Page 63 of Resolve
“We have to go.” Reid’s suddenly at my side, clicking a bracelet around Bea’s dangling wrist. “All the GE agents are heading this way.”
“Let them come.” Zedd steps up beside me, his arms crossed and staring intensely at Gabriel. “Is there an intercom?”
I set Bea down on the nearest bed with a grunt and roll my shoulders. “The phones have access. Why?”
“Show me.”
I nod, leading the way to the previous room as I hear Gabriel still talking to the scientist.
“So, all your past fun times aside, where are your drugs? Or mine?I know they're somewhere, and I’m not letting you go until I have them.”
I give Zedd the rundown of the phone intercom button, expecting it to work like any other.
“Let me know when most or all the agents are in the building. I’ll use my gift to put them to sleep through the intercom. Find something everyone can use to plug their ears before that happens. Using your hands or fingers alone won’t work.”
Dragging the office chair back, I sit and turn to Reid. “I’ll keep an eye on the agents.”
“I’ll find the ear plugs,” Tinsley volunteers, disappearing the next second.
“We’ll block the doors to hold out until they’re all in,” Reid adds, then leaves the small attached office.
There’s a window the size of the wall into the room, so we can keep an eye on things in there while we wait. Zedd closes the door from the hallway into this room, and I help him drag the dead scientists behind it.
Once that’s secure, I check my upload and confirm it’s complete, then flip to the cameras in a grid view. Armed agents are swarming into the building from different doors.
Something drops on the desk. “Here you go!” Tinsley chirps, gone again before I can see her.
A small pile of cotton balls litter the desk. I pinch one and look at Zedd. “Will these work?”
He nods, once again focused on Gabriel, who’s pressing buttons on a safe in the corner. The scientist he’d been with is on the floor in a pool of blood.
Damn. Maybe I underestimated Gabe as a fighter.
The door handle jiggles, then something slams against it.
My heart jackhammers, and I reach for the gun at my waist. The cool metal grip in my hand adds a small comfort. I release the mag, count the bullets, then click it back in place.
Seven.
That’s not going to get me very far. There are at least three dozen agents, including the last stragglers running inside.
“Get ready,” I warn Zedd, tracking the last agent coming this way. Moving to the doorway, I poke my head in to check with Reid, tapping my ear. He gives the OK, and I sink back to my seat and stuff my own ears. The final agent clears the door, and I don’t see anyone else outside. “Now.”
Zedd holds the intercom button and starts singing.
His words and tone are muted, and I try not to focus on them just in case. Instead, I train my gaze on the cameras. Someone yawns. Someone else rubs their eyes. The fists swinging at the doors slow, then stop altogether.
And one by one, they slump down or just fall, eyes closed.
A tap at my shoulder brings me back to Zedd. He motions to pull the cotton ball from my ear, and I do. “That’s it?” I question, disbelief coloring my tone.
He shrugs. “It has its weaknesses. Friendly fire is one of them. Enemies knowing how to block it is another.” Zedd gives me a look, and I nod.
We won’t tell anyone. He’s part of the Guild now. His secret is our secret.
We stroll back into the room with the others. Gabe’s lying back on one of the beds, belting one of Zedd’s songs until the man himself sits at the edge of the bed. Gabriel tosses his cotton balls away andsits up. “I thought if I couldn’t listen to your voice, I’d sing one of your songs instead.”
“You found them?” Zedd asks, and he grins, holding up his bag of pills.
