Lauren (Keegan's Chronicles Spin Off) (23 page)

Lauren let him pull her up, but turned immediately to Anna. “Please. Please tell me you’ll go home. I couldn’t stand it if you were hurt. Or worse.”

“I’ll stay,” Anna said firmly. “
But
, if it looks like we can’t get it contained before Friday, I’ll jump on a plane.”

Relieved, Lauren relented. “Deal.”

“Do you know exactly
where
they plan on releasing the virus?” Audrey asked Galen.

“I do, but we need to thwart the plan before it gets that far.”

“Where?” Lauren insisted.

“The Metro.”

She groaned. “That place is already a hotbed of sickness. It will spread like wildfire.”

Galen nodded. “Exactly.”

“So we need to steal the virus back,” Lauren said thoughtfully. “Do you know where Tristen is keeping it?”

“No idea. But I’m sure I can get the info with a little mind control.”

“Let me know as soon as you find out,” Lauren told him as she followed him to the door. She touched his arm. “Be careful.”

“You, too. Tristen thinks you’re gone on the road trip.” He shook his head in disgust. “That idiot really thinks everything is okay between you two.”

“We are
more
than through.” Lauren shuddered.

Galen’s face broke into a slow smile. “I’m glad to hear that. I’ll get back to you tomorrow, hopefully with the location of the virus. I’ll need your help to get to it.”

“Of course. Anything to stop those loons. Thank you for coming here.”

“I have to say, I thought you would be pissed at me for messing with your mind.”

Lauren waved her hand dismissively. “You had to or break your cover. You did the right thing by coming to me. We’ll sort this out. If anyone is to blame, it’s me for falling for the jackass.”

He laid a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself. The only people at fault here are the extremists and their movement. If they hadn’t used you, they would have found another way.”

“Thanks for saying that,” Lauren murmured.

Galen pulled open the door and slipped out into the night.

Chapter 27

T
he next day, warm, late afternoon sunlight spilled through the windows, making Lauren feel groggy and comfortable, despite her inner turmoil.

She lay facedown on the couch, trying not to think of how many people could die if they didn’t stop the release of the virus. No matter how she looked at it, the whole thing was her fault. If she’d been strong enough to stand up to Tristen, if she hadn’t given in and disabled that security system, they wouldn’t be in this situation.

Her cell phone trilled on the coffee table. Without lifting her face from the throw pillow, she fumbled for it. “Hello?”

“Lauren, it’s Galen.”

Adrenaline hit her and she pushed up to her elbows, brushing her hair away from her face. “Did you find out anything?”

“Yeah, I did.” He sounded smug. “I’m coming to get you. Two hours.”

Her heart beating in her throat, Lauren said, “I’ll be ready.”

“Keegan and Anna were
not
happy,” she informed Galen as she slid into the passenger seat. She was surprised to see him in a run-down Chevy pickup full of dents, complete with a rusty bumper. It wasn’t what she’d expected.

Galen shifted into first gear and pulled away from the curb. “We’re going to be sneaking in under the radar. It’s bad enough trying to get two people into a secure building. Four isn’t gonna happen.”

“That’s what I told them.” She watched out the passenger window as they moved into an industrialized area. “Where is this place?”

He shot her a look, passing headlights reflecting off his eyes. “Tristen’s office.”

Lauren burst out laughing.

Galen watched her, amused, until her laughter petered out into giggles. “What’s so funny?”

“The
entire
time I dated Tristen, I always wanted to know about his job. Where it was, what he did. And now that we’re over and he’s a psychopath, I finally get to see the place.”

They passed the rest of the drive in tense silence, both of them lost in thought. Galen signaled to turn left, and they turned into an office park. He slipped the truck behind a dumpster. The glass office building, several stories tall, stretched before them.

In the silence after he shut off the engine, Lauren asked, “Are we going inside?”

Galen shook his head. “No. We’re headed for an outbuilding—file storage.”

They got out, and Galen tugged a flashlight out from under his seat before shutting and locking the doors. “This way,” he said, motioning with his head.

They didn’t see another soul, or any other cars. They crossed the dark asphalt, bypassing the office building and heading for the sidewalk that ran alongside it.

“What do they
do
here?” Lauren whispered, doubling her steps so she could keep up with Galen’s long strides.

“Nothing legal, I’m sure,” he answered quietly. “I’m in the dark about a lot of it. I know they move goods—importing and exporting. Maybe stolen property, maybe drugs.”

Lauren groaned. “Gods, I can’t believe I ever trusted him.”

Galen halted, turning to her with his face reflected in the beam of the flashlight. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. You couldn’t have known.”

“A part of me
did
know,” Lauren sighed. “But a bigger part wanted to ignore it—pretend he was perfect.” To her horror, she felt tears prickling the corners of her eyes.

“Hey, hey.” Galen flicked off the flashlight and stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her shoulders gently. “Shush now. You know the truth, and we’re going to fix this. Okay?”

Lauren pressed her face into the soft cotton of his Henley tee and nodded. “Okay.”

They stood like that for a minute longer as Lauren collected herself. She couldn’t help enjoying his scent—a mix of something masculine and something earthy, like sandalwood.

Galen stepped away, flashing her a smile as he turned the flashlight back on and pointed it at the sidewalk. “Let’s do this.”

Disabling the alarm system was laughably easy. Lauren barely put any effort into it at all and the alarm collapsed in her hands.

“Subpar equipment. It isn’t well taken care of,” she informed Galen, shaking her head. “People have no respect for electronics.”

Galen smiled and reached out to chuck her chin. “It’s cool that you do.”

Lauren flushed. “It’s my thing.”

He made quick work of the lock and, moments later, they were hurrying through the cool, dark interior.

“It’s supposed to be in room four-oh-eight,” Galen told her. His flashlight beam bounced off the walls. “In a cooler with a red lid.”

Lauren’s heart sped faster. “How are we going to transport it? I mean, isn’t it a really volatile virus?”

“It’s packaged well. No worries.”

Tucked in the back of the building, Room 408 had its metal “4” hanging upside down on the red door and its “0” was nothing but a circle of faded paint.

“Are you sure about this? It looks like no one’s used this room in a while,” Lauren hissed.

“As sure as I can be,” Galen answered honestly.

They pushed into the room. Galen moved the beam of light over it, illuminating a concrete floor and three white walls, completely empty except for a table and a big white cooler with a red lid.

Lauren exchanged relieved smiles with Galen. “You were right.”

“You want to do the honors?” he offered as they drew up to the box.

“I guess.” Lauren slid her fingers beneath the lip of the lid and pushed it open. Galen shone his flashlight into it.

It was empty.

She looked at Galen. “You said it was here!”

“It should be,” Galen said through gritted teeth. He slammed the box shut.

“Are you messing with me, Galen?” Lauren asked angrily. “Did Tristen send you to take me on a wild goose chase?”

“What? No! Of course not. If Tristen found out I was helping you, I would be as good as dead. I scanned the guard’s mind…” Galen fell silent for a moment. “They’re just being paranoid. Tristen must have told different people different locations.”

Lauren thought about that for a moment. It made sense. He had seemed hyper-paranoid lately. But that didn’t do them any good right now. With time running out, they couldn’t afford dead ends.

Pulling at the hem of her sweater, she looked at him with chagrin. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you. I know I’ve already told you, but I do appreciate your help.”

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s my job.” Galen leaned against the wall, and his eyes met Lauren’s. “For the record, I hated the way Tristen treated you. There were so many times when I had to stop myself from dropping that jerk to his knees when he raised his voice at you.”

Lauren felt her face flush. “I was an idiot.”

Galen took a step forward and touched her arm. Her body tingled at his skin on hers. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known. Tristen is very charismatic when he wants to be.”

“Still—by the gods, how could I have been such a fool?” She dropped her head and stared down at the floor, unable and unwilling to meet his eye.

Galen pulled his hand away.

She wished he had left it there. She felt safer with him near. His presence made her feel like maybe they
could
put a stop to the madness.

“We should get out of here before someone notices us,” Galen said.

“What do we do next?”

He sighed, brushing both hands back over his hair. He gestured to the door. “I go back to step one and find another location. It’s all we can do.”

Chapter 28

A
s they walked out of the storage building, a thought crossed Lauren’s mind. She came to a stop just outside the front door. “Galen, how is the virus stored?”

He scratched his head. “I think it has to be kept at 30-50 degrees, so it’s likely in a cooler.”

“A cooler like what was in that room?” She pointed back at the storage building. “Or could it possibly be in a fridge?”

His eyes lit up. “Lauren, you’re a genius. I would think a refrigerator. They wouldn’t risk messing anything up.”

She grabbed Galen’s arm and pulled him towards the office building. “I need a moment.”

Closing her eyes, Lauren laid both hands on the glass and cast her gift out, searching for electrical appliances. There were a lot: coffeemakers, toasters, microwaves, fax machines, printers, and dozens upon dozens of computers. Her mind scanned them quickly, disregarding everything but what she wanted. Finally, she narrowed it down. There were four refrigerators.

Her eyes snapped open. “We should go in through the front door.”

“That’s dangerous,” Galen argued. “We might be seen. I know you have the cameras taken care of, but there are still security guards here.”

“That’s when
your
gift comes in handy.” Lauren smirked. “If the guards think we
should
be there, it will give us more time.”

Galen’s lips twitched and the ghost of a smile crossed his face. “I like the way you think.”

“Ditto. Let’s go.”

They made their way to the front of the office building.
After all this time, I finally see where Tristen spends his days
, Lauren thought bitterly. The building looked so ordinary, just like any other banal workplace in the city. No one would ever think that, behind the double doors, someone was planning to destroy the human race.

“It’s a good thing Tristen never brought me to any of his work functions,” she spoke up. “They shouldn’t even know what I look like.”

“That’s true, but it could still raise eyebrows—me showing up after hours with a girl.”

“Oh, come on,” she teased. “You can’t tell me it isn’t something you do often. Bring girls to work to impress them.”

He laughed, but didn’t answer, and Lauren felt a completely unnecessary wave of jealousy.

Galen shoved the flashlight beneath the waistband of his blue jeans and covered it with his t-shirt. He entered his security pass-code and the door opened.

In the spacious, brightly lit lobby, two guards sat behind a semi-circular silver desk flanked by large potted palms. A sitcom played on a small flatscreen television, the canned laughter sounding tinny beneath the rotunda.