Nicole stared.
“Is that Jared?” Sean asked beside her.
“I think so.” The elder immortal had altered his appearance enough that she hadn’t recognized him at first.
Instead of his usual six feet ten inches, he now stood at five feet nine inches or thereabouts. Crow’s feet marred the skin beneath and beside his eyes while deep lines bracketed his mouth. Adding to his aged appearance, a plethora of gray hair peppered his short raven locks.
“Shape-shifting is so cool,” she murmured.
Like Melanie, Jared wore slacks, an oxford shirt, and a lab coat. He also still wore a scowl, which she suspected wouldn’t go away until Tessa returned to her network apartment.
When Nicole led the exodus from the changing room, the woman waiting outside the door handed her a black elastic hair tie. Melanie and Bastien received the same.
Nicole finger-combed her hair back from her face and used the elastic band to confine it in a ponytail. “How do I look?”
Sean smiled. “Beautiful.”
Knowing he was biased, she turned to Melanie. “Doc?”
Melanie finished pulling her hair into a ponytail and moved to stand in front of Nicole. “Looks good.” She tidied the sides a bit. “What about mine?”
Nicole smoothed a few strands that wanted to poke out. “You’re good.”
Sean looked at Bastien. “Do you want me to pretty up your ponytail?”
The immortal black sheep snorted. “Anyone who doesn’t like my hair can kiss my ass.” He turned to the woman holding the hair ties. “Where’s the armory?”
“This way, sir.” Spinning on her heel, the woman strode away.
Several minutes later, Nicole stuffed multiple EpiPen-like autoinjectors full of human sedatives in her pockets. She would’ve preferred 9mms and extra mags, but they were supposed to go in quietly and attract as little attention as possible.
When the woman caught her gazing longingly at the semiautomatics, she smiled. “Don’t worry. You’ll have two carts loaded with cleaning materials. Each will also contain hidden compartments that house a substantial arsenal should you need it.”
Nicole smiled with relief. “Here’s hoping we won’t.”
More team members joined them.
Darnell was notably absent. Perhaps he was already hard at work, knocking down firewalls or whatever security the facility’s servers had in place with a network hack.
Nicole shot the breeze with the others, focusing on Rafe and the four new-to-her network employees who would accompany them. Knowing your team was always a good thing. You worked better as a unit when you did.
Rafe asked them how Nick and Kayla were holding up. Nicole liked him. He seemed genuinely furious that someone was targeting his friend’s stepdaughter.
Personality-wise, the four network employees were what some would’ve deemed computer geeks, but they sure didn’t look like it. Instead of the stereotypical pasty complexions and scrawny or doughy bodies often bestowed upon nerdy types in movies and TV shows, these tech geniuses bore trim, athletic builds and toned muscles.
Perhaps the network in North Carolina wasn’t the only one that required all employees to exercise and train in self-defense to keep their bodies at optimum performance in case an emergency should arise.
An older man entered, interrupting their chitchat long enough to stand each one up against a white wall and take their picture.
The woman from the armory brought in a basket full of walkies and handed them out.
Jared paced. “What’s the holdup?”
Tyler, one of the tech wizzes, watched him curiously. “It takes a little while to reproduce fingerprints and apply them. It isn’t something you can rush.”
The other techs—Seong-Su, Ashley, and Amani—launched into an enthusiastic explanation of scanning and re-creating fingerprints using gelatin, a topic that fascinated Nicole.
Sean nudged her with his elbow. When she looked up, he smiled and whispered, “This is so cool.”
Grinning, she nodded and wished she were the one who got to use someone else’s fingerprints. She would love to see that entire process in action.
A man with graying blond hair suddenly entered. “Okay. Let’s do this,” he said in a familiar baritone voice that bore a British accent.
Her eyes widened. “Seth?”
He nodded. Thanks to his extraordinary shape-shifting abilities, his six-foot-eight-inch form now topped off at five feet eight. Narrow shoulders had replaced muscular ones. And his trim waist now bore a paunch that poked out between the lapels of his lab coat. His dark brown eyes were now blue and bracketed by lines and bags that hinted at years of too little sleep. Wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose.
He arched his brows. “Everyone ready?”
Answering with various affirmatives, they crowded around him.
“I’m going to teleport all of us to a temporary FOB that Henderson and his crew have set up. From there, I’ll drive to the facility in a car I borrowed from the doctor I’m impersonating and pass through security. As soon as I’m able to enter one of the building’s empty conference rooms, I’ll return to the FOB and teleport you and your gear inside. Any questions?”
Head shakes.
“All right. Grab a shoulder. I’d grab yours, but I’m trying to use my hands as little as possible because I don’t know how easily these false fingerprints will come off.” When he held up his hands, Nicole could discern nothing odd about his fingertips. Whatever magic Henderson’s team had worked blended in well.
Seconds later, they all stood inside a large army-green tent. Through the open entrance, Nicole spied dense, dark forest. Warm, humid air wafted inside, ushering in a few mosquitoes.
Grimacing, Nicole swatted one. Clearly, cooler temperatures had not yet reached the outskirts of Houston.
Tables laden with computer equipment lined the walls of the tent with diligent employees parked in folding chairs before them. Though she didn’t look to confirm it, Nicole knew multiple solar generators rested along the tent’s exterior, silently powering everything inside.
Many heavily armed, black-clad special ops soldiers filled the tent and mulled around outside the entrance. Henderson apparently wasn’t taking any chances with backup.
Striding into the tent, Henderson swiftly divided Nicole and the others into three teams. “Okay. I texted everyone the specs of the building. Rafe, Seong-Su, and Amani, you’re Green Team. Your job will be to copy every bit of data stored in their system and in the cloud on the other research they’re conducting. I want everything you can find on every project, no matter how benign or unrelated it may seem. We’ve used green to highlight the data entry point you should focus on.”
Rafe and his team members drew out their phones and stared down at them, nodding as he continued.
“That area of the building shouldn’t have much activity this time of night. Rafe will hear everything taking place on your floor and give you a heads-up if someone approaches. A tip for the immortals and others who have never used this sort of subterfuge: Act like you belong there and most won’t question your presence. If you’re posing as members of the cleaning crew and hear someone coming, your best options are to either engage in rabid gossip while mopping or drink a soda and look like you’re slacking off while you discuss last night’s football game. The first will generate disinterest. The second will—at most—spark disapproval, especially if you hurry to put the soda down and start cleaning as if you don’t want to get in trouble. Both will lead whoever sees you to dismiss you as employees.”