Colby Justice Read online

  “Once we’re inside,” Penny ventured, studying the blurred, reddish images on the computer screen, “you’ll know where we are as well, right?” She wasn’t that familiar with thermal imaging, but it made sense if the body heat of the enemy could be detected hers and Steele’s could be as well. To some degree, the idea that the rest of the team would know their whereabouts was comforting.

  Steele shook his head before anyone else could answer her question. “We’ve taken precautions to ensure no one can see us.”

  “Just in case,” Jim put in, “the enemy has a thermal imager, too. That’s the one precaution we can take in advance.”

  Penny felt her brow furrow in confusion. How was that possible? All living bodies exuded heat. “What do you mean?”

  Lucas pointed to the suit she wore. “There’s a material built into your suit as well as the headgear in your pack that blocks your body heat from being picked up by a scan. Once you’re ready to go inside—” he gestured to Steele’s duffel “—you’ll put on the necessary headgear. You’ll be completely invisible to them and to us as far as thermal scans go.”

  If the situation hadn’t been so dire, she might have actually been impressed. At the moment she was simply grateful for the cover, she decided, determined to maintain some measure of optimism. Dying on her first assignment definitely wasn’t on her agenda. “I’ve always wanted to be invisible.”

  “We’re counting on the two of you,” Jim said, his voice as weary and worried as his expression. “This could very well be the only chance we get.” He opened his mouth, hesitated, then said, “Good luck.”

  More offers of good luck were called after them as Penny followed Ben to the rear exit on the first floor of the temporary command center.

  Before exiting the building, they donned their winter coats, more for not drawing attention to their strange attire than for comfort. Anyone they ran into might very well report seeing such bizarrely dressed pedestrians at this time of the morning.

  As they stepped outside into the cold winter air, Penny wondered how the suit could block their heat signatures but didn’t do a whole hell of a lot for keeping them warm against the frigid Chicago temperature. Even with a coat and gloves she was freezing. The shoes were not designed for the snow and ice, and the soles of her feet and her toes chilled almost instantly. She breathed deeply of the cold air. Gathered her strength and courage.

  She would need every ounce she possessed to do this right. Years of therapy and determination had marginalized her irrational fears of the dark and tight spaces. She could do this. She had to do this. The job was far too important to her to screw it up on the first day.

  Fate had one hell of a sense of humor. Her first assignment was all about darkness and cramped quarters.

  “We’re taking the long way around,” Steele told her as he led the way along one of the city’s most well-known thoroughfares. “We’ll cross the street farther up the block and then cut along the alleyway. We’ll access the Colby building through the basement of the neighboring building. I’ve prepared the entry point.”

  They’d gone over the strategy twice. She understood that stealth had to be a priority since there was no cover of darkness at this hour of the morning. Waiting for nightfall, hours from now, was out of the question. As Jim had so aptly pointed out, every minute they lost was one that might cost Victoria’s life or the lives of one or more of the others being held against their will.

  The structure next to the Colby Agency building housed commercial office space, employees were already arriving but she and Steele would blend into the harried crowd. Not attracting attention was a must.

  As he said, Steele had already been in the basement and spent hours achieving the essential modifications. But it wasn’t until Penny was in the basement facing the new opening in the three-feet-thick concrete support wall that separated the underground floor of the two buildings that she understood exactly what he’d accomplished in those long hours before her arrival. The Colby Agency had ensured none of the building’s maintenance crew entered the basement by warning that the problem with the adjacent building was being assessed from the area.

  Clearly noticing that her jaw had dropped in surprise, he gestured to the small rectangular hole in the wall a couple of feet up from the floor. “This is our way in,” he said drily. “Our only way in or out.”

  She visually measured the width of his broad shoulders, then surveyed the opening once more. “Could be a problem if we’re in a hurry to get back out.” Her throat closed, making it impossible to draw in a deep breath. The opening was damned small…but only three feet to the other side, she reminded herself. Not a problem. She could handle wiggling through.

  “Once we get beyond a certain point, if they detect our presence—” Steele retrieved his headgear from his backpack, prompting Penny to do the same “—chances are we won’t need to get out.”

  Chapter Two

  Inside, 9:05 a.m.

  Ben Steele waited as Alexander snaked her body through the small opening he’d managed to sculpt out of the concrete wall separating the basement level of the building they’d entered from the one next door—the building that housed the Colby Agency.

  Several hours had been required to slowly, carefully ease through the separating wall. A combination of low-impact charges and special mining drills had done the job an inch at a time without detection by the enemy. Every vibration had had to be measured precisely to ensure as little noise as possible.

  The slightest sound could have warned the enemy.

  Once Alexander’s feet had disappeared, Ben shrugged off his coat and dropped it to the floor next to hers. He pushed his backpack through the opening and then positioned himself to slide through the fifteen-by-twenty-inch passageway. He canted one shoulder to fit. Tight as hell but not impossible.

  His palms flattened on the concrete floor of the neighboring basement. Alexander was already on her feet and waiting for his next order.

  Ben walked his body out via his hands and pushed up to a standing position. He tapped his mic twice to inform those listening back at the command center that they were in. Via Ben’s earpiece, Ian Michaels passed along that every glowing image of the enemy remained on the fourth floor.

  That was good news.

  After positioning an upright, wheeled tool chest in front of the opening by which they had entered, Ben moved to the far side of the massive room and pointed to the ventilation duct that ran upward from the enormous portion of the HVAC system housed in the basement. Another section was secured on the roof. Ben had removed an access panel to the return duct on his previous visit, but then he’d repositioned it so as not to draw attention. He removed the panel once more while she watched. Since he hadn’t secured it fully, removing it was quick and easy and surprisingly soundless.

  Alexander moved up beside him and surveyed the one entrance available for reaching the upper floors without using the stairs or the elevators. The main trunk of the heating and cooling system’s return duct.

  The return ductwork’s main trunk was very nearly the same size as the one carrying the heated or cooled air. However, the maze of piping for the climate-controlled air branched off into numerous flex lines taking the heated or cooled air to the individual rooms of each floor. The return, on the other hand, remained large enough to maneuver as well as having more than one branch off to each floor that was equally sizable enough to use as an exit or entrance. Here, in the basement, an access point to this main trunk was provided for maintenance purposes.

  Ben had attempted to make the journey alone, but certain parts of the intricate and narrow metal path made maneuvering upward without assistance out of the question. Unfortunately, accessing this metal tunnel required a certain flexibility not possessed by most with the needed physical strength and endurance.

  Ben possessed that flexibility because of his former occupation. He’d spent more than a dozen years rescuing those trapped deep beneath the ground or under tons of eart
hquake rubble. He could contort his body in ways that were definitely not natural. Though he was six feet in height and weighed a solid one-hundred-seventy pounds, he was utterly lean. Every pound was muscle, trained to bend and contract with ease.

  Penny Alexander reportedly possessed a similar physical ability. According to Michaels and Ruhl, the woman was an incredible gymnast. She certainly had the body for it, Ben noted, his gaze roving her frame. The insulated suit she wore left no room for speculation. It clung to every lean line and sculpted curve.

  She turned her palms up, those vivid green eyes letting him know she’d noticed that he was sizing her up and wasn’t particularly happy about it. Her eyes were all that was visible of her face with the full face and head covering that worked much like a ski mask but was made from that same special spandex.

  He ignored her questioning look. There was no time for explanations or playing etiquette games. He reached into his backpack and removed the magnetic climbing holds. After a moment of hesitation, likely to banish her frustration, she did the same. Pulling his pack onto his chest rather than his back, he then gripped one hold in each hand and gestured into the metal tunnel’s opening. She would go first.

  With a nod of comprehension, she moved into position. Taking care not to make any more sound than necessary, she pressed the round, magnetic surface of each climbing aid to the smooth, metallic wall inside.

  Using body language and other noiseless methods of communication as much as possible would be essential since there was no way to know how or when the enemy would be monitoring a particular area of the building. Though the security system was of no use to those at the command center across the street, there was no way to be certain to what extent the enemy had access.

  Slowly, Alexander scaled her way into the narrow space. When she’d moved upward far enough, Ben followed. Reaching the first floor wasn’t a problem. It was the bizarre turn and then the ten-to-fourteen-feet incline, depending upon where they were in the building, that presented the dilemma. A ninety-degree angle combined with the climb going up or the drop going down made the task undoable without assistance. He could reach the angle, but he couldn’t move past it without a climbing partner. The opening was too narrow for anything besides his body. There wasn’t a millimeter to spare.

  Alexander would need to move beyond that point and then literally wrench him past it. He hoped like hell she was as strong as she claimed to be; otherwise, they had wasted their time.

  And that of those inside.

  He had briefed her on every aspect of the journey. She felt confident she could accomplish each physical task. He hoped that would prove the case.

  There was no margin for error.

  The soft glide of their bodies over the metal was very nearly soundless. Each time either of them settled their magnetic climbing assists onto the surface of the metal wall there was a pause in the whispering glide followed by the more distinct contact of the magnetic handholds. Small tap, extended slide. Over and over the rhythmic sounds echoed around them.

  Ben’s forward movement stopped as Alexander reached the first ninety-degree angle. She pushed her backpack through first, then pulled and wiggled her way through the narrow opening.

  When she’d cleared the angle, Ben moved into position, his head even with the opening. The seemingly endless tunnel widened at the point beyond the angle. On each floor, there would be such an angle and then a wider spot. A perfect place for a breather after the push to get him through this particular sharp and treacherously narrow turn in the metal tunnel. And before making the upward climb.

  Shifting the weight of his body to one hand, he passed his backpack through the opening. Twenty or so seconds later, she threaded a rope to him. A powered lift would have negated the need for a partner, but the requirements to work optimally with metal would have generated far too much noise and ultimately too much risk of being overheard. This was the only option. He wrapped the rope she’d sent his way around one hand, then passed her first one magnetic climbing assist, then the other. His respiration escalated as nothing but the rope held him in place. He attempted to provide as much assistance as he could with no way to obtain reasonable purchase with his hands or feet on the slick metal walls.

  His head and shoulders cleared the opening. A blast of air hit him in the face. Whenever the heat kicked on, the necessary air to fuel the push would flow through this metal tunnel. Alexander had positioned herself as a lever, feet planted against the wall on either side of her for added support. She pulled hard, the shaking of her arms a warning that she struggled to tug his weight through the tight squeeze. He hoped her strength held out.

  Metal pierced the suit and the skin on his right side. The sensation startled Ben. The next drag on the rope ensured that the penetrating object tore through his skin. He gritted his teeth. He couldn’t make a sound, couldn’t stop. He had to reach the next point.

  One more hard pull and he scooted past the angle. He low-crawled onto the horizontal surface and allowed his muscles to relax. Mentally inventoried the injury as he attempted to reposition himself so that he could inspect the damage.

  Alexander relaxed as well, allowing her visibly quivering muscles to melt with relief.

  Ben removed a glove and checked his side with his fingers. Warm, sticky fluid. Blood leaked from the suit. He bit back the oath.

  “We have a blip on the thermal scanner in the vicinity of the first floor,” Michaels informed him.

  Blood wasn’t the only thing leaking through the suit. Damn it! Body heat was showing up on the scan. Adrenaline seared through his veins as he tugged the glove back into place.

  Having observed his movements and then heard the same report in her earpiece, Alexander reacted. She slid her body over his, ensuring the main portion of her torso covered his injured side. Then she tapped her mic three times in question.

  The seconds ticked off with Ben holding his breath.

  “Clear,” Michaels responded. “No movement above.”

  To Alexander, Ben whispered, “You’re going to need to patch this before we move forward.”

  It would be impossible for him to get into the needed position to attend to it himself. Taking the risk of speaking directly into her ear, no matter how softly, was one he’d had no choice but to take. The flow of air helped camouflage any sound, but that wouldn’t last longer than a few minutes. Still, being caught on a thermal scan was by far the more likely and dangerous scenario, since it would alert the enemy not only to their presence but also their precise location.

  When she hesitated, he added, “There’s tape in my pack.”

  Alexander nodded, then dragged his backpack to her. She sifted through the items inside, dredging up the special tape needed to seal the rip in the shielding suit. She located the injury and quickly applied layer after layer of tape over the wound. The pressure she applied sent pain shooting down his leg and up his side. Just his luck to have something as stupid as this happen right off the bat.

  He’d ignored a hell of a lot worse than this. All he had to do was focus on the goal.

  When Alexander had moved up alongside Ben, Ian reported via the communications link, “The blip has disappeared.”

  They were in the clear…for now.

  “How bad is it?” Alexander asked, her face close to Ben’s ear, her voice scarcely audible above the drone of airflow.

  He wanted to shake her for speaking when, in his opinion, it wasn’t absolutely necessary. He would survive. Truth was, the injury stung like hell. He could feel it continuing to ooze blood inside the suit. Since he couldn’t see it, he wasn’t sure just how bad it was. He shrugged and, though she might not be able to see the movement very well, they lay against each other so she’d definitely felt it. He turned his face toward the dark tunnel ahead and jerked his head in that direction.

  Time to move.

  She hesitated but only for a second.

  Even in that slight hesitation he felt the fear radiating off her in waves. T
hat worried him…or maybe it was just the idea that her body was practically wrapped around his and she was trembling.

  The forward movement along the horizontal portion of the route provided the needed time to rest his tense muscles. And allowed for some physical distance from his new partner. A few more feet and the straight-up climb would begin again. She would go first with a boost from him, then she would provide the needed hoist for him to achieve that same goal.

  Three more floors to go.

  Ignore the burn…ignore the pain.

  There was no way he could stop for anything other than a life-threatening injury. No turning back. The lives of those inside depended upon the success of this mission. Having the police rush in would no doubt result in casualties. This had to be achieved covertly and quickly.

  Ben focused on covering the distance directly in front of him. Alexander’s soft breathing and her soundless forward movement helped keep his mind off the pain. Mostly he stared at her shapely legs and rear end. What could he say? They were right in front of him. His eyes had adjusted to the degree possible in the near absence of light and maybe he couldn’t actually say that he could see her form, but he’d gotten a good look before they’d climbed into this dark hole. His memory and too vivid imagination were providing a stream of sweet details. The woman was all sleek curves and lean lines.

  Just a little farther and they would be at the second floor.

  “Two enemy personnel are headed down the eastern stairwell.”

  Ian’s warning in their earpieces caused both Ben and Alexander to freeze.

  The enemy was headed down. If they’d seen that blip of heat on a thermal scanner…

  They would know they had company.

  They would know he and Alexander were in the building.

  Chapter Three