Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Of course, he was confident that not many people would have preferred his life’s pursuit of car chases, explosions, shootouts, sketchy meetings in bars, and lonely cabins in the middle of nowhere. But then, to each his own.
After the third office, he reached a cross-section where the row of cubicles opened into an aisle on his right and a new hallway to his left. He took the hallway, passing the restrooms on the right, until he reached a door on the left marked “security.” How convenient!
He knocked on the door and then switched his watering pail from his right hand to his left. As the door opened to reveal a stern-looking man with a buzz cut and grizzled features, he palmed his stun gun from his pocket.
“There’s nothing to water in here,” the guard barked as soon as he got a look at Justin’s uniform. He was closing the door again when Justin stepped forward, blocking the path of the door.
“What—”
He didn’t get any further. Justin thrust the stun gun into his gut and pressed the button, delivering intolerable pain to the man. The guard cried out and dropped to the ground, twitching and jerking in agony.
“What the fuck! John?” called a panicked second voice.
Fuck indeed. They’d not planned on there being a second person within the security room. He wasn’t positive there was enough of a charge to take out a second large man. When he’d tried out this new model of flashlight and stun-gun combo, he’d only used it on one person before charging again.
As the second guard stepped over to his coworker, Justin brought the watering can down hard on his head and then delivered a second hard blow to his temple, using the base of the stun gun. The man staggered backward into the room, but he wasn’t out. Justin rushed him. Grabbing a handful of his uniform, he swung him around and slammed him headfirst into the door. It wasn’t pretty, and the thud was louder than he’d wanted, but the man collapsed, unconscious.
Justin turned toward the various monitors and located the guard stationed in the lobby. He was still staring at his phone. Apparently, there was some damn good soundproofing for the call center, because the man hadn’t heard a thing.
Digging into his bag of tricks, he quickly wrapped blindfolds around each man and then secured their arms and legs with zip ties.
Without even looking at his watch, he knew he was running late. The second guard had cost him precious seconds. He should have already started taking down the security system, because Gabriel should already be reaching the top floor. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
He dropped into one of the chairs positioned in front of the keyboard. There were six monitors spread out in front of him, flashing different parts of the surrounding grounds, the parking garage, and various parts of the building. He saw everything except the labs in the other building, but he was willing to guess that the laboratory building had its own separate security system.
And he was really praying they didn’t have to go over there, because he was pretty damn sure they wouldn’t get out alive. Now that the guards were tied up, he guessed they had a matter of minutes before someone checked in with the security room, and he couldn’t count on faking his way through that encounter.
Gritting his teeth, he forced his brain back to the task at hand. He knew computer programs, and he was damn good with security systems. He’d designed a few over the years, and the majority were incredibly similar in how they were laid out. The first task was to end all forms of recording and erase everything that had been stored already that day. Both he and Gabriel were wearing gloves, and now the video cameras had lost their images. If they were lucky enough to get out alive, there was currently no trace of who they were.
He then switched gears and started shutting down the different layers of security that locked the doors, beginning with the eighth floor. Each minute, he would work his way to the next floor. By the time he reached the fourth floor, Gabriel was supposed to be hitting the sixth and Elba’s office. When he reached the ground floor, Gabriel was supposed to be hitting the first floor and they were leaving.
When Justin hit the fifth floor, he noticed Gabriel’s lithe form jogging along the hall from what looked to be an executive office to the elevators. He was also running a bit behind, but it was a relief to see that no one appeared to be pursuing him. The bag he had slung over his shoulder looked a little heavier, and his watering can was missing, but it didn’t matter. Unless Gabriel found what he was looking for, he was moving to the sixth floor.