The Society by Karen Guyler (feel good fiction books .txt) 📗

at him from both sides. Tony’s death gave him no clues where it would come from, only the deepening certitude that he was next. Charles looked behind him again, staring into the darkness, almost willing an apparition in black into being. At least then, in a physical form, he’d know what he was dealing with, who it was after him.

“This is where you work?”

“Ssh.”

He couldn’t see in the lamppost-lit darkness, but Lily would be rolling her eyes. Steering her to the perimeter hedge, they approached the building from the rear. Charles grabbed her shoulder, leaning towards her to hush her.

“What?” she whispered. “The man?”

“Yes.” He breathed.

The bulk of the figure in black silhouetted against the lit-up lab fire exit door was nothing good. Had Eva been followed?

“Let’s try the other entrance.” Charles led her to the office end of the building.

The fire alarm box set above the open door was flashing, the entry keypad was in pieces. No smoke, a possible ruse on Eva’s part. Hackneyed, but effective. He led Lily up onto the grass bank on the window side of the lab.

“Can you wait here, I’ll get Mum.”

“Go, I’m fine here, I know where you are.”

He left her there, Eva would be cross about that.

The clamouring alarm in his office was deafening, making it hard to understand the strident countdown.

“Three, two, one. Purge.”

Purge?

What had happened there?

He kicked the bullets and casings stacked up in front of the ante-room door out of the way and peered in between the opaque indentations in the safety glass. He’d been right to be stringent over his lab security. That would have saved Eva.

The automated system let him through the ante-room but locked him out of his lab until the reset was complete. Nothing untoward, but there, broken glass on the floor. Whatever had been in that flask could have triggered the purge, but—Eva! Charles banged on the door, twisting from side to side, but he couldn’t see more of her than a snatch of bright blonde hair and a red down coat encased arm flopped on the floor. He shoved the door, even though he knew the system would hold it closed while the safety purge sucked the contaminated air out of the lab and replaced it with clean.

Eva didn’t have that long.

He charged back in to his office, waking up his PC. Come on, come on. He logged in, hit enter harder each time until he reached the purge over-ride.

Purge activated, the welcome message told him. Yes, yes, he knew that. He clicked on release lab doors. Enter password, the machine replied. That would release the fire exit, let the man outside in. He’d be armed. But perhaps they were only there to take her hostage, use her to strong arm him into paying what he couldn’t.

To survive anything, Eva needed oxygen. He entered his password.

Incorrect, the system admonished.

The alarm shrilled against the inside of his skull. He tried again.

The programme welcomed him in with all the options. He clicked on open doors.

How long had it been?

He raced into the lab, barging through the door before it was fully open.

The smell hit him first, the sharpness of chemicals in the air caught at his throat, made his eyes run, made him gasp, but the air was so thin he couldn’t pull it into his lungs. What had been spilled to have triggered the alarm? Over everything, the thick, cloying stench of something burned.

A gasping, then oxygen, thick, welcome, cold. He pulled in the breath he was searching for.

Eva, coughing, gasping, held Lily to her.

“It’s okay, Mum,” Lily soothed, “you’re okay now, we’re here.”

“How. . .?” Charles’ gaze took in their daughter in the lab, the broken window she’d climbed through, the, “Is that a bin?”

“Sorry about your window.” Lily’s voice was muffled in Eva’s hug.

“It doesn’t matter. Eva, are you okay?”

“Lily saved me.” She jerked her head behind her and Charles understood why she was holding Lily so closely. No child should see the burned husk of the man lying on his lab floor.

“We need to go,” Even over the fire alarm, he heard the rising sound of sirens.

“Doesn’t Mum need to be seen by the ambulance?” Lily asked.

Charles positioned himself in the way of Lily’s view of the dead body. “Lily, can you go over there and hold that door open while I help Mum up? Keep an eye out for the firemen coming in through the office door.” Lily nodded and did as he asked.

He brushed Eva’s hair off her face. “Are you okay to go? You probably want to tell the police what happened here,” he lowered his voice, “but you don’t know these people, Eva. They will have already covered their tracks, the police won’t find any answers to their questions at his end, which will make them more suspicious. We must go.”

25

A lady with two white fluffy dogs that yapped at everything was the only person Eva, Charles and Lily had passed for the last few minutes. A taxi pulled up in front of them and a man in a suit jumped out and disappeared into the adjacent house. The taxi waited at the kerb, perhaps hoping they’d get in. Eva gripped Lily’s hand tighter.

Charles stopped, Eva and Lily copying until the driver realised they weren’t interested. While they waited for him to roar off in search of an actual fare, Eva murmured at Charles, “I need to talk to you about the men at your lab.”

She couldn’t put it off anymore, she had to tell him about Eric being killed. If the men had chased her to Charles’ lab, they weren’t safe anywhere, even on this mystery tour Charles was dragging them on.

“I’ve been thinking about it too, you need to know so you can be wary.” She had to lean closer still to hear him, “I thought it was just me they were after, but it’s not. They’re called The Society, they’re a group of assassins.”

“A what? Why would they be after us? Who