Using hand-signals, she told Kerry they were going to go past the door to the next stretch of wall, which also had windows, but not as many. By now, they were completely out of sight of Brian and River keeping watch up on the hill. They couldn’t risk a verbal message over their comms, but before moving on, Layla sent a high frequency squelch to signal that she and Kerry were secure and undetected.
Moving past the door—which was too close to the dining hall, even if they’d managed to get through it—they went down on all-fours once more and passed under the first double window on the next stretch of wall. They stopped there and listened. Their eyes met, and Kerry pulled out a small mirror on a telescoping wand. Expanding the wand to its greatest length, she slid it very slowly up over the window frame until it was even with the corner of the glass. Then turning it at a slight angle, they both studied what it showed of the room, which turned out to be a rather boring office, with cheap metal shelves against one wall and a closed door.
Retracting the mirror and tucking it into a pocket, Kerry stood very slowly until her eye level was where the mirror had been a moment earlier. When she’d dropped down next to Layla once more, she spoke in a barely detectable voice. “Office. Cheap furniture, piles of what look like pamphlets or handouts on metal shelves. Sakal’s not wasting his money on furnishings, that’s for sure. The room’s empty, door’s closed, but looks like it is used on a regular basis. There’s trash in the can, empty coffee cup on the desk, jacket on back of the door. The window’s very doable.”
Decision time, Layla thought. Could they risk going through the window? Did they have time? She wished she knew how long their dinner took, and if the meal was just a precursor to an evening brainwashing session. That was probably too much to hope for, but they wouldn’t need much time. They already knew what the cult was about, so they weren’t there to steal propaganda or financial data. Their only purpose was to get the lay of the building. That big dining hall, for example, took up a good third of the interior space, which meant they probably slept communally, too. The building was a single floor, with a pitched roof. It was possible some people slept in the attic, but space would be limited.
“We’re going in,” she decided, speaking softly. “I want to open the office door, get a look both ways, then get out. We’ll exit down this side,” she added, pointing to the far wall which they hadn’t covered yet. “I want to know if it’s all offices, or if there are bedrooms on this side.”
Kerry nodded, then stood and went to work on the window. The frame was weathered metal, not built to withstand the summer humidity or the long, cold and wet winters—more evidence that Sakal’s compound had been cheaply, and probably quickly, constructed. Kerry had the lock open and the glass removed in minutes. There was no screen, and the office was predictably warm once they got inside.
Neither of them bothered with the desk or metal shelves. They went right to the door and, with Kerry standing behind it, Layla twisted the knob slowly, then barely cracked it open. She stood and listened until she was satisfied that no one was near. Slipping her cell phone from a pants pocket, she widened the opening, stepped into the hall, and immediately began videoing the hallway from left to right. She was deeply tempted to hurry to the opposite end of the hall from the dining room, to grab shots of stairwells or cross hallways, but she’d no sooner had the thought, than a chime sounded from the dining hall and the persistent hum of people talking and eating cut off like a switch being thrown.
Knowing their time was up, she quickly stepped back into the office, closed the door, and signaled with a jerk of her head that it was time to make their exit.
Kerry was already moving. She was at the window and outside before Layla had the door closed and crossed the room herself. Once she was out, as well, Kerry popped the window back into place, but didn’t bother locking it. It would take too much time, and an unlocked window with no signs of intrusion was easily excused and forgotten. It wasn’t worth the effort or the delay.
Layla led the way down the rest of the building side, slowing at every window interval for a quick glance, then moving on. When they reached the end of building, they ran directly to the hillside with its covering greenery and began climbing, wanting to put as much distance between them and the building as quickly as possible.
They’d climbed a good seventy or so yards into the increasingly dense foliage before they stopped long enough to send another high frequency squelch to signal the others that they were out and safe. After that, it was simply a matter of time and a lot of scratched skin before they made their way back to the observation post.
When they returned, Brian gave them a relieved once-over. The op was done, everyone was back unharmed, and the enemy was none the wiser—the very definition of a successful infiltration.
“Pictures and vid,” Layla said simply, then glanced at the horizon where a brilliant sunset bathed the sky. “Let’s hang around until Sakal shows, so we can get photos and a time record. Xavier will want to see what we’ve got.” She handed Brian her phone. “Air drop my files to your phone, then upload to our private server once we get back. I don’t want this to be our only record.”
“You don’t trust the vamp?”
“Depends on what I’m trusting him for. Will he betray us? No. Will he think he knows better and try to leave us out of the action? Abso-fucking-lutely.”
And that finally brought a grin to his face.
Chapter Thirteen
THE SUN WAS BARELY an hour past setting when they arrived back at the Fortalesa. Layla knew the vamps would be awake, but not necessarily up and around yet. They had to shower and shave just like anyone else, and at least some of them would take the time to feed—especially if the food was in bed with them. She pictured Xavier sinking his fangs into some dark beauty sharing his bed, and immediately banished the image from her mind. The women he chose for food were none of her business.
“Even if he fucks them?” She ignored that stupid voice in her head, focusing instead on stripping off her clothes and stepping into a shower hot enough to wipe every thought from her brain. It would have been nice to linger, but she wanted to catch Xavier before he set anything in motion without the intel she and Kerry had secured that afternoon. She turned off the water, did a quick rubdown with a towel, then brushed out and braided her wet hair. Pulling some combat-style pants from her duffle, she realized it was her last clean pair. Damn it. She’d run out of clean clothes. That meant laundry. Ugh. When she reached for her socks, she was weirdly pleased to see several fresh pairs still waiting for her.
That’s what her life had come to since being back here—the joy of clean socks.
“Fuck. I need to get away from this place.”