KRYPTONITE

CHAPTER 9

Gloria Dowden wasn't the sharpest needle in the sewing kit, but she wasn't pinheaded enough to talk in front of Cabe, at least initially. Solely relying on her background information and what could be deduced from her behavior, Toby convinced her within thirty seconds he was a psychic hired by the police to question her. After that, she sang like the prima donna in an opera. Gloria told them everything they wanted to know and many things they really didn't.

Walter heard the whole exchange through the comms. He found himself grudgingly admiring the shrink's skills at manipulation as he and Sylvester crouched atop a vacant building adjacent to the Helping Hands office. The vantage gave them a perfect view of both the headquarters for the company and the old factory across the street. The office was eerily quiet and dark. In contrast, the factory was an anthill of activity. The lights were blazing and people and forklifts busily moved crates, boxes and pallets into unmarked white vans and trucks. The pair got video of the action and took photos of license plates.

Happy and Paige found a similar commotion at the warehouse near the marina except those workers appeared to be receiving goods and preparing them for loading onto ships. The two of them got footage of the happenings there.

All the video and photos were forwarded to Cabe and Toby. Cabe was in touch with the FBI and they were trying to get warrants issued using the documents at the garage, the footage from the sites and Ms. Dowden's testimony.

A little while later, they heard Cabe say, "Good work everyone! I just got word a judge signed off on the warrants and the FBI and LAPD are sending teams to the Global Awareness sites. You guys can pack it in and come back now."

Then Toby's voice filled their ears, "Well, the LAPD without Gabby Gloria's soon to be ex-boyfriend and inside man, who is currently a guest in his own jailhouse, you mean. That's thanks entirely to Scorpion's only Harvard trained behaviorist, talented fake psychic and don't forget incredibly attractive shrink. Impressed, Happy?"

Happy rolled her eyes.

"I can hear you rolling your eyes, woman. That hurts my feelings."

"Suck it up, Doc. We're on our way over to Walt and Sly's location," Happy replied smirking, "We kinda want to watch the cops swoop in and nail these guys. And help make sure no one gets away in the chaos."

Walter only listened with half an ear to their chatter, because he was thinking. His decisions were almost always based in logic. He was too cerebral to put a lot of faith in gut instinct, but something just felt off to him. It was bothering him that no one was removing computer equipment or files or anything else from that office when it seemed like the activity at the factory was wrapping up quickly with only two trucks left to load. In spite of the optimism of the team and law enforcement, he kept a wary eye on the activities below.

Out of the corner of his eye, the genius caught a glimpse of furtive movement in the alley by the office building. On closer inspection, he saw Purvis and two other men, holding boxes and sneaking into a side door. As he watched, one man stooped and picked something up off the ground and wedged it in the doorjamb to prop it open. Curiosity about why the men were slipping into the obviously abandoned structure caused Walter to signal Sly then creep quietly down the fire escape and slink over to the side door. It amused him to note it was propped open with one of Happy's missing hammers from the exploding toolbox incident the night before. He yanked it out of the jamb and threaded the handle through his belt. Well, that was one less missing tool he would have to pay to replace.

Walter edged inside staying against the wall. His eyes had adjusted to the semi-dark outside, but now it was suffocatingly black and he was briefly blind. He wished for night vision goggles or heat sensors, because he dared not use a flashlight or even his cell phone to light his way. He heard the sound of footsteps somewhere to his right and decided to follow along. Using what he remembered of the layout of the ground floor and the light from the exit signs to guide him, he made his way along gradually, following the whispering, tapping and rustling of the men. The trio of men split up, so he followed the one he thought was Purvis. That's when he smelled the potent odor of kerosene. Well, that explained why they weren't clearing out the equipment or files. They were planning to incinerate it all. Not wanting to give away his position, he didn't communicate his realization to anyone.

The next thing Walter knew, he heard a loud whoosh and soon he had more than enough light to see. Unfortunately, it also meant he needed to get out of there expeditiously as the heat and flames were scorching and the acrid smoke was already burning his eyes and making him choke. He set off at a dead run toward the side door where he'd entered.

He skidded around the corner just in time to see one of the men struggling to find the right key for the lock. Obviously they had wedged the hammer in the door to expedite their exit. Purvis was yelling at the man to hurry it up when he looked up and spied Walter bolting toward them at top speed.

Just then, the right key slid home and they thrust the door open. Clean night air rushed in as the three men nimbly dashed out, Purvis looking over his shoulder with a deadly, smug smile. Walter reached the door just as it slammed shut and he heard the snick of the dead bolt locking it from the other side. He spent a few precious seconds pushing at the door and rattling the knob, but it was a steel door in a metal frame. It was no use. He wasn't getting out through there.

Rapidly considering his options, he remembered he went to the right to follow the men, so he would now go to the left where they most likely hadn't spread any accelerant. He knew all the windows and the front door were covered with burglar bars so he eliminated them as possible escapes. Then he recalled Cabe said they replaced the glass in Purvis' office, but he didn't say anything about the bars. Hoping they hadn't been restored, he sped down the hall in that direction.

By that time, he could hear the team shouting in his ear to get out of there as if he weren't trying his damnedest.

Walter burst through the door hearing the building groan where it was warping in the heat. Fortunately, this area was as yet, mostly unaffected, but he knew it wouldn't be long until the whole structure was engulfed. He slammed the door shut against the gathering smoke and swept toward the window. He was thinking about how to break the safety glass, when his hand fell to the claw of the hammer at his waist. Laughing, he pulled it out of his belt and smashed it into the glass. It took a few tries, but he was able to break out an area large enough to get out.

He looked back briefly and saw smoke rolling under the door and an ominous orange glow around the frame. The heat was stifling. Then he spied Paige's purse on the floor beside the desk she'd used. It was stupid. He knew it was stupid, but part of his mind thought if he retrieved her favorite bag for her, it might help mend the rift between them.

He flew across the room, stooped to grab the purse trying to stay low and was about to leave when he spied an address book taped on the underside of the middle drawer of the desk. Not stopping to think, he tore the address book down and rushed to jump out of the window.

Walter crossed the alley and leaned against the wall of the building next door gasping. Above the scream of sirens, the crackling of flames and the shattering of glass, he heard his cyclone yelling his name over the comms as they ran toward him.

They reached him a few seconds later, their facial expressions ranging from terror to disbelief to concern to relief.

He handed the hammer to Happy and wheezed, "Here. This saved my life." Then he turned to Paige and held out her purse, rasping, "Oh, and I got your bag for you," before succumbing to a fit of coughing.

AN: I'm as anxious as the rest of you to get to the Waige confrontation, but I felt like I needed to resolve the case first. We're almost there. Be patient a little longer. I'll try to make it worth your while. ;-)