SauraCorps, page 11
Kam glanced around the corner. “With how successful Arrowsmith’s been, you’d think he would’ve smelled a rat by now.”
Viv followed him down a set of stairs. “Wait, Beaumont brought us our bags, what if she’s the—”
“And went WWE on my head, remember?”
“Well, if she is the one, she wouldn’t want her cover blown—”
“She opted to spike my head like a friggin’ volleyball.”
Viv chuckled at his analogy as they came to the bottom of the stairs. “Sounds like your ego got bruised, too.”
“Perhaps.” Closing in on the creature containment room, Kam checked the hallway up and down. “And the coast…seems to be…clear.”
They dashed across to the damaged doorway. Simply sneaking through the opening where one of the doors used to be, they kept their steps as silent as possible. As they shuffled past cages of all sizes, some prehistoric creatures made groans while others chittered.
“Hope these guys don’t give us away.” Viv kept an eye out for Arrowsmith’s men. “Are we close to it yet?”
“I don’t see it in this bay.” Kam led them past a barred enclosure which held an ankylosaur. “Hey, it’s a club-tailed dino.”
“Gawk later.” Viv pushed him on. “Find the dinosaur we need first.”
In one of the cages near the end, a full-grown therapod sat on the floor with its head and tail curled toward each other.
Viv noted the name written on a whiteboard attached to the outside. “This is the one, right?”
“Mega… Yep, this is it.” Kam hurried over to a keypad, pulled out the burner phone, and dialed. “We’re ready to ‘Lost World’ this dino.”
“Good, wait….” On the other end, Sebastian paused. “‘Lost World’?”
“The Jurassic Park sequel. The evil dudes have dinos locked up and Vince Vaughn shows up with bolt cutters to let all the dinos loose—”
“Not the time to explain movie plot points.” Viv rushed over to her boyfriend’s side and stared at the buttons. “What’s the code?”
Sebastian heard her through the device’s tiny microphone. “It should be zero-four-one-eight—”
“What do you two think you’re doing?”
Kam and Viv turned around.
Dr. Beaumont stood about ten feet behind them.
She pointed a loaded gun at the teens. “Don’t make me ask again.”
“Guess that answers your question,” Kam directed at Viv. “Listen, Dawn, we were—”
“Did you really think I would take my eyes off you?” Dawn kept the weapon raised while scolding them. “Get back to your room, now.”
Sebastian could only hear parts of the dialog. “Who is that? What’s going on?”
Viv made shallow breaths as she grabbed onto Kam’s right arm. “She’s right, we should go—”
“No.” He forced down an apprehensive lump in his throat. “We’re going to see this through.”
Just as surprised as Viv, Dawn’s eyes flared open even more. “Don’t be stupid about this.”
Leaving his girlfriend’s side, Kam stepped toward the veterinarian. “Viv and I are doomed either way, right? Be a part of Blake’s plan, he kills us. Try and stop him while we’re here, he’ll still kill us.”
Viv couldn’t believe his sudden moment of brazen courage. It reminded her of when he’d challenged Emily-Ann a year ago. “Kamren, why—”
“Back away, Kam.” Dawn tightened her grip on the gun. “This doesn’t have to get—”
“If we die trying to stop Arrowsmith, then we’ll die doing the right thing.” Sweat formed on his face as he stared down the barrel of her semi-automatic. His next step brought his forehead to the muzzle. “So just do it already.”
“Kamren, stop it!” Terror coursed through Viv as she reached out while her legs stayed fixed in place. “Don’t do this!”
Dawn hardened her stare. “Listen to your girl—”
“Get it over with,” Kam whimpered as a tear streaked down his left cheek. With the gun still against his head, he barely shook his head side to side. “If I can’t live a life with her by my side, then there’s…no life worth living.”
Behind him, Viv faltered in keeping her weeping discreet. Hearing his words made her heart swell and shatter as if it’d been hit by a bullet.
On the handle side of the gun, Dawn slowly opened her mouth, but couldn’t form the words to say in return.
Tilting himself forward, Kam closed his eyes as he sniffled.
Dawn’s forearm twitched as she whipped her gaze side to side.
“Cover your ears.”
Shocked, Kam opened his eyes. “What?”
Dr. Beaumont repeated what she’d whispered. “Cover your ears.”
Dropping the phone to place his palms over his ears, Kam lowered his jaw in disbelief. “The heck are you—”
KA-BLAM-BLAM!
Viv jumped back a step as the bullets struck the keypad. Looking back at the woman, she remained absolutely speechless.
“You….” Kam lowered his hands, though his ears still rang a bit. “You… You’re….”
Taking advantage while the stunned teenager stood there, Dawn snatched the phone from the floor. “Hey, Sebastian.”
“Beaumont!” The SauraCorps owner spoke with relief. “Are Kam and Viv all right?”
“They’re alive, but a little shaken up,” she reported, slipping the handgun into the back of the waistband of her pants. “But the mission is still a go.”
“YOU….” STILL coming to terms over a couple of bullets blasting off beside his head, Kamren couldn’t move. “This whole freaking time?”
Leaving the cage bars behind her, Vivienne managed to pull herself toward her alive boyfriend. “Kamren, are you okay?” Then she gave Dr. Beaumont a wild glare. “After everything you’ve put us through—”
“I’m sure my apologies won’t be able to cover it all.” Dawn held the phone back out to the teenage boy. “Things had to go a certain way to make it convincing.”
Viv placed both of her hands on Kam’s shoulders. “So naturally, you had to tranq us and beat him up.”
Aware of the gunshots bringing possible attention to their position, Dawn inspected all around them. “With Arrowsmith watching my moves, I did what I had to.”
“Riiiiiight.” Kam eventually grabbed the phone. “You didn’t choose the dino-spy life, the dino-spy life chose you.”
“Hey!” A voice called out into the containment room. “Who’s shooting?”
As the two teens and veterinarian united in silence, they looked back toward the imprisoned dinosaur.
Awakened from its nap, the prehistoric creature peered down at the humans with inquisitive, reptilian eyes.
“Megalosaurus, huh?” Fascinated by its stature, Dawn opened the cage door all the way. “Zero-four-one-eight-nine is the full code. Let’s go open some more.”
* * *
Three of Arrowsmith’s people began sweeping through the ship’s inner room. Rifles up and loaded, they checked on each of the animals along the way. At the midway point, they came upon smaller cages and crates lined up back-to-back in the middle.
“You sure it was gunshots, Dockery?” one of them asked.
“How much you guys wanna bet it was Andrew?” Dockery laughed, shaking her ponytail as it poked out the back of her black ballcap. “Probably picked off one of the compy’s, since one of them nipped his ankle—”
RRRROOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!
The hulking megalosaurus sprinted forward.
Before anyone could take aim, the dinosaur rammed its head into one of the operatives. It snagged another by their tactical outfit with its front teeth and whipped them upward into the metallic ceiling.
Dockery dropped to the floor to avoid detection. She ducked behind some crates and scrambled for her walkie-talkie. “Code: Orange, I repeat, Code: Orange! One of the assets is out of….”
She glanced over at the half of a doorway.
A pack of five turkey-sized velociraptors scurried through it.
Further down, a pair of pterodactyl infants nudged their cage door open, crawled onto the top of their enclosure, and stretched out their wings.
“Dammit.” She hadn’t taken her thumb off the Push-To-Talk button. “We need more hands on this. Multiple assets are….”
Dagger-like teeth entered Dockery’s left peripheral view.
The megalosaurus brought its scrutinizing eye closer.
Recalling her facial details and specific scent, it recognized her as part of the earlier crew which had ‘welcomed’ it with tranquilizers and electric prods.
Therefore, it viewed her as a threat.
Dockery’s chin trembled. “Oh God. The megalosaurus is—AAAAUUUUGH!”
* * *
“Hopefully that keeps them busy for a while.” Dawn led the teens up to the top level.
Kamren stayed behind Vivienne, making sure she’d be safe. “What exactly are we trying to keep them busy from?”
Heading down the hall a few steps and over to a window, Dawn placed a hand on the wall while gazing out. She cursed under her breath. “Less movement among the boat is generally better once we get to this point.”
Viv subconsciously shuffled toward the next window down. “Are those clouds supposed to look like that?”
“Clouds?” Kam strode over to see for himself. “Like funky animal shapes, or….” As soon as the sky came into view for him, he held his breath.
“Are we….” Viv slipped her hand into his. “Is it what I think it—”
Letting go of her hand, Kam marched over to the nearest access to outside.
Dawn started after him. “Kamren, we need to stay inside.”
Before she could finish, he’d already stepped out.
A decent gust of wind ruffled his hair.
Above, purplish and reddish hues glowed among the cloudy atmosphere. Fierce bolts of crackling electricity shot all around, glowing, dissipating, then sparking to life all over again. It formed an ominous wall from the water’s surface up to the stratosphere.
In absolute awe of the phenomenon, Kam barely took his eyes off it when Viv joined him on the walkway.
“It’s like someone infused a sunset into a thunderstorm,” she remarked, sucking in a deep breath as she took it all in. “Then doused them with steroids.”
Dawn remained at the door as she called out to them. “Pretty soon it won’t be safe out here. Come on back—”
“What is this?” Kam didn’t look back.
Streaks of lightning zig-zagged all directions along the mass of daunting cloud.
With her hand on the railing, Viv shivered as her arm hairs stood up. “We’ve seen electrical currents like those before.”
“But this….” Dumbfounded by the breathtaking yet threatening stationary storm, Kam slowly raised a pointed finger. “This is way…way bigger.”
Against her own judgement, Dawn joined them. “The world knows about the Bermuda Triangle, but few have actually visited it.”
Her words registered in Viv’s ears. “Excuse me?” She pried her gaze away to give Dr. Beaumont haphazard glances. “That is the actual…Bermuda…Triangle?”
Dawn nodded. “We’re approaching one of its borders, actually.”
“Also known as ‘The Devil’s Triangle’,” Kam brought up, alarm overtaking his matter-of-fact tone. “Perfect place for someone like Arrowsmith.”
BLAKE ENTERED the vessel’s cockpit with exasperation in his step and expression. He stomped straight over to his attentive navigator. “Ashbury, mind telling me why we’re slowing down?”
She did her best to hide her fear. “Assets are loose on the ship. You know as well as I do, if there’s too much activity—”
“We managed to subdue the megalosaurus earlier and people are on their way to do it again,” he snapped back, barely connecting his gaze with hers.
The turbulent spectacle ahead had captured his full attention.
“There’s more running free than just the mega—”
“Then I’ll order kill shots.” Blake had already taken his phone out. “Keep us on track, Heather. Timing is crucial at this point.”
A text message from Felipe popped up:
She’s in position.
He stepped away from the semi-reluctant navigator, focusing on the smartphone’s screen. Rubbing his tongue over the sharp ridges of his molars, he zoomed in on a map with tense fingers. Timing is everything.
* * *
Beer in hand, Sebastian reclined on a stool at his kitchen island. He’d been waiting for further instruction from Blake for longer than he’d expected.
Felicia popped a cork out of a wine bottle. “Are you sure there’s no other way?”
Sebastian closed his eyes as he took another swig. “He’s always been an absolute pain to deal with.” He tilted the head of his beer bottle at her. “Remember trying to work out old SauraCorps deals where he was involved?”
“Oh God. He’d claimed he did more work and deserved more of the cut.” Felicia lingered on the red wine’s berry and leathery aromatics. “I bet you he owed everyone a billion favors, and he always got away with it.”
“Which is why…” Sebastian brought the bottle’s top to his lips, but didn’t sip. “…no matter what, I can’t let him do any more harm.”
Felicia sat in the stool beside him. Once she’d set the wineglass down, she layered her left hand over his. “I’m horrible at this, but….”
Sensing a worry in her voice, he shifted on his seat. “Felicia, I will do everything I can to talk him down.”
“And if talking doesn’t work?”
“Then….”
She pierced her fretful gaze into his eyes. “Then it becomes a possible suicide mission, and I can’t—”
“You’ll be fine,” he responded with a hopeful half-smile, though his voice gave away his own qualms. “In case anything happens to me, everything will be taken care of. Aiden and Olivia…they’re still growing to love you.”
“And you expect me to be fine looking after all of this?” Glancing to the French doors which opened up to a patio, she could see long-necked dinosaurs off in the distance. “I’m already overwhelmed as it is.”
“It will all be looked after.” He rubbed the top of her hand before kissing it. “If what I’m about to do saves you, the kids, and the dinosaurs…then so be it.”
Plucking a napkin from the center of the island, she wiped her ruined mascara from under her eyes. “Seb, we’ve only just started this…” She wagged her hand back and forth from her to him. “…and I can’t lose you like….”
Buzzzz. Buzzzz.
Overcome with tears, Sebastian whispered an apology before wrenching his gaze away from his distraught partner.
One of his own employees had been calling.
Phone to his ear, he spoke. “Hey, Carson, uh… can I call you back?”
“Are you inside?”
Sebastian wiped his blurred eyes with his sleeve. “I am, but I—”
“Oh my—everyone, get down!”
Felicia heard the shout through the phone’s mic.
Already off the stool, Sebastian started for the kitchen doors. “What the heck’s going on out—”
KER-SMASH!
Wood splintered and shards of glass sprayed inward.
Felicia shrieked as Sebastian fell backward to the tile floor.
A bulky, humming piece of tech had barged in.
ZEEUU-ZEEUU-ZEEUU.
“Dammit.” Sebastian tried to pick himself up, but his hand slipped on a fragment of glass. “He made me a sitting duck in my own—”
ZEEUU-BWOOOOM!
Space-time energy teleported him away.
Frazzled, Felicia feared the whirring drone. It had taken the man she’d grown to love with such power and ease.
Gone in an instant of time.
The drone powered down. It crunched into the tiles where Sebastian had once been. Engine hums faded as lights flickered on and off until they finally expired.
“My God.” Felicia stepped toward the hunk of immobilized machinery. “Blake’s really doing this.”
MOLECULE BY molecule, Sebastian teleported to a rubber-matted floor. Still on his back, he glanced all around. Is this his ship? After checking his left, he looked over his shoulder.
Teeth sat inches from his face.
An unconscious megalosaurus took labored breaths.
Scrambling back to his feet, he nearly bumped into the barrels of multiple rifles.
“Jeez.” Sebastian put his hands right up to show his compliance. As he noticed certain facial details on each of the personnel, he began recognizing each of them from files he’d scoured concerning Arrowsmith’s operations. He also recalled their bank statements. “Listen, guys, whatever Blake’s paying you, I can more than double—”
“Not even here a full minute and you’re already trying to bribe my men?” Blake came from behind his guards and approached his old workmate. “Money isn’t the only thing that…encourages people to work for me.”
As Sebastian’s adrenaline subsided, he glanced back at the tranquilized megalosaurus. “Seeing as you kidnap people, guess I wouldn’t put anything else past you.”
Blake laughed with sinister foreboding. “If I remember correctly, you used to be fairly proficient at living among gray lines.”
Letting his hands sink to his sides, Sebastian made a subtle nod to himself. “Until I realized gray lines are the lies that help us sleep at night.”
About to retort, Blake simply twitched the corner of his mouth up for a split-second.
In response to the tell, Sebastian flicked an eyebrow up. “Still waking up at three AM screaming out her name, then, huh—”
THWACK!
Blake’s fist came through like a bullet.
Dazed and back to the floor, Sebastian grumbled before spitting out a gob of blood onto the rubber mats.
After straightening his suit, Blake crouched and slung an arm under his former friend’s armpit. “Come along, old friend.” He began leading him off whether Sharpe’s legs wanted to work or not. “I’m sure we’d have a thrilling conversation over ethics, but I wouldn’t want you to miss the show.”
