiers are approaching our position?”
“At least a dozen,” Denton replied through clenched teeth. “Maybe more and wearing full body armor, too.”
“Shit,” Carpenter sighed. “No way our bullets can penetrate their armor.”
Kat squinted to squeeze away tears. She didn’t want to cry. She couldn’t with the present danger they faced. She took a couple of quick breaths. Bullets flaked chunks of metal from the car hood.
“They’re closing in fast. Can we run for it?” she asked.
“No,” Carpenter replied. “We have nowhere to run.”
Kat put her gun in her left hand and rose to her feet. Carpenter reached for her, but she moved too quickly to grab. She fired two rounds, but the bullets bounced off the body armor. She fired again. It was a futile effort. She prepared to fire again, but a bullet hit dead center of her chest. She fell backwards.
“Kat! Dammit!” Carpenter yelled, crawling toward her. “Are you on a suicide mission?”
She winced. “Damn, that hurt!”
“Our weapons are useless against them, Kat,” Carpenter said. “We have to get out of here. Let the Guard do their duty.”
Denton shook his head. “There’s no way we can pile into a car without getting killed. They’re right on us now.”
They were helpless the longer they stayed seated behind the cars. Carpenter judged the distance to the front doors of TGC. He shook his head. “We’d never be fast enough to get to those doors. Just hunker down.”
The bullets battered the sides of the cars. Bits of glass showered to the pavement. The heavy gunfire ate and punctured the car bodies. The tires sank. The noise became unbearable.
Kat closed her eyes and said, “The best we can hope is that Lucas has succeeded.”
Carpenter nodded. “True. Where the hell did all these soldiers come from?”
“Underground bunkers,” Kat said. “The alarms must have triggered their opening.”
Denton sat low against the car tire. “What set off the alarms?”
“No idea,” Carpenter said, squinting as more glass rained down.
“I guess Lucas didn’t know about them?” Denton asked.
“I guess not,” Carpenter said. “But what worries me more is what else he might not know about TGC.”
Bullets sprayed in the heated battle. Several cars were blazing slowly. Occasional bullets chipped off the pavement, barely missing them. A metal object clanked on the ground near them. It rolled and spun. Right in the midst of them was an unpinned grenade. Carpenter hugged Kat closely before he flung his body over her. Denton grabbed the grenade and lopped it back over the car. The explosion sent chunks of asphalt and soldiers into the air, but the roaring blast didn’t stop their assault.
The only thing that saved Carpenter, Kat, and Denton was the Guard intercepted the gunfire. However, the TGC mercenaries were better equipped and trained to kill without second thought. The Guard was being picked off one by one.
Kat looked up at Carpenter. She forced a smile and said, “I think you’ve invaded my personal space.”
He smiled. “Sorry. Please don’t file a formal complaint.”
Several TGC soldiers made their way around the Guard and were approaching the agents’ position. They raised their rifles. Kat’s breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t swallow. It was then she realized it was over.
***
Magnus’ cell phone rang. “You found where Daniel’s wife and daughter are? Where? The Burnside Hotel. Thanks.”
“What’s that all about?” Donovan asked.
“I put out a credit card trace to find where Daniel’s family was staying. Idris’ attempt to kill them failed and made the news. We won’t make the same mistake as the other team did.”
“We don’t have to worry about them. They were a thorn in Idris’ side, not ours.”
“Maybe not, but if we want a shot at killing Lucian, we need the FBI out of here. I have a way to get them out of here and eliminated at the same time.”
“How?”
“We send Bane to the hotel. I have no doubt that agents are posted there to protect Daniel’s family. Once Bane attacks, the agents will contact Carpenter to help rescue them.”
Donovan frowned. “Don’t be foolish. Typhis will never allow that.”
“Typhis doesn’t need to know.”
“Dr. Helmsby has had access to all of Idris’ data for three years. He can prove that Idris has never had much success splicing canine DNA with his super humans, especially nothing like Bane.”
Magnus laughed. “Idris would be pissed to know that Typhis beat him to the achievement.”
“True.”
“After Bane kills the agents at the hotel, Daniel and the others will come out into the open. They’ll be vulnerable. Bane will kill them all.”
“But if he fails and is killed, his DNA will lead the FBI right to us.”
“If, Donovan, if. Bane is practically invincible.”
Donovan shrugged. “Make the call.”
***
A loud roar of engines revved. Crumbled chain-linked fence crashed to the pavement. Another tank entered the parking lot. It fired into the remaining twenty or so mercenaries. The blast killed half of them.
The last dozen soldiers turned away from Carpenter, Kat, and Denton to fire at the tank. Armed Guardsmen sent a barrage of armor-piercing bullets through the TGC soldiers. All except five fell victim to attack and died. The last five men dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender.
After the gunfire ceased, Carpenter helped Kat to her feet. “Come on,” he said. “We have to help Lucas.”
“Wait,” she said. She wiped away tears and opened Tyler’s car door. She gently moved his head off the steering wheel. The car horn ceased, but the blaring sirens still split the air.
A chunk of the back of Tyler’s head was missing. Blood soaked the seat. His eyes were wide and his skin cold. Her hands shook. She closed his eyes with the gentle sweep of her hand. Her insides quaked. No words described the inner turmoil twisting through her stomach and mind.
She looked across the asphalt at all the carnage Idris was responsible for. Her anger boiled. Although she was a full eight inches shorter than Carpenter, the heated anger in her eyes made him uneasy when she confronted him. “According to the files you gave me, all of this was supposed to have been over three years ago. What the hell happened?”
Carpenter shrugged. “It beats me. Until the Senate murders, Kat, I believed it was over.”
“Well,” Kat said. “It’s time to finish it for good.”
The National Guard cuffed the remaining five soldiers. Denton checked his gun clip while Carpenter motioned her to follow.
“We’ll make certain it’s over this time,” he said, staring at the pavement while he walked. “Lucas holds the power to shut it down.”
“So, he believes,” she said. “But what if what he does isn’t enough? What then?”
“We’ll sail that ocean when we reach it.”
“By God, this has to end today. Too many have died already for one man’s corrupt science.”
Carpenter offered a grim smile. “Yes. The sad thing is that we all thought Idris was dead, too. The fact he is still alive was news to me. Some higher ups made damn sure they kept that information a secret.”
Kat shook her head. “Someone knew he was still alive. Someone put him back in the control seat. The question is who?”
“I wish I knew, Kat. Honestly, I do. We’ll find the answer somehow. But we must first make sure he’s dead this time.”
“Even if it’s done illegally?”
He whispered. “Whatever it takes, it will be final this time.”
She stopped and faced him. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Carpenter nodded and walked past her. “Please do.”
***
Lucas took the computer chip and placed it inside a Ziplock bag before stuffing it into his jacket pocket. He looked at Daniel. “I’ll take Lydia with me. The computer room is down the hall. Once I get this chip into place, our time is limited. You need to get out of this building as soon as possible.”
“I know. I’ll go find Kyle. We can’t leave him here. Provided he’s still alive.”
“Hurry,” Lucas said. “And be careful.”
“Always,” Daniel said. To Johanna and Morton, he said, “You two come with me.”
Johanna forced a smile.
Lydia held her handgun low and peered into the hall. “Idris went that direction,” she said with a nod.
“Damn,” Lucas said. “That means he’s gone to the computer room.”
Lydia released the safety and smiled. “Then we’ll take care of two things at once.”
Lucas pulled his gun. Daniel, Johanna, and Morton headed for the stairwell while Lucas and Lydia eased down the hall. Rex padded cautiously behind them.
Lucas kept his back against the left wall in the hallway while Lydia did the same on the right. With catlike stealth they moved toward the computer room. The empty hall was silent. He wondered if all the interior guards were dead or if another one or two might be patrolling. Anything was possible in this madhouse, he reasoned. Hell, shifters might have been released by now.
Lydia swung her back against the wall beside the closed door. Lucas lowered his stance and moved beneath the window to the other side of the door.
“You ready?” he whispered.
She nodded.
Lucas turned the knob slowly before shoving the door open. The heavy gunfire slammed the doorstop, but no gunfire erupted in the room. Idris stood in the center of the room without a weapon in hand. He clutched his elbow tightly.
“Name your price,” Idris said. “Anything at all.”
Lydia and Lucas leveled their guns at his chest.
Idris took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “This is my life’s work,” he said with pure sincerity. He panted and sweat trickled down his face. “Name your price. Don’t destroy what I’ve worked so long to achieve.”
Lucas’ eyes narrowed. “At the cost of how many lives?”
“It’s science. With science, there’s always a cost.”
Lucas kept his gun aimed on Idris. He walked to the main computer panel. “Oh? You killed two senators and then you attempted to kill all my friends in order to achieve your accomplishments? You call that science?”
Idris smiled weakly. “Believe me, it wasn’t personal.”
“To me,” Lucas said. “It’s very personal.”
Lucas dropped to one knee and said to Lydia, “If he moves, shoot him.”
“Please,” Idris said. He took a step back and Lydia tightened her finger on the trigger. “No, I’m not going to run. Please, let me lean against the wall. I feel faint.”
“It’ll pass,” Lucas replied.
Idris gasped for breath. He wiped sweat from his brow. “Are you certain, Lucas, that what you’re doing is in your best interests?”
Lucas pulled off a rectangular metal door on the central computer. Lying on his back, he pulled himself into the small opening. “Destroying TransGenCorp is in everyone’s best interest.”
A thin smile parted Idris’ lips. His yellow teeth were lined like neat kernels of corn. “By destroying one thing, you will be unleashing numerous other dangers you’re not aware of.”
“Bluffing again?”
Idris’ heavy eyelids opened wider. His yellowing eyes peered angrily. “Call me on it then, if you think I’m bluffing. But be forewarned . . . there are experiments here that even Dr. Helmsby has no knowledge of.”
“I supposed you’ve backed them with your lifeless shifter soundtrack?”
Idris took another step backwards. Lydia took a step closer. Her eyes never moved off him, and she never lessened her grip on the trigger. He leaned back against the wall, panting for air. He was pale. Sweat dotted his fevered brow. He held his elbow tightly and closed his eyes. He licked his lips. When he opened his eyes, Lydia stood less than ten feet away from him. He smiled.
“I always knew you were the best,” he said. “My strongest.”
Lydia frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You mean Lucas never told you?”
She glanced at Lucas, but she couldn’t make eye contact. He was under the computer main drive fumbling with the chip. She looked at Idris. “Told me what?”
Idris licked his lips again and swallowed. He took another deep breath. “Where you really came from? What you really are? He didn’t tell you?”
Lydia took a step toward Lucas. “What the hell is he talking about?”
Lucas squinted, trying to align the chip where he had removed the other. Without looking at her, he said, “Don’t listen to him. He’s trying to distract you and get you to drop your guard.”
“Lucas,” Idris said in a raspy voice. “It would be best if you told her, don’t you think? After all, you stole her from me.”
Idris slid his back down the wall and seated himself on the floor. His arms fell to his sides. He released a long, hissing laugh. “You tell her or I will.”
“Pay no attention to him, Lydia. Can’t you see he’s delusional?”
Idris chuckled. His throat made rough sounds like he needed water. His eyes were yellow and wider. “You’re the absolute best I created.”
She leveled the gun at his head and tightened her finger on the trigger. “You’re telling me that I’m one of your clones? That’s bullshit! I was held here and you made clones from me.”
“No, dear, no,” he said. “You’re much more than that. You’re a flawless, genetically enhanced assassin.”
“What?”
Lucas finally clicked the microchip into the slot and whispered, “Gotcha.”
“Tell her, Lucas,” Idris panted. His tongue was narrowing like a serpent. “Tell her how you persuaded one of my best scientists to get her out of her incubation chamber.”
Lucas wiped his hands on his pants and stood. He pulled his gun and aimed at Idris’ head. “I’ve wanted to put a bullet in your brain for a long time.”
Lydia stepped between his gun and Idris but kept her gun trained on the general. “No,” she said.
“What are you doing, Lydia?” Lucas asked. “Please move.”
She shook her head. “Not until you tell me the truth. Did I come out of one of those chambers like the men downstairs? Am I like them?”
Lucas lowered his gun and sighed. “No, you’re not like them. After all, he made a clone from you. Your clone had no childhood memories, but you do.”
Idris snorted. His facial skin was dry and scaly, almost leathery. “Lydia’s memories were fabricated, and you’re fully aware of that. What she remembers is nothing more than subliminal implants. But Lydia, your clone had flaws, impure DNA, unlike you. The shifter DNA in you is pure, but hers was damaged. You are the prototype. You could never imagine what kind of progeny I’d have gotten had I succeeded in breeding you with Lucas’ clone.”
Her eyes narrowed. She pointed the gun firmly at Idris. A tear of anger trickled down her cheek. “Am I nothing more than an animal to you?”
“Hey! I’m all for it,” Lucian said, stepping into the room behind them. He held one 9mm on Lucas and the other on Idris. “It sounds like a pleasurable way to spend the rest of this hellacious day.”
***
Daniel cautiously stepped into the second floor hallway. Pools of thickening blood spread beneath dead soldiers. He held his gun tightly and took a slow step forward. The smell of burning flesh lingered in the air. A thin line of smoke filtered from the chemical storage room.
“What happened here?” Johanna asked.
Daniel shook his head. “I have no idea. Maybe one of the clone assassins malfunctioned and went on a killing spree.”
“They’d do that?”
Daniel frowned. “Have you been away from the research center too long to remember the hell we faced back then?”
“No. Of course not. But God knows, I’d like to forget it.”
Daniel walked to the nearest soldier and stared in disbelief. “Damn.”
“What?” she asked.
“This man is one of the soldiers in the glass chambers. Idris must have released some of them.”
“How can you tell?”
“Their faces are all the same. Apparently, they’re all from the same prototype.”
Morton huffed. “And yet, they’re all dead.”
“Only one person could have been good enough to bring them down,” Daniel sighed.
“The clone?” Johanna said with wide eyes. “Then he’s probably still here, somewhere.”
Daniel nodded. He glanced at the far end of the hall. “Let’s check out the storage room,” he said. “It’s too risky to go any further that way.”
Johanna clicked off the gun safety and followed Daniel. Morton sprinted ahead and peered into the room.
“No one is alive in there,” he said with a serious tone. “Uh, Dan, I don’t think you should go inside.”
“Why not?” he asked. “What’s in there?”
Morton sat on his haunches outside the door and shook his head. “It’s Kyle. He’s dead.”
Daniel holstered his gun and stepped past the cat. He hurried over a smoldering soldier and knelt beside Kyle’s emaciated body. Kyle’s face was sunken; his dead eyes stared straight ahead. Brown smudges encircled his bluing lips. Morton came closer and placed an ear near Kyle’s mouth.
“What’s on his face?” Daniel asked.
Morton sniffed the brown substance and his eyebrows rose in surprise. “Chocolate.”
“Chocolate?”
“Strange, but yes.”
“You think the chocolate killed him? In his condition?”
Morton shook his head. “No, Dan. You saw how poor his health was when we visited him yesterday. He only had a few hours before he’d die anyway.”
“How’d he get in here?” Daniel asked.
“No idea,” Morton replied. “But he doesn’t appear to have been forced here against his will.”
Daniel noticed a brown paper bag on the table. He opened it. “There are candy bars in here.”
Johanna turned toward the door. “Someone was feeding his sweet tooth.”
“But why?” Daniel asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Morton said, “We may never know. But let’s get out of here. The Meltdown should start soon.”
Daniel knelt and put an arm behind Kyle’s neck. He scooped Kyle into his arms like a ragdoll.
“What are you doing?” Morton asked.
“Getting him out of here.”
“No, Dan. Don’t,” Morton said evenly.
“Why not?”
“His parents already believe he died in Pittsburgh three years ago. Let’s leave it at that. You don’t want them to see him in his present condition. They’ve had their grief and adjusted to life without him. Don’t add to it by letting them see what Idris did to their son.”
Daniel lowered Kyle’s body and gave a grim nod. Daniel closed Kyle’s eyes. Johanna wiped tears from her cheeks.
Daniel said, “You’re right. His parents suffered enough without having to see him now. I wish there had been more I could have done for him.”
“We all do.”
They headed back into the hallway and went to the stairs. Ascending one flight, they returned to the front desk. Daniel took the dead receptionist’s key ring from his belt. He tried half a dozen keys before he found the one to unlock the front door.
When they opened the door, Carpenter and Kat stepped inside. Outside, the gunfire had ceased. Two dozen Guardsmen marched through the doors with assault rifles in hand.
“Where’s Idris?” Carpenter asked.
“Sublevel three,” Daniel said. “I think Lydia and Lucas have cornered him in one of the computer labs.”
Carpenter attempted to contact Lucas via transmitter but he didn’t receive a reply. “What about the clone? Did you find him?”
Daniel shook his head. “With all the dead bodies strewn down there, he has to still be here somewhere. But we’ve not seen him.”
“Okay,” Carpenter said with frustration. He extended his hand to Daniel. “You do make a great team. I’m glad you’re all safe. Now, it’s time for you to get the hell out of here while we clean up. Your job is over.”
Daniel nodded. “Thanks.”
Carpenter turned to the Guardsmen and said, “Scour the halls men and find the clone.”