Page 79 of Clive Cussler's Quantum Tempest

“Door code?” Linda asked, her fingers hovering above the digital door lock.

“Eleven, twenty-eight, thirteen,” Olmedo said. “My daughters’ birthday.”

The twin girls managed a smile.

“Mac?”

“With ya.” The two of them bunched up at the door, then raced inside.

Cabrillo covered the path behind them as the two operators swept the building.

“Clear!” Linda called out.

“Clear!” MacD repeated.

“Let’s go,” Juan said, motioning the president and his daughters inside.

Juan caught another glimpse of the volcano looming in the distance just before he slammed the steel door shut and locked it.

“The sofa,” Cabrillo said. He and MacD shoved the heavy overstuffed leather behemoth against the door. It wouldn’t stop an RPG, but it was better than nothing.

“Guns? Ammo? Anything?” Juan asked his team.

“No weapons or ammo. Just two bedrooms, a bath, a small kitchen, and this living room. Only one door—that one,” Linda said, pointing at the locked steel. “And you’re standing near the only window.”

“Not sure if it’s a safe house or a lobster trap,” MacD said.

Juan took up position in front of the living room window as Linda disappeared into the small kitchen.

“Any chance this is bulletproof glass?” he asked.

“As a matter of fact, it is,” Olmedo said as he steered his daughters into two overstuffed chairs far from the window.

“We need to figure out who these guys are and how they breached your security,” Juan said. “Assuming we get the chance. You have your phone?”

Olmedo’s face fell. “I left it on the table.”

“There’s a landline in back,” MacD said.

“Claro!Of course!” Olmedo said. “I’ll call for reinforcements.” He turned to the girls. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

The girls nodded dutifully as he dashed for one of the back bedrooms.

“You are both so brave,” MacD said.

“I’m not brave,” Yesenia said. “I was scared.”

“Me too,” Sofía said.

“You can’t be brave if you’re not scared, now can you?” MacD said. “It’s what you do while you’re scared that counts. And by my reckoning, you two were champs.”

The twins exchanged a glance—and almost smiled. “We never thought of that,” Sofía said.

Linda appeared with two frosty cold bottles of water.

“Drink up, ladies. You must be thirsty.”

“Thank you so much,” they said in unison as they guzzled their waters.