Page 100 of Artifice

“I’d say take him with us, but he’ll only slow us down. Tie him up. We have enough evidence to put him away. But we have to get out of here so we can tell the proper authorities.”

They quickly did that, even as Henry muttered curses at them.

Then Olive grabbed Colin, ready to lead him to safety. Tevin, meanwhile, grabbed Mr. Thorne and helped him to his feet.

But they’d only taken a step when Henry spoke.

“You think you’ve won?” Henry’s voice sounded eerily calm despite their situation. “There are six armed guards between you and the exit. They won’t let you leave with what you know.”

As if on cue, gunfire erupted in the distance, followed by shouting.

Tevin exchanged a worried glance with Olive. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“We need to move.” Olive kept her arm around a still-disoriented Colin and led him toward the tunnel entrance. “Can you keep walking?”

Colin nodded shakily. “I think so.”

They’d only taken a few steps when footsteps pounded down the corridor toward them. Olive pushed Colin behind her, knowing the knife they had wouldn’t offer much protection against guns.

A figure appeared in the doorway, silhouetted against the emergency lights flashing in the corridor.

For one heart-stopping moment, Olive thought they were facing the first of Henry’s guards.

Then the figure stepped into the light.

“Simon?”

He was dressed in tactical gear, a pistol held expertly in a two-handed grip. His usual casual demeanor was gone, replaced by focused intensity.

His gaze swept the room. He aimed his gun at Henry.

But Simon stayed in place, staring at Olive.

Relief flickered across his face. “You’re alive.”

“And you’re . . . FBI? You’re the one Mr. Thorne is working for.”

A grim smile played on Simon’s lips. “The FBI? No way. I’m CIA counterintelligence. With the help of Mr. Thorne, we’ve been tracking this operation for months.”

Olive stared at Simon. “You knew about all of this?”

“Not all of it.” Simon kept his weapon trained on Henry. “We knew someone was developing something for foreign buyers. We didn’t know these people were using children as test subjects until I got inside.” His expression darkened. “Or that they’d perfected it to this degree.”

“Abe,” Colin said suddenly. “We need to find Abe.”

Simon nodded. “The students are being secured as we speak.”

As if to confirm his words, a team of agents in tactical gear flooded into the chamber, weapons raised.

“Clear!” The lead agent called, before addressing Simon. “We’ve secured the main facility, sir. Dr. Wells was attempting to destroy records in his office. We caught him before he succeeded.”

“Good work,” Simon muttered.

Olive stared at Simon with new understanding.

He shrugged, almost apologetically, as he seemed to read the questions in her gaze. “Special Operations Director, Northeast Division. Though I find fieldwork keeps me sharp.”

Two agents moved to secure Henry, who no longer looked quite so confident.