Brett Battles - Shadow of Betrayal

Instead of taking another large swing, Quinn began punching his ram into the wall, over and over, until there was a hole approximately two feet in diameter passing all the way into the room beyond. It was just big enough to stick his head through. He set the board on the ground, then held out his hand to Orlando. She gave him one of the flashlights.

Letting the light lead the way, he leaned in.

At first it didn’t look much different from the room Peter’s agent had nearly died in. The notable exception was the floor. Though it was lower than the level of floor in the hallway, it was only by a couple feet, not twenty.

The wall across the room from the hole appeared to be made of concrete. The exterior wall , he guessed.

The wall to his right was closest to his position, about five feet away. It appeared to be constructed of the same material as the wall he’d busted through: slats and plaster. Long ago, someone had painted a red stripe at waist level along the entire side, but it was faded now. Given a few more years, it might not even be noticeable.

Stacked along the far side to the left were several cardboard boxes. Judging from the water stains on the sides and the way they sagged into each other, they appeared to have been there a long time.

Nothing obvious caught his attention. Certainly nothing that would have warranted locking the door. Perhaps it was another red herring. Perhaps the whole building was nothing but something to throw Peter’s people off the track of whatever it was they were working on.

Quinn moved the light all the way to the left so he could get a look at the door. He scanned up and down twice, then pulled back out of the hole and straightened up.

“Anything?” Orlando asked.

“The door’s wired,” he said. “There’s a block of something on the floor with some wires leading from it and running up the jamb.”

“So what are they trying to hide?” she asked.

“Good question. There’re some old boxes stacked against the wall, but that’s about it. And even those don’t look promising.”

Quinn thought for a moment, then picked up the two-by-four again.

“This mean we’re going in?” Orlando said.

“Yeah.”

“I’m not going in there,” Al said, not hiding an ounce of his fear.

“Watch him,” Quinn said to Nate, then looked at Al. “Don’t worry. You’re not going anywhere. I want you on the floor right now. Hands behind your back.”

“So I don’t have to go in?” Al asked.

“Don’t make me say it again.”

Al dropped to the floor, leaned against the wall, and slipped his hands behind his back.

Quinn used the two-by-four to punch at the wall again, this time widening the hole until it was large enough to crawl through. He exchanged the board for his flashlight, then he stepped backward through the hole and into the room. Given the difference in floor levels, the first step was a big one, but he managed it without falling.

Once he was down, he reached up and helped Orlando through.

“Musty,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

Quinn approached the steps leading up to the door, stopping a respectful three feet away. Stuck to the steps at floor level was a whitish glob of what looked like clay. Quinn had seen plenty of it over the years. C-4, a malleable plastic explosive that was the first choice of many a demolition expert. The wire that would set off the explosive ran from the glob along the steps, then up the wall and into a small plastic box attached to the doorjamb. Just opposite the box, on the door itself, was a small plate, its width and length equal to that of the switch. With the door closed, the plate and the box lined up perfectly.

Additional wires led out of the box to other mounds of C-4: one on each hinge, one along the base, and a last bit in the middle of the door itself, an arrangement sure to shred anyone standing on the other side into tiny pieces.

It was a pretty simple setup. Someone opens the door. The switch and the plate move out of sync. An electronic jolt is sent out.

And boom.

Dead and destroyed.

Whoever it was who actually used the door must have had a remote device that turned the switch off when necessary.

Quinn checked the setup again, making sure there were no hidden backup switches. Luck was with him. Everything looked pretty straightforward. Since there was only one perceived way into the room, no extra security measures would have been needed. The booby-trap maker would never have expected someone to come through the wall to get at his handiwork.

Quinn started with the C-4 next to the steps. He separated it from the wire, then repeated the procedure with the other mounds.

“You could have just left it,” Orlando said.

“I didn’t feel like climbing back through that hole to get out,” Quinn said. “Besides, this way some wino won’t stumble into it someday.”

Orlando cocked her head and smiled. “I knew there was a reason I loved you.”

“If that’s the only reason, then we’re both screwed.”

Quinn opened the door and stuck his head into the hallway. Al looked over at him, his eyes wide with fear. Nate looked over, too, but he seemed considerably less surprised.

“Everything all right out here?” Quinn asked.

“Couldn’t be better,” Nate said.

“You want to bring him in here?”

“I’m not going in there!” Al said, fear in his voice.

“It’s safe now,” Quinn said.

“I’m not. I told you I’m not. I’m not going in there.”

“We’re okay,” Nate said to Quinn.

“Quinn?” It was Orlando.

Quinn pulled himself back inside. Orlando was across the room, next to the gap between the stack of boxes and the exterior wall in the far left corner. She was looking at the floor.

“What is it?” Quinn asked.

“I think this might be the room Peter’s agent was looking for.”

Quinn hurried over. Instead of concrete like the rest of the floor, here was a four-foot-square piece of metal. It was dark and showing signs of rust along the edges, but otherwise was in remarkably good shape. There were hinges along the left side and a latch on the right. Through a loop on the latch was a large, very new padlock.

“Shall I?” Orlando asked.

“It might be wired also,” Quinn said.

“Should be easy enough to check,” she said. “The metal’s warped at this end.”

Without waiting to hear what Quinn thought, she got down onto the floor and pressed the side of her face against the concrete. She moved her light so that it played into the opening, moving it back and forth several times. After a minute passed, she sat back up.

“Clean,” she said.

“You’re sure?” Quinn asked.

“Enough to stake your life on it.”

“My life?”

She moved over to the padlock, removed her set of lock picks from her backpack, then set to work. It took her less than thirty seconds to open it.

“This is the part where you open the door,” she said after she removed the lock from the loop on the latch.

“Maybe Nate should do it,” Quinn said.

She stared at him. “You trust me that little?”

Quinn let out a short laugh, then reached down. “You might want to stand back. Just in case you’re wrong.”

“Oh, I’m not wrong,” she said. But she took a few steps back anyway.

Quinn smiled, then pulled the trapdoor up. There was a loud groan as the hinges protested under the weight of the metal door. Quinn swung it all the way open so that it was leaning against the back wall.

“You guys all right in there?” Nate called.

“We’re fine,” Quinn and Orlando said in unison.

Orlando shone her light into the opening, revealing a steep, narrow concrete stairway.