Read Online Targets of Revenge by Jeffrey Stephens - Free Book Online

his shoulder. “Stay still,” he ordered. Then he told Francisco to get some water as he grabbed two of the cloth sacks and shoved them under the man’s head. “Lay back for a moment. Until your mind is clear.”
    Carlos felt light-headed but managed to focus enough to stare into Alejandro’s dark, unblinking eyes. He did as he was told, leaning back and waiting.
    Francisco returned with a clear beaker full of water. He knelt down, about to give the technician a drink, when Alejandro snatched the glass away and splashed the water into Carlos’s face.
    “He doesn’t need a drink, you idiot, he needs to regain his senses.” Looking back down, Alejandro watched as Carlos reflexively jerked his head from left to right and wiped his face with his hands. “You feeling more awake now?”
    Carlos nodded.
    Alejandro reached out and helped him sit up. “Tell me what happened. Everything.” He handed the empty beaker to Francisco and said, “You can get him a drink now.” Then he crouched down in front of the technician. “Tell me.”
    Carlos said he heard a noise in the storage room. Since there was no one else in the lab and no way for anyone to get past him without being seen he was not concerned. He thought perhaps something had fallen, so he came back to have a look. The next thing he knew, someone grabbed him and hit him across the head.
    “Did you get a look at him?”
    “No.”
    “Did he say anything to you?”
    Carlos shook his head, the effort making him dizzy again. Alejandro handed him the water Francisco had brought. Carlos took a sip.
    “Was it one man or more than one man?”
    “I think only one.”
    “So,” Alejandro repeated patiently, “you walked in here, found one man alone, he hit you over the head without speaking, and then disappeared. Is that what happened?”
    Carlos turned his head slightly to the right and looked up at the ventilation panel. “Those sacks, he must have climbed up through there.”
    “And you just noticed that now?”
    Carlos turned back slowly, struggling to meet his inquisitor’s frightening gaze. “Yes. All these bags . . . ,” he began, but Alejandro held up his right hand.
    “Let’s not say anything we might regret later, eh?”
    The technician agreed, managing a nervous nod of his aching head. Then he watched as Alejandro stood, scaled the stack of toppled cloth sacks, and had a close look at the ventilation grill. “Somebody moved this,” he said without turning back to the other two men. With minimal effort he shoved the grating inside the shaft. “Francisco, your flashlight.”
    The guard accommodated and Alejandro had a look inside the duct.
    “Yes, I can see we had a visitor from above. Very clever.” He switched off the flashlight and climbed back down. “But the question is, how did our visitor breach the perimeter without setting off the alarm?”
    Now it was Francisco’s turn to become flustered under Alejandro’s accusatory glare. He knew the man well enough to realize lying was not an option. “There was a breach,” he admitted. “We thought it was Manuel or Eduardo, using the latrine or something. Happens all the time,” he added, as if this might excuse his carelessness in not actingsooner. “When they did not report in I went on patrol.” He could no longer hold the man’s gaze, dropping his head and staring at the ground. “You know the rest.”
    “Yes,” Alejandro agreed. “And soon Adina will know, too. You can only hope for your sake that the others have caught this intruder by now. Come,” he said as he bent down and grabbed hold of Carlos under the arm, pulling him to his feet. “Let’s go.”
    ————
    The intruder, Jordan Sandor, had made his way around a group of thick-trunked trees until he was within striking distance of the four vehicles. As anticipated, there was a sentry posted on the rear portico of the house, not twenty yards away, the veranda giving him the high ground and an excellent view of the