Page 55 of Ghost

The last thing I saw before the heavy door sealed was Gavin coming across the gap.

The second man kept the gun on me while Len dragged me down the corridor. The fake inspector. That was why Len had looked so sure of himself out there.

With his weapon on me, fighting would’ve been foolish. And it would prevent me from seeing where we were going. So I stopped trying to break free and started leaving Gavin a path, because I knew he’d find a way through that door with me on this side.

At the first junction, I let the clipboard drop. Len was moving too fast to care. On the next split, I dragged the toe of my boot through the dust and left a line toward the passage they took. Near the last doorway, I hooked two fingers through a bright orange range flag on the wall bracket and pulled it down as we passed.

They all added up to a clear route through the unfamiliar interior. One that I had no doubt Gavin would recognize and follow.

They pulled me into the admin office. The binders I had requested were stacked on the worktable like a gift. Locked cabinets containing the rest of the older records lined one wall. The other door opened to the prep bay. That was where they took me.

Stolen company cases were stacked around the center support. Product that should have been in secure storage, piled in a work bay like kindling. A rugged black hard case was strapped low against the steel.

The fake inspector shoved me toward a workbench bolted to the floor. I fought when he reached for my wrists, but it didn’t do any good. The restraints closed around them anyway.

I yanked once, and they held. So I looked at Len and asked, “Why my records?”

Len almost looked tired as he shrugged. “You were convenient.”

“Because I was twenty, and my father owned the company.”

“Because people were already waiting for you to make a mistake.” His mouth twisted into a snarl. “Your own father questioned your counts. Clients were ready to believe whatever I put in front of them.”

“But then I started pushing for two-person approvals.” If my counts had been verified by someone else, Len wouldn’t have been able to use them for cover anymore.

“Once every adjustment needed a second signature, I couldn’t keep changing your reports and walking product out the door.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal that he’d admitted to stealing dangerous materials from my family’s company. “Your first jobs were easier to sell as sloppy. Keep treating you like a girl who didn’t know better, and nobody looked at me. It was easier to believe than theft by a trusted senior employee.”

My anger ratcheted up a notch. “The fundraiser was supposed to make everyone think I couldn’t do the job and hide one last load.”

“One big enough that this all would have ended there,” he confirmed.

“Then you burned the records and put a device under my truck.”

His face hardened. “Because you kept digging.”

I barely bit back my retort when he crossed to the hard case and opened it. A digital timer and triggering unit were mounted inside. I could read the display from where they positioned me.

Len armed the device, and a five-minute countdown began. While the fake inspector checked the rear service door, Len took a remote out of the case and put it in his pocket.

I looked from the timer to the pyrotechnic cases stacked around the support. If that charge blew, everything in this bay would go with it. The binders, stolen inventory, equipment, and physical evidence would all burn with the structure.

But that wasn’t the most horrifying part. “You’re leaving me in here.”

Len met my gaze, and there wasn’t an ounce of regret in his eyes. “You cost me everything.”

The gunfire outside sounded closer. “Gavin will reach me before you clear the property.”

“That’s the point.” His smile turned ugly. “He comes inside for you, I get something back.”

That was why the device had a dual-detonation system. The remote would allow him to trigger the device as soon as Gavin entered, and the running timer ensured the building would still explode if he didn’t get the chance to trigger it himself.

As a few other guys piled into the bay, the fake inspector jerked his chin toward the rear. “Vehicle’s waiting.”

The other guys headed through the rear door first, Len right behind them. After the door slammed shut, I heard an engine start and then move toward the old maintenance trail.

I pulled hard against the restraints as the timer continued its countdown. Another burst of gunfire erupted behind the building, and the utility vehicle’s engine revved. Then I heard the loud crash of metal somewhere outside.

Although I couldn’t see what happened, the sound told me the rear escape was no longer going according to plan. But that didn’t mean I’d come out of this okay. The vest I was wearing wouldn’t save me from the blast.