Page 180 of The ARC Unit: Breach

“No,” I whispered.

He looked at my face, then my arms. “You sure?”

“I’m fine.”

His attention dropped to the case.

“That his?”

I nodded.

“Yeah.”

Bear’s eyes stayed on the case for another second before returning to my face.

“Raven needs it.”

“I know.”

He looked back toward Keller and then toward me. “Get it to him. Stay out of the rear lot.”

I nodded again. On the way back through the loading corridor, I passed the third room. The door stood open now. There were fourteen women inside. Some were already wrapped in warming blankets. Others sat along the walls waiting while medical worked through the rooms in order of severity. One woman had a plastic hospital bracelet around her wrist with a name that did not match the missing-person file held by the German officer beside her. Another clutched a pair of shoes to her chest as though someone might take them again if she set them down.

The cheap dresses, bags of makeup, forged passports and cut-down photographs made the room’s purpose obvious. Cerberus was preparing the women for another move, changing names and appearances before sending them somewhere else. The rooms behind me had shown what happened while they were held here. This one showed how they were turned back into cargo.

A woman entered one room with her own clothes and name. By the time she left the last one, somebody else had chosen what she wore, what passport she carried and where she would be sent.

Raven met me at the side door instead of making me return all the way to the command van. His face was pale beneath the headset.

“Keller?”

I shook my head while Raven closed his eyes for a beat before looking back at the case.

“That came from him?”

“Yes. He put it in my hands.”

“On purpose?”

“Yes.”

Raven looked toward Wolf, who had returned to the building and was speaking with the senior German officer near the corridor.

Wolf did not look at us.

“Come on,” Raven said.

We took the case to the command vehicle. Raven photographed it before touching the latches.

“Any chance it’s trapped?” I asked.

“Always a chance.”

He called Bear over before opening it. Bear checked the exterior, seams and handle, then gave Raven a short nod.

“Nothing obvious. Open it away from your face.”

“Comforting.”