Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Sam ran up to me with the guard in hot pursuit. When he looked through the broken doors, he yelled what I’d been thinking. “What the fuck happened here?”
That caught the attention of a man and woman with clipboards, who were in the lobby. They turned to us with matching frowns as the man snapped, “You can’t be here. This is a crime scene.”
Sam put his hands on his hips. “Who the hell broke in, the Tasmanian Devil?”
The woman answered, in all seriousness, “That’s what we’re trying to determine. Do you work in this department?” When I nodded, she came over to us and waved away the guard. Then she asked, “Are any of the materials in the archives rare or valuable?”
I had to swallow the lump in my throat before I could get the word out. “No.”
“The journal might have been,” Sam said.
That got her attention. “What journal?”
“It belonged to Dr. Frank Mercanti, and it was sent here by mistake,” Sam explained. “It was picked up before lunch yesterday by the Men in Black.”
Her frown deepened. “By who?”
“You know,” he said, “a bunch of dudes with dark suits and sunglasses, SPAM IDs, and gold-level clearance.”
She made a note on her clipboard and asked, “Who knew about the journal?”
I answered that one. “Dr. Silverton, several of his colleagues in SPAM’s science division, and Edward Rosselin.”
She raised a brow. “The CEO of Synergenics Technologies?”
I nodded. “He’s Dr. Mercanti’s son. We went to him yesterday to try to authenticate the journal.”
“Before the Men in Black swooped in and snatched it,” Sam added.
“I see.” She made another note.
I asked, “What time was the break-in?”
“Our security system went down around midnight, so sometime after that.”
“Wasn’t there a guard on duty on the main floor?”
She looked annoyed. “He was found asleep on the job and couldn’t recall anything after about eleven p.m. What time did you leave for the day?”
“We both left around eight,” Sam said. “Was the guard asleep, or knocked out?”
“That has yet to be determined.” She made another note on the clipboard before telling us, “You should go home. You won’t be able to enter the archives for at least a day or two, while we process the scene. But give me your number, in case we have any questions.” I recited my phone number and took one last look at my destroyed department before Sam and I trudged back to the elevator.
Neither of us said anything until we were outside. Then Sam turned to me and asked, “Are you okay? You look dazed.”
“It was so bad. Did you see how bad it was?”
“I’m just glad we weren’t there. Whoever broke in must have been seething with anger to trash the place like that.”
“It had to be someone with superpowers, don’t you think?”
“Oh, for sure.”
“Do you think Rosselin sent someone to break in and get the journal?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him. He definitely seems like someone who takes what he wants. Plus, you’d need a lot of resources to break into a secure building like that, which he obviously has.” Sam put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Come on, Andy, let’s get you home.”
I started walking and muttered, “We’ll never be able to clean up that mess and put it all back together.”
Sam gently adjusted my course, so I was headed in the right direction. “That’s a concern for another day.”
After a while, he asked, “Where do you think the Men in Black took the journal?”
“Someplace a lot more secure than the archives. Good thing too, or it probably would’ve been stolen last night, and…”
My voice trailed off when a black panel van screeched to a halt in the street. As the side door slid open, we both stopped walking and looked around. Most of the people on the sidewalk were dressed like they were on their way to work—except for a pair of big dudes in black leather, who were hurrying this way.
I didn’t think that had anything to do with us—not until another guy climbed out of the van, and we locked eyes. His attention was so focused that it left no doubt he was here for me, or for us. I grabbed Sam’s arm and blurted, “What’s happening?”
“Nothing good.”
“So, what do we do?”
Sam was watching the two men, who were also totally focused on us and closing in fast. He pushed me behind him as he said, “I need you to run like hell while I fight them off.”
“I’m not leaving you behind!”
My heart was pounding, and fear and adrenaline surged through me as all three thugs closed in. One of them ran at us, and Sam punched him in the jaw, hard enough to send him reeling.
In the next instant, someone grabbed me from behind and started carrying me into the street. He was twice my size, so even though I was struggling wildly, it made no difference.