Chapter 158
Conrad POV
I went straight to bed last night. Didn’t even change despite being in the same clothes for so long. I mustn’t have realized how bone tired I was. I wake in the morning still feeling stiff and head to the shower. I just stand under the hot water, letting it burn away the grime and fear building in my chest.
She was so close. I was so close. To hold her again. To scent her again. To have her as mine again.
I walk downstairs and see all three men around the dining room table eating breakfast. They have clearly been to a local bakery and grocery store to buy a whole heap of stuff. Mine is on the counter even though the coffee is lukewarm now.
Liam looks at me while the others keep their heads down. “Morning. You sleep OK.”
I keep my answers short. Not in the mood for conversation. “Yeah“.
“I wanted to ask something. I’m assuming you have tried mindlinking her like I have. It should work if she is this close, right?“.
“Yeah, but whoever has her has managed to block it somehow. Jace said he can feel the bond is stronger, but it’s like she’s behind a metal wall“.
I stride up to them and I look at the table to see a map of the area. “So, what are you doing?“.
Eli and Aalto look at Liam, and he just rolls his eyes.
“We think we have a way to get an exact location on her whereabouts without getting too close to the facility holding her. Essentially, you and I go for a drive on the freeway around the city, and at each exit, we call in the degree on the compass it points to. Once we make the loop, all the directions should converge in one location. Eli can then go over as a bird and see if he can get any intel, and Nightstalker can check out the business“.
I think for a bit, and it’s a good idea. That way, we get information but are still far enough to not
alert them.
“When do we leave?“.
“I suppose as soon as you’re ready“.
I skull the coffee and walk over to get my coat. Liam gets up and follows behind me. As soon as we are in the van, we connect the phone to the Bluetooth and head off. The whole journey should take
about an hour.
The entire car ride we do in silence, except for me rending out the degrees the compass points as we circle the city.
As soon as we got back to the house, I jumped out of the van before it fully stopped and ran in. I had already dialed Nightstalker, who was on standby, and put him on speaker.
“Do we have a location?“.
Alto reply. “Yeah, and I looked up the addres
Serenity Medical Lab“.
I can hear the clicking coming over the phone from Nightstalker using his keyboard.
“There’s not a lot of information about the background of the company. Even the board is secret. Just mentions anonymous supporters. Employing around 2000 employees and boasting to be the innovation of longevity. All very vague promises about vitality and internal energy, but nothing
specific“.
Eli stands and is leaving to go out the back door. “Guess I will go do a fly by“.
I keep talking to Nightstalker. “Keep looking. I want everything and more specifically building plans and where in the building she might be held“.
Aalto quickly jumps. “Also, how does their fire alarm system works?“.
Liam and I just look at him, confused.
“I’m going to need water if I’m going to be useful. Most sprinkler system pumps out 5 litres a minute, but are also linked to fire departments. If we can set it off for the water without alerting the fire department, we will have the advantage“.
“Do it, Nightstalker. I will call back at 6pm.
“Before you go, boss, I had another idea. I have been playing around with AI videos. I could make one and send it to the media, so hopefully the enemy will think you’re miles away and not up the
road“.
I think quickly. “Do it. I told the pack that I was in the forest, not far from the territory, Lewana has a cabin up there, so say a hiker spotted me or something“.
“Will do. And he hangs up“.
the clock refuses to move at a
The next eight hours are brutal. Time seems to be our enemy as reasonable speed. We put on movies and play cards to try and make time go faster. We are all jolted when my phone rings. It’s a night stalker.
“I’m sending all the information I have. Also, a preview of the video, Going to send it tonight so it
will be in the media tomorrow morning“.
I connect my laptop to the portal projector screen and flick through the information on the wall.
Nightstalker could hack and disable the automatic emergency notification, but we would need to start a fire. It should be easy with a Phoenix, though. It backs onto a forest, so it would be easier to hide the van nearby and sneak in on foot. There is a section of the building that requires high–level access and has much stricter protocol, so she is likely being held there, but we can use the compass to check. The downside of the compass is that it won’t show what floor she’s on, so we will have to clear each floor if she’s not there.
Eli eventually comes back. I look at the clock and it’s 10pm.
“Where the hell have you been?“.
He just shakes his head at me. “Checking out the building. In the daytime, it is packed. They seem to operate in two shifts, probably starting around 6am, and most have left by 9pm. That is when it is just the night staff. From the people who arrived after 8pm, it’s about 50 total. That number probably drops to 40 after midnight as some where clearers“.
We stay up the rest of the night developing a plan. Tomorrow at 1am, we strike.
