He wondered idly if that was to minimize employee distractions or to ensure no one outside the building could see in and steal information, since corporate espionage was so prevalent.
“Okay.” Seth motioned to one set of curtains. “A hallway divides this floor into two sections. Jared, you and your team will find what you seek on this side of the hallway. Red Team, we’ll handle the other side. Green Team, take the elevator at that end”—he pointed—“down to the second floor and follow the diagram Henderson sent you. I hear no activity in the hallway up here, so you’re good to go. Remember, we’re trying to do this without triggering any alarms or drawing unwanted attention. Rafe, summon me if you need me.”
Nodding, Rafe grabbed a cart and led Seong-Su and Amani from the conference room.
Seth turned a stern look on Jared. “Stay focused. Keep your team safe. Find out what you can. I’ll keep you posted on Tessa.”
Face grim, Jared left with Cliff, Ashley, and Tyler.
“That’s a powder keg waiting to explode,” Bastien muttered.
Melanie bit her lip. “Jared led such an isolated existence before joining the Immortal Guardians. I don’t think he’s ever been in a situation where a friend’s life has been in danger before.” She looked at Seth. “Has he?”
Seth shook his head. “The last friend he lost was me, millennia ago, and he was too pissed at me for defecting to care.”
Bastien grunted.
“Let’s go.” Seth headed for the open doorway.
Melanie, Bastien, and Darnell followed.
Grabbing the cart of cleaning paraphernalia, Sean pushed it after them with Nicole at his side.
They exited into a large, shared community space. A long, curvy sofa slithered through the center. White tables of varying heights and widths appeared in pockets here and there, with chairs or bar stools pulled up to them. One wall was curtainless glass and offered a view of the parking lot. A carpet of live plants adorned a second. A third was glass like the first and revealed a hallway beyond.
Seth led them out into the hallway. Another shared community space or lounge lay on the opposite side. In its center, a round, glassed enclosure offered a patio with several tables and chairs. Large potted plants proliferated beneath open sky where there ordinarily would’ve been a ceiling.
“Mental note,” Sean mumbled, “if we need to make a hasty escape, the lounge’s access to the roof is an option.”
The other immortals nodded.
The rest of the hallway bore stark white walls without windows. Both the floor and ceiling were white, too, lending it a clinical feel that the more colorful lounges had lacked.
When they reached the lab door, Seth paused and eyed them all. “Secure all employees. Sedate them if you have to. If any fight back, try not to kill them. We aren’t here for that. We just don’t want them sounding the alarm.” Tugging his ID card off his shirt, he swiped it through the card reader. A click sounded as the door opened a crack.
Seth pushed the door open.
Sean and Nicole held back, allowing those posing as doctors to enter first. When he followed, Sean found himself in another white hallway, facing a wall of windows interspersed with glass doors. The door up on the right opened onto a sizable lab that reminded him a little of Melanie’s at network headquarters. At least half a dozen people inhabited it, some bustling about with harried expressions.
The bulk of their research is being conducted inside this larger lab. Tessa is being held in a smaller lab beyond it on the far right, Seth told them telepathically, drawing their gazes to a solid wall beyond the researchers. Bastien, Melanie, and Darnell, join me in the primary lab. Sean and Nicole, take care of anyone you find in the other rooms. Once you’re done, Nicole, I want you to return and guard the main door. Sean, join us inside.
The primary room held another electronic lock. Seth swiped his card. As soon as he pushed the door open, Melanie began to talk.
“All I know is he told me to get my ass down here as quickly as possible,” she said.
Bastien offered a disgruntled, “He told me the same,” as they entered.
The doctors inside turned at their entrance.
A woman with graying red hair pulled back into a ponytail exhibited relief when she spotted Seth. “Albert. It’s about time you got here.”
The man beside her scowled. “What the hell took you so long? And who are they? Do they even have clearance?”
The glass door swung shut behind Seth and the others.
Sean turned his cart and strolled down the hallway with Nicole. Scuffling erupted behind them.
Thanks to the hallway’s glass walls, he could see inside each room before they reached the doors. The first narrow lab they passed boasted two long white desks, many shelves, and medical equipment similar to Melanie’s.
No one inhabited it.
A woman wearing a white lab coat, blue gloves, and safety glasses occupied the next. Her dark blond hair twisted up into a messy bun, she focused on removing liquid from a beaker with a pipet and depositing samples into a series of tiny tubes. Catching movement from the corner of her eye, she glanced over at them, looked away in dismissal, then spun back to frown at them.
Sean pushed the door open. “Hi. Where’s the vomit?”
Her expression blanked. “What?”
Stepping inside, Sean made a show of examining the floor while Nicole entered behind him.
“Hey. You aren’t allowed to be in here,” the woman said belatedly.
He nodded. “We’re just here to clean up the vomit. Someone called and said they wanted it mopped up ASAP. We’ll leave as soon as we’re done. Where is it?”
“No one vomited in here.”
Sean propped his hands on his hips and frowned. “This isn’t the… what was it he called it… the catamaran lab?” He looked at Nicole. “I know the word I’m looking for isn’t catamaran. But now that it’s in my head, I can’t stop thinking it. What did he call it? Whatever it was started with a C.”
Nicole feigned thought as the door swished shut behind them. “Catalytic converter?”
“No. That’s a car part.”
“The one they keep mentioning thieves targeting on the local news?”
“Yeah.”
The woman made a huffing sound of irritation. “Look, there’s no vomit in here. If you don’t leave, I’ll have to call security. Who even let you in?”
Sean turned back to her. “I think his name was Al.” The name on Seth’s ID card read Albert. “I’m pretty sure he said we were supposed to go to the catalytic something.”
“Catalyzing growth lab?” she suggested.
Grinning, he snapped his fingers. “Yes! The paralyzing growth lab.”
“Oh brother,” she muttered, and pointed. “It’s two doors down.”
Nicole turned to Sean. “By the way, now might be a good time to tell you I’m a sympathetic vomiter.”
“Come again?”
“I’m a sympathetic vomiter. If I see or smell vomit, my gag reflex kicks in and I puke my guts out.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No.” She sent the woman a hopeful smile. “Maybe I could wait in here with you while he cleans it up?”