She put her hands on her hips, her multiple layers of sweaters under her windbreaker making her arms look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Okay, so maybe she’d overdressed a bit, as indicated by the sweat rolling down her back. “Let’s check this path, and if we don’t find anything in a half hour, we’ll turn around.”
He nodded, but his pale face and huffed breath indicated he wasn’t fully on board. At least he followed her through the narrow opening that led up. Just…up.
The rain intensified, and the trees provided minimal shelter from the deluge. She was soaked four layers deep.Pathwasn’t the correct term for their route. This was the definition of off-grid. No markings or any kind of directional signs. No signs of human life. Just some trampled earth that indicated hikers had at one point headed off the beaten path in this direction. Were they going to find anything on this deserted mountainside? And how long would it take to get back to civilization, anyway?
They trekked on without talking. Her labored breaths rattled around in her ears.
A buzzing sound stopped her dead in her tracks. At her abrupt stop, Josh bumped into her.
“What was that?” Dani whispered. But in the quiet of the mountainside, it sounded like she had a megaphone.
“Sounds man-made. Like electricity.”
Her heart beat double time. This was it.
The mystery compound.
They crept through the branches and bushes. Adrenaline fueled Dani’s feet, despite the ache in her calves from the mountain hike. She swept a tree limb out of her way and spotted a chain-link fence in the clearing below them, complete with razor-sharp barbed wire across the top.
“Whoa.” Josh took his camera out of the bag and began filming. “What is this place?”
They ducked down and watched the valley below. They were far enough away to not be spotted, but Dani didn’t trust that one crackle of a tree branch underfoot wouldn’t give away their hiding location.
At least they were higher than the camp and could see directly into it. Behind the fence were several buildings, camouflaged in brown and green colors. One of the huts was three times the size of the others, with what looked like steel doors and solid walls.
“Whatever this is, it can’t be good.” Josh stood beside her, surveying the scene below. His breath was heavy. From exertion or fear?
Dani couldn’t respond. All she could do was take it in.
She’d found her story.
Movement inside the compound caught her attention. Two men in army fatigues came into view with M4 assault rifles slung over their shoulders. They dragged a man through the courtyard and into the middle of the compound.
Even from a distance, Dani could see the gray-haired man stumble, his once-white shirt tattered and stained with…blood?
“Get a close-up of their faces.” A third man exited the building. “Especially that guy.” Something about the man made Dani’s insides quake. He walked with an air of authority and barked orders to the other two men, although she couldn’t hear what he was saying. But the man was definitely familiar. She’d examine the footage later.
One of the men opened the door to the main hut and dragged the prisoner inside, but not before Dani got a good look inside. “Josh, did you see that stack of weapons? Did you get a picture of it?” A rack of rocket launchers and guns along one wall.
Josh nodded, his eyes wide. “Who are these men?”
A knot tightened in the pit of Dani’s stomach. “They may be part of a rebel group known as the Sons of Revolution. But that’s a lot of firepower hidden in the side of a mountain.”
She needed to get back to civilization in time to report her findings. With any luck, they could be on the air for the morning East Coast news.
Leaves crunched, and Dani turned to watch Josh back up ten steps, his eyes wide and his hands trembling around the camera. “I can’t…we shouldn’t be here. We’ve got enough footage. We need to leave.”
“Wait. We need to see what’s going on. Get more evidence. We need to stick together. Just thirty seconds more?—”
Josh set the camera on a rock. “You stay. I’m leaving. With or without you. I’m not risking my life for a story. No job is worth this. Admit it, we’re in over our heads.”
A chimney puffed out white smoke—more like an industrial smokestack than a cozy fireplace.
A chill raced through Dani, and it wasn’t because of the Alaska temperatures. According to Skye, SOR had been testing a biological weapon designed to poison food and water supplies. Fish and other animals in the area had died when exposed to the toxin. Skye’s team had helped shut down SOR’s base camp, had even destroyed their warehouse along with most of the toxin, but the toxin had to have been made somewhere.
Was that what was going on behind those walls? And why hadn’t the FBI shut this group down?
She turned to tell Josh they needed to run in just a few seconds, but he was gone.
