CHAPTER TWENTY
Arden waited with her back against the wall. Her phaser drawn, the muzzle tipped toward the empty hall with both hands clasping the grip. She watched the exits while Colin worked his ninja magic on the door lock with his datapad and decryption program. They’d made it into the pharmaceutical plant without incident, bypassing the guards outside while wearing docking uniforms to avoid tipping off the monitors. They were now on the Level below the labs, where the merchandise was exported.
The job was humming along as normal. Get in, get the drugs, and get out. No big deal. Sneaking through security had been tough. Worse than any other job she could remember. On the weekend, there should have been fewer bodies on-site, not four times the normal number. Maybe Dade had been right that something even more sinister was in the works.
It didn’t feel right.
She tapped her foot and played with the safety on her phaser.
Off.
On.
Off.
“Stop it,” Colin hissed. He looked away from his datapad where it connected to the electric lock, running its number sequence.
Arden’s attention snapped back to the present. “What?”
“I’m going to lose my mind if you click that safety one more time.”
She glanced down at her hand where her thumb rested over the safety. It took her a moment to realize what she’d been doing. She gave Colin a guilty grin. “Sorry.”
“I’ve never seen you so nervous.”
“Maybe because we’re stupid to be here. Did you fail to notice the tightened security? They know something.” She didn’t add any of the other zillion reasons that crowded her head. “Plus, I can’t shake this feeling.”
“Of what?”
Her hands flexed and grabbed at her phaser. She pushed in and out a few breaths. “The weirdness. I don’t know how to explain it. Like this foreboding sense of doom.”
“You and your premonitions.”
Arden released a shaky laugh, bordering on hysterical. “They’re not wrong.”
“Fine.” Colin went back to the datapad. “But I can’t help but think you’re making it come true. Focus and we’ll be okay.”
“You’re probably right.”
Colin gave her his full attention. “If you think we should call it off, say so now.”
It was nice that Colin was so calm. It helped her focus. She shifted her thumb away from the safety and thought about the implications if she did follow through with her reaction to this crazy feeling and it ended up being all in her head. Colin was right: they’d be okay. She just needed to get a grip. “Nah. We’re low on VitD. If we don’t get new supplies to make more Shine, Niall will have even more reason to go forward with Project Blackout.” If she could buy a bit of time on that end, she could maybe figure out a way to keep her promise to Dade that she wouldn’t harm his family.
Colin’s datapad beeped. The light on the wall entry pad switched from red to green, and the door slid open.
“Easy,” Colin said as he unclipped his pad.
Arden waited for Colin to put away the datapad. He took out his phaser, nodding that he was ready. Together they entered, moving through the room on opposite sides, checking for people. One side of the room held packaging stations, along with several assembly tables and conveyor lines. All turned off and dark, their metal racks shiny and new. The other half of the room near the bay doors consisted of shelving areas stacked with boxes of merchandise.
Once they made sure no one was there, Arden signaled to Colin. He nodded and opened the large bay doors that exited onto the loading dock.
Colin had placed the cameras on a twenty-second delay prior to entering the room. Arden rolled a silencer to jam any additional systems. Not as effective as breaking into the monitors and taking them over. But they didn’t have the manpower to do that for this job.
Arden sighed. Yet another item to add to her growing list of failures on this mission.
Colin disengaged the bay doors. They slid upward, allowing Niall and Uri to back a stolen hovervan into the loading dock. It was used for deliveries, painted on the side with brown block letters that read “Croix Industries.” Once out of the compound, they would park it in one of the abandoned metal yards and transfer the packages into less-trackable vehicles.
Uri came around to open the back of the van while Niall exited the driver’s side. Then Colin, Niall, and Uri headed for the plain synth-board boxes with the Croix Industries pharmaceutical label, awaiting shipment out the next morning. Niall opened one box to make sure it contained VitD. Once that was confirmed, the guys began to load, working in silence. Every second counted, and they worked seamlessly together.
Arden took up her position as lookout near the entry doors. She stood, her body loose, but her mind wandered. How could she make a life with Dade when they would always be on opposite sides of the divide? Always stealing from each other. Trying to kill one another. How could there ever be anything between them? He’d said they’d work it out, and now she felt guilty on every run she made, both for betraying him and also for betraying her family.
“I expected you earlier,” a voice said.
She felt the metal of the phaser tip against her temple as strong arms moved to surround her chest and pull her back, making her heart jump-start and the adrenaline run through her. She’d had one job, and she’d messed it up. This just proved it: her obsession with Dade was going to get them all killed.
Arden moved her head slightly to the side in an effort to look at her captor.
The boy wasn’t that much taller than she was. He wore the same grin she’d seen in all the news-vids, his shaggy dark hair pointing every which way. She may not have ever met him in person, but she knew him. She was positive this was Rylick, Dade’s first cousin.
Wasn’t that just perfect?
She looked to her own cousin. Colin kept his body loose, his hand near the phaser at his side. Not quite reaching, not wanting to cause Rylick to react, while watching for an opening to move. He sent Arden a desperate look.
She blinked, and frowned. Trying to reassure him, but accepting that it was her fault. Not wanting him to make a move that would get him shot.
“Phasers on the ground,” Rylick said. When they didn’t immediately comply, he pressed his phaser harder into Arden’s head. “I’m not messing around. I’ll splatter her brains all over this room.”
Niall was the first to comply. He placed his phaser on the ground, then slowly stepped back with his hands open and raised at his sides. Reluctance was evident in each movement. Colin stood still as if he wasn’t going to obey. He frowned, looking around for a better option. Then, at a pointed look from Niall, he copied Niall’s surrender.
At that moment, Arden realized Uri wasn’t standing in the open. She had no idea where he was, but the fact that he wasn’t in the line of fire gave her hope.