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“Okay, we need to go,” she said. “I just have to do one thing first.”
She knew it was risky, but if anything happened to her on the mission, she’d never forgive herself for leaving her family in the dark.
She sent a quick message on her comm: Mom, Dad, Ajay, I’m safe and I love you. I’m trying to get back to you soon.
“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
Levi squeezed her hand and gave her a compassionate smile, and then they were both out of the zoomer and sneaking off the landing pad toward the forest.
It was surreal being back here, knowing she was now willingly sneaking toward the very building that had resulted in her capture last time. Last time, though, she didn’t have Levi and his presence to ease her fearful heart. With him by her side now, her biggest fear was losing him.
When the facility finally appeared through the trees, Cora saw it was busier than last time. No doubt her ingenuous entrance had alerted them to the gaping holes in their security, and now guards were everywhere. It was still a front facility, though, and that meant no external lights. Nothing would give it away from afar that it was anything other than a regular industrial building.
This wasn’t just an advantage for the Jorvlens, though; it was also an advantage for Cora and Levi. They waited patiently, watching the guards’ movements. Though there were many of them, they seemed to be bored. Every so often, one would wander around the corner of an assigned post and talk to another guard.
Levi and Cora had to bide their time and wait for the right opportunity.
Finally, it came. A rear door opened, and a new guard exited the building, leaving the door slightly ajar. The guard that had been on duty there had already rounded the corner to chat with another, and the new guard had looked around before realizing it was empty and searching for the guard whose duty he was meant to relieve.
Levi and Cora didn’t even have to speak. The moment the new guard turned the corner, they were running toward the facility, their footsteps silent against the padded, mossy ground of the forest. They were inside within seconds, slipping through a dark hallway and down a stairwell.
They had another problem, though.
“Cameras,” Cora whispered, pointing down the stairwell.
She saw it was turned away from them, and if she played it just right, she might even be able to disable it.
“Wait here,” she whispered to Levi, whose bulk was a disadvantage for once.
Slowly, carefully, she crept toward the camera, crouching along the floor until she was right under it. A single cable connected the camera to a plug in the wall—the relay cable that fed the video back into the system and eventually to the surveillance room.
With a deep breath, she pulled the plug in the hopes no one would notice a temporary black screen. As quickly as she could, she plugged the cable into her comm, allowing her to access the whole camera network.
She figured they only needed an hour or so, and if she could just freeze all the cameras on their current frame, she might be able to buy them some time.
A few taps later, it was done, and again, Cora realized she’d been holding her breath for a while. She let out a deep sigh before plugging the camera back into the wall and motioning to Levi.
“Let’s go,” she told him. When Levi emerged from the shadows, Cora saw that he was grinning.
“You missed your calling as a private investigator,” he told her as they set off.
“It’s never too late, I guess,” she replied with a smile that matched his. “Need anyone for PAPS?”
Chapter 36
The sound of machinery reached Levi’s ears before it reached Cora’s, and he halted for a second to check which direction it was coming from.
“Last time you were here, did you go into the basement?” he whispered to Cora.
Cora shook her head. “They found me on the first floor, by the entrance, before I could look around much. On the first floor, I’m pretty sure it’s just electronics. The drugs must be somewhere else.”
Levi nodded. “They are,” he told her, before taking her hand and following the staircase down.
The further they went, the louder the machinery got until Cora could hear it, too.
“How did you know?” she asked as they rounded a corner.
“Lorr hearing,” he replied, checking to make sure no Jorvlens were ahead of them before they ran toward the sound. “It’s more sensitive than human hearing. Same with our sense of smell.”
