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Despite the punishing pace, she kept up with him, short, explosive breaths the only giveaway that she was pushing herself to keep up. Finally, they reached the upper level and scurried along its length, backs pressed to the wall where the shadows were the deepest and they were least likely to draw attention.
Relief flooded his body when his hand found the cool metal of the exterior door. He hit the red button, and the door released, swinging inward.
He shepherded Jo back outside, the bulky steel door sealing shut behind them with a reverberating slam. Blinding sunlight assaulted his eyes as they adjusted from the dim interior. Griff sucked in a breath, filing his lungs with cleansing salty air, a welcome contrast to the cloying stench of diesel within the submarine bay.
A car drove past, but they were still wearing the blue coveralls they’d found inside, so the driver didn’t give them a second glance. No alarms shattered the quietness of the day.
It was easy to remedy that. “Wait.” He stopped Jo with a tug of his hand as he dropped to one knee and lifted the compact laptop free of the backpack. He wedged it open, keyed in a few digits.
“What’re you doing?” Jo hunkered down beside him, her eyes full of questions.
“After I went to all the trouble of hacking their security, I think they might like a trial run of the tsunami warning system.”
He hit the space bar. For a second, nothing happened. Then a slow, sonorous wail started up, building in intensity and volume. Griff grinned at her surprised face as he stuffed the laptop back into his pack and hustled her back to the van. He yanked open the driver’s door and practically threw Jo inside. She scooted over and he took the driver’s seat, glad he’d left the key in the ignition in case they had to retreat in a hurry. One less thing to worry about.
On the small hill above them, sunlight glinted as the main reception doors opened, flashing light against his eyes. The alarm wailed relentlessly, ripping through the quiet of the day. Confused looking people spilled out from the building, some shrugging on jackets, others hurrying toward the parking lot.
Griff started the engine and forced himself to drive slowly toward the exit gates. Nothing to see here. Just two nobodies doing their daily nothing.
Jo pulled at the collar of her coveralls and popped the top button. Color flushed her cheeks. “I don’t think I’m cut out for subterfuge.”
“I think you did brilliantly.”
She gave him a weak smile. “Now you’re just humoring me.”
“When I give you a compliment, I mean it.” His voice was gruff.
He accelerated up the hill, beating the base staff to the exit as they evacuated, sure the steering wheel was going to splinter under the intensity of his grip.
“Griff.” Jo’s eyes were wide as they approached the gates.
“We’re going to be fine.”
The gates were wide open. No sign of the two guards. They’d probably split, pissing their pants as soon as the alarm sounded.
Griff cruised through and sped up the mountainside, trying not to take too much pleasure from the extensive stream of vehicles exiting the base. Open road stretched out before them.
“Did we really just do that?”
He turned to face Jo, all smiles. “I think we fucking did.” He handed her his phone. “Leo’s in my contacts. Scan those documents, send them to him, and let’s see what he and Eli make of them.”
“Sure.” She dug the documents out of her coveralls and smoothed them over her lap, her beautiful face serious with concentration.
Minutes later, the phone rang. Jo attached his phone to the magnetic holder on the dash.
Leo’s deep voice filled the cab. “Eli’s looking at the paperwork right now. Dare I ask where it came from?”
Griff grinned at Jo. “Jo is with me right now. We just left the sub base in Skarsvag.”
“Impressive.”
“We found shipping crates marked with the name Pharmasyn,” Jo explained. “They’re bringing in shipments from Alaska and then shipping them by stealth submarine to a manufacturing plant in Hellisheiði.”
“There’re covering their tracks...” Leo swore under his breath. “Jesus… Hang on…”
Silence filled the small van cab, and the only sound was the hum of the tires on the blacktop. For a moment Griff thought the line was broken, that the jagged teeth of the mountains rising around them had cut them off.
“Holy fuck,” Leo swore, as he came back on line. “I knew I’d heard it before, even when Fox mentioned it months ago. I didn’t take it any further because the case against Raptor was progressing nicely…”
