"What are we doing, Chels?" Bevis asked.

"We're the distraction," Chelsea whispered as she looked at the hinges on the door, "I've left one camera working so they will think there are still four of us in the room."

"Okay, good thinking," Bevis said, "but if we're the ... decoy ... that are we supposed to be doing?"

Chelsea straightened, glancing at a confused Bevis, "Looking for a way out, of course."

"Sure," Bevis said, shaking her head, "why didn't I think about that?"

Chelsea moved away, running her hand along the wall, "We need to make it a good show, so start ... looking ... we need to give them enough time to get away."

"Do you think we can get away?" Bevis asked, "Looking at their condition, I don't want that to happen to me."

"Oh, it won't," Chelsea said, "she only does that to people she likes ... kind of like getting a kick out of the pain inflicted."

"That is ... just ..." Bevis shuddered, "... why? What does she do to those she doesn't like?"

"One bullet," Chelsea said, tapping the middle of her forehead, "they don't warrant the time to be invested."

"Invested! Wow, I could do without that kind of investment," Bevis said, looking at the wall and frowning, "do you see this?"

"See what?" Chelsea came to stand next to Bevis, looking at the wall, "If this is pretence, you're doing a damn good job."

"No, it's not," Bevis said, "look at that ... pattern ... if you could call it a pattern."

"Huh, I didn't see that before," Chelsea said, "looks like its slightly raised ... perhaps ..." pushing against the raised piece, the pair froze at the sound of a grating sound from the darkness, "looks like it might be something to look at."

"We may have to do it quickly," Bevis said, "if it is what The Calderone is looking for and we got the whole box thing wrong, we need to get it out of her reach before anything happens to it or us."

"Good point," Chelsea said, "and by the sounds of shouting and ..." she paused, "... now gunfire, our backup has either arrived or just been discovered," glancing around she turned from the camera, making a show of trying to find a way out of the room and waved Bevis away toward the darkness.

Bevis followed her lead by looking for something to defend themselves against whatever was coming through the door; in reality, she moved into the deep shadows again, looking for the opening they had uncovered. Running her hand over the wall, she followed it around the room until her hand disappeared. She stopped and allowed her hand to follow the path the bricks had taken, following the shape into the darkness. It seemed to be going around a corner into a brick alcove; glancing at Chelsea, who was now hammering on the door, Bevis slowly put her foot through the gap, feeling the floor.

"Please don't be booby-trapped," she whispered, "here goes nothing."

Stepping into the darkness, Bevis followed the wall. It smelt dusty and dank. An odour of contained metal hung in the air.

Where was she?

A humming drew her further into the space, and she halted when her hand no longer felt the wall. Stretching her hands on either side of her shoulders until they were extended fully, she turned in a circle until she bumped into something hanging from the ceiling. She slowly lifted her hand in the inky darkness and felt the object. It was rigid, rectangular, and as she ran her hand around it, she was sure it felt like a switch.

"Please don't blow us all up," she prayed as she clicked the switch; light flooded the immediate area. Bevis gasped, taking in the covered banks of computers and servers. Slowly moving forward, she looked for signs of people being there or having been there recently, but there was no one. Whoever had set this up hadn't been there in a while. The dust layer over the computer covers was thick. Reaching out slowly, Bevis pulled them from the machines, dropping them into the middle of the floor.

"What is all of this?" she whispered.

Moving from machine to machine, she could see these were outdated but must have been established in the last decade. Tapping a keyboard, Bevis felt her blood run cold as she took in the views appearing on the various screens. A pad on the desk caught her eye. That was her father's handwriting. A single word was scrawled across the page "récupérer."

"Dad and the French, huh ... reclaim ..." Bevis frowned, remembering a game they had played often when she was younger; her father had drilled specific protocols into her head until she dreamed of them, "Okay, Dad, I'll follow those ... protocols ... what do we have here," she looked at the screens again, "camera angles," she murmured, "of this facility ... dated ... with times .... it's of every area," she moved along to a tall bank of covers, pulling them off and shook her head, "computer servers ... that I do know ... looks like big ones. I wonder," she frowned looking over the machine and smiling, "but now ...will it fit?"

Pulling a small device from a fold-over pocket on her utility belt, she pushed it into the slot; it fitted perfectly. Quickly she texted a number advising the device was placed. The answering text advised they needed time to download the many terabytes of information. Bevis sighed, texting in return acknowledgement that they may need more time to wait for the completion of the job.

Looking around, Bevis sighed, "Looks like I may have to remain here until it's done."

A text pinged on her phone.

"Leave the device connected. Use the exit in the back corner when the team come through."

Just then, muffled gunfire became louder and more intense, moving toward the passageway Bevis waited. The gunfire ceased with the door banging, and a tense silence followed before Chelsea was heard from the room.

"Bev," Chelsea called for nearby, "where do we go?"

"Into the wall," Bevis called, "and follow the light."

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Looking around, Bevis looked for anything that could close the entrance. Looking up, she frowned, "A ladder ... could the entrance stay open, but this facility could be closed for a long time." Pulling at the ladder until it descended into the open space, she quickly climbed into the opening it left in the ceiling. She felt surprised at finding a living area above the computers. Personal items of her father and mother were found on the bed, the side tables and her mother's old journal lying open with a pen across the page as though it were pointing in a specific direction. Following that direction, Bevis found a peephole and lever.

"They really did think of everything," she whispered, moving across the dusty space toward the peephole. She could see Chelsea and the team moving swiftly toward the entrance; it sounded like others were trying to get into the area.

"Chelsea, you're nearly there. Follow the wall until the hole," Bevis hissed through the peephole, "make sure everyone is together and through before telling me ... I can close it."

"Copy," Chelsea said from the darkness, quietly passing on the message.

Bevis waited until she heard Chelsea calling for the entrance to be closed. Bevis grunted as she pushed against the dirt-caked lever. It took one or two energy-sapping tries, but the opening finally closed, and anyone looking for it would only find a brick wall. Muffled single shots could be heard from the doorway, and Bevis wondered what was happening. Looking around the area, Bevis quickly collected any personal items that could tell who had lived there and descended into the room below. Chelsea, Nagid and the team slowly filled the space, looking around at what was discovered.

"Is that everyone?" Bevis asked.

Chelsea and Nagid nodded, "Yes," they said in unison, looking around and taking a quick roll call.

Nagid nodded again, "Everyone is here."

"Wonderful," Bevis said, pressing a large metal button into the brick wall, "stand clear of the passage ... quickly."

Rattling was heard from above as everyone moved to the opposite wall, their nerves on edge. Slowly a solid metal panel filled the space, sealing them in.

"How do we get out now?" Chelsea asked.

"Apparently, there is an exit at the back," Bevis said, "but we need to cover these machines again before we go. Be careful. Make sure no dust which is already on these covers doesn't get into the machines."

Nagid's hands flew in silent orders as he looked at the computers, "What is this?"

"Someone set this up to monitor and record everything the Calderones do," Bevis said, "those servers have everything on them."

"How do we get the information to the outside world?" Chelsea asked.

"Already done," Bevis said, smiling tightly, "now ... let's get moving."

Looking around the room, Bevis made sure there was nothing to point in the direction of anyone being here or having discovered anything or planted anything to extract the most incriminating data the world would ever see. Pushing her parent's belongings into a spare backpack, she followed the others to the back of the room.

"I just hope that this was all worth it," Bevis whispered, "has the exit been uncovered yet?"

"They found something but not sure," Chelsea said, "what were the instructions on getting out of here?"

"How did you know I was in contact with someone?" Bevis asked.

"You wouldn't know about it unless someone let you know," Chelsea said, smiling, "you did well. Please tell them where it is before all that knocking gives away our position."

"In the back corner," Bevis said to the waiting team, who turned in unison toward the brick wall running their gloved hands over the surface, "what is that?"

Chelsea chuckled, "Here we go again. What is what?"

"That," Bevis pointed just above the team's head at a ledge-like indentation in the brickwork, "there is something up there ... it looks like a gap in the bricks."

Nagid stepped forward, reaching up and running his hand over the space; dust fell over everyone, causing them to sneeze and cough.

"I think I found something," he said, tugging against the wall, and a grating sound was heard. The whoosh was followed by a gust of fresh air, "follow that and have a look if there is a lever on the other side."

Bevis quickly entered the damp stone tunnel looking around, "There is a lever here," she grasped the metal piece sticking out the wall. She pushed it up, holding the door open, "Quick, come out," she panted, straining to keep the lever in place. Chelsea quickly added her hands to the pressure, holding it open together.

Nagid tapped Bevis' shoulder, "Everyone is out and away from the opening."

Nodding, the two women let the lever down into its former position. Rubbing her aching hand on her black fatigues, Bevis looked around at the waiting team.

"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm guessing the way out is to follow the fresh air," Bevis said, breathing heavily.

Nagid nodded to everyone, and they all started to move toward the welcome smell of freshness.

"How did she do?" Jonaraja asked, leaning over Jake's shoulder.

"Better than expected," Jake said, "how did you know she would know what to do with that piece of equipment?"

Jonaraja smiled, "I have faith in her."

Turning from the computer bank, Jake stared at the man, "What exactly does that mean?"

"It means he trained her," his wife said, coming into the room with a tray of refreshments and placing it on the large table in the middle of the room, "eat here ...work there."

The men moved into the middle of the room, thankfully drinking their coffee and chewing on biscuits.

"You trained her years ago," Jake said, a slight frown puckering his brows, "how did you know she wouldn't have forgotten."

"Not the way he trains people," his wife said again, "yes, I'm answering because he believes in the cryptic replies."

"Ah, my father does that as well and then wonders why no one knows what he's talking about," Jake said, "what did he do in the training that made her remember?"

"It's all in the keywords," his wife smiled, "a word, smell or action brings back a memory of something, which then leads to knowledge of what is required."

"That simply, hey," Jake said, nodding, "it's making more sense now."

"There is nothing simple about that kind of training," Jonaraja said, "it takes hours of dedication and determined devotion to get it properly cemented, but I'm glad I could get it right with her ... it worked, and she can assist. It may just save a lot of lives."

Looking between the two, Jake felt the angry hum of unsaid words and feelings. Finishing his coffee, he rose from the table.

"Thanks for refreshments; I'm going to see how the downloading is going," he smiled at both of them and moved away, sliding into the chair and focusing on the screen in front of him, "oh boy," he muttered, "there is a lot of data to be stored."

Looking at what was already downloaded, he began to work through the footage and store it by date and time. If who he thought was coming was indeed coming, he needed to be prepared. Not having what they wanted on hand when they wanted it was a sure way of being in trouble for a very long time, and there had been enough of that. This was going to end, and now, with this generation and during this event.

"Oh my ..." Jake swallowed hard, pushing the rising bile down and shuddering, "... this is ... so sickening."

It would be a challenging job, and he probably wouldn't be able to unsee some things and may need therapy afterwards, but someone had to do it. He just hoped his head would still be on straight when he had completed sorting what was here.

Letting out a breath and rubbing his hands over his face, Jake braced himself and got to work.