Extinction Machine

Chapter Eighty

The Warehouse

Baltimore, Maryland

Sunday, October 20, 12:06 p.m.

Gus Dietrich banged open the door to Joe Ledger’s office without knocking. Church and Rudy Sanchez looked up sharply at him.

“Got to get you out of here, boss,” said Gus breathlessly, “and I mean right now. We have every kind of federal agent at the gate right now waving warrants from the attorney general. Can’t stop ’em.”

“Warrants for what?” demanded Rudy.

“Joe. They have an arrest warrant for him and a search and seizure for his office. Don’t know what’s up their ass, but they want Joe in the worst way and that warrant is legit.”

“This is absurd,” said Rudy.

“How much time?” asked Church.

“I can stall them for a couple of minutes. I have your helo smoking on the roof.”

Without a word Church closed his laptop and began packing it away. Ledger’s laptop was locked in the top drawer of the file cabinet. Church touched a panel on the wall and the file cabinet sank into the floor with a soft hiss of hydraulics. A second file cabinet came down from the ceiling to replace it.

Rudy cocked an eyebrow. “That’s very clever.”

“Borrowed from a James Bond novel,” admitted Church, “but it was a smart idea.”

They exited the office and Church handed his laptop to Gus. “Put this in the vault. Cut all lines to MindReader and put the mainframe autodelete on standby. Make sure the staff cooperates in every way possible within the guidelines of their training. Then meet me at the Shop. Transfer all current case notes and records there. That’ll be our new war room.”

Gus nodded. The Shop was a secondary support location a few blocks away. It was run by Big Bob Faraday, a former Echo Team agent who had been permanently injured on a mission. It was also the home of Mike Harnick’s vehicle design department, logistical support, and a few other essential departments.

“What about the warrant?” asked Gus.

“Let them execute it. They are welcome to search Captain Ledger’s office.”

Rudy said, “What should I do?”

Church smiled. “Come with me, Doctor. No reason for you to be involved in this mess.”

“What about Joe? We can’t just leave him to the wolves…”

“Captain Ledger is a resourceful man, Doctor. I rather think it is the wolves who are in danger.”