“Yeah, like a mad scientist.”
“This formula is beautifully simple.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Let’s just hope after all this hoopla, the damned stuff works.”
“Count on it.”
He let her work in peace, his muscles aching with the tension of the wait. Different noises came from the various equipment Ava was using, and then Max heard a low droning sound.
Tilting his head, he moved closer to Ava’s work space. “What is that?”
She flipped the switch of some vibrating machine and the buzzing merged with the low drone.
He drew his finger across his throat, and she stopped the machine. “What?”
“Do you hear that noise? Is that something you’re doing?”
She spread her gloved hands. “No.”
Suddenly the drone turned into a roar, and the building shook.
Max clutched his weapon and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling, which seemed to be vibrating.
A voice boomed over a loudspeaker above them. “Give it up, Duvall. Come out with your hands up or we’ll destroy that lab and everything...and everyone in it.”
Chapter Eighteen
Ava dropped something on the floor and it shattered.
His heart jumped. “You okay?”
“Yeah. What do we do?”
“I’m not surrendering to Tempest, not now, not ever.” He kept his weapon trained on the ceiling. “Get your stuff together. We’re out of here.”
“How are we going to escape? There’s a helicopter up there, and I’m pretty sure they have weapons—lots of them. Besides, I...”
He held up his hand. “I know you’re not ready yet, Ava, but I don’t want to hear it. You have to abandon the antidote. Put down the test tube and pick up the gun I gave you.”
The voice came through the bullhorn again. “We want to hear what you have to say, Duvall. Call the hotline. We’ll pick up from the chopper.”
Max reached for his phone, and Ava jerked her head up from pulling off her gloves. “What are you doing?”
“Buying time. I need to set our escape in motion, but I need you to pick up that gun and crouch down in the corner by the front door. Keep your goggles on.”
He punched in the number for the Tempest hotline, the line they used when they got into trouble. He’d never had to use it yet.
They must’ve patched the line through to the helicopter because someone picked up on the first ring and it was the same voice from the loudspeaker.
“That’s better, Duvall.”
“Who is this? Foster?”
“Does it matter? I’m Tempest. I’m authorized to speak for Caliban.”
“What do you want from me?” Max put the phone on Speaker and then crept to the boarded-up window in the back of the building, past Ava’s work area, where she’d been minutes away from saving his life.
The anonymous voice continued. “We don’t want to kill you, Duvall. You’re a valuable asset. Caliban thinks you’re the most valuable agent we have. Give yourself up to us and we’ll make sure Dr. Whitman gets out of here alive.”
Liars. He checked the wires he’d set up earlier and glanced at Ava huddled in the corner, one hand shoved into the pocket of her jacket, the other clutching a gun.
“Is Dr. Whitman listening?”
“Yes.”
“Dr. Whitman, you can take Dr. Arnoff’s place. He neglected to tell us about that antidote. We’ll allow you to mix up that antidote and more closely monitor our agents, including Max.”
Max headed for the front of the building, with only one ear listening to the lies spewing from the phone. He checked his wiring there and lit a fuse hanging from the ceiling. There was no turning back now.
Max gave Ava a thumbs-up sign and muted the phone. He joined her in the corner and whispered, “Stay put but get ready to move through the back of the building once it blows.”
Her eyes widened. “Blows?”
He put his finger to his lips and unmuted the phone.
Ava rose from her crouch and shouted into the phone in Max’s hand. “Where’s Agent Bessler?”
“He’s safe and sound, Dr. Whitman. We treated him and he’ll be fine.”
“You mean he’ll be a drone for Tempest.”