Pale Horse (A Project Eden Thriller) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Kane couldn’t figure it out, Perez wasn’t going to tell him. “I need someone to open the vault.”
    “What?” Kane said, confused.
    “The vault. I need someone to open it.” Perez narrowed his eyes, staring at the director. “Not you.”
    “Now, hold on. There’s no reason for you to take that tone with me. I’m in charge here.”
    “You were in charge. Things have just changed.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Claudia glanced at her watch, then looked at the monitor, the blood draining from her face.
    Immediately she put her glass down and stood up. “I’ll take you.”
    Kane gaped at her. “Claudia, what do you think you’re doing?”
    Instead of answering, she led Perez out the door.
    The conference room was located on the third basement level, while the vault was on level four, the bottom level.
    As they rode the elevator down, Claudia said, “It could be just a communication glitch.”
    Perez said nothing.
    The amount of redundancies the Project had built into their communications system meant the chances of that being the case were extremely low. The second message, the one confirming everything was happening as planned, should have arrived no more than thirty minutes after activation. That was a step built into the Project’s plan years ago. The fact it hadn’t happened meant something was wrong, most likely at Bluebird itself.
    But, as it had done for many possibilities, the Project had prepared for just such a circumstance.
    Once out of the elevator, they made their way to the vault where Claudia punched in the code, opening the outer door. Inside was the real vault door. This took not only another code but a retinal and hand scan of an authorized individual. Claudia wasted no time releasing the locks, and within seconds they were standing inside.
    One wall was covered with small, numbered doors that looked no different than a wall of safety deposit boxes in a bank. The only difference was that the ones in the Project’s vaults were opened with codes instead of keys. Each box contained instructions or information that would be used in different scenarios. Perez went immediately to box A002.
    “Code,” he said.
    “Two-slash-thirty-eight-slash-seven.”
    He input the characters and the door popped open.
    Inside was a single sheet of paper. He read it carefully then handed it to her. “I’m officially taking over this facility.”
    “Yes, sir,” she said, her eyes scanning the page.
    “Retrieve the communication codes for the other depots, and have your people start making contact. I want a video conference in one hour with the top four ranking members.”
    Something had gone wrong at Bluebird after the activation code was sent. Which meant, until someone from the Project directorate showed up, Perez and the others he would soon contact had to take charge.
     

7
     
    MONTANA
    10:48 AM MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME
     
    B RANDON FOCUSED ALL his energy on trying to hear anything from the other side of the metal plate that covered his hiding spot. But there was no helicopter, no feet, no anything. Just his own heartbeat thudding in his ears.
     Every few minutes he would use the flashlight that had been in the backpack to check his watch. Hayes had been gone over half an hour. Brandon was sure he should have been back by now. He’d only heard the helicopter for a few minutes right after he was buried in the hole, so he thought it had probably flown off somewhere.
    How long do I wait?
    An image flashed in his mind. Hayes somewhere in the forest injured and needing help. Brandon was the only one around, the only one who could do anything.
    Ten more minutes, then go look for him.
    He sat on the pile of empty plastic bags, his head cocked to the side so that his ear rested against the metal.
    Still silence from above.
    When he checked his watch again, he saw that he was already two minutes past his deadline.
    All right. All right, I’m going.
    But for a moment he didn’t move, wondering if he