Shane reached the back of the hangar, but hesitated as he got close. As with the hangar he had reconnoitered, the back side of this hangar had a door and a couple windows. The first windows he passed were covered with some type of shades, so Shane crept low along the wall, until he reached the window closest to the door. Once he was under the window, he raised his head just enough to glance inside.
He saw nobody in the room, which appeared to be a reception area, perhaps where people waited before a flight. But his main focus was the exterior door. Craning his head against the window, he spotted some wires running along the inside of the door.
It's rigged.
Whether it had an alarm or a booby trap, Shane had no way of knowing. But what he could tell was that there was no way for him to reach the wires from the outside. The door was out.
Shane turned his attention to the window. It was wired as well, but even though he also could not tell if it was connected to an alarm or a device, using a few tricks up his sleeve, he thought he could reach the wire and disconnect it.
He opened the metal box he had brought from the car and pulled out his glass cutter and a suction cup. He attached the cup to the window and then turned the glass cutter in a circle. The circle of glass came away cleanly and silently about two inches from the window sill.
Taking a thin set of shears, Shane reached his hand through the hole in the window and carefully maneuvered the shears into place. If he jostled the wire, he might set off an alarm - or worse. He wiped some sweat from his brow as he inched one edge of the shears between the window and the wire.
Here goes nothing.
Holding his breath, Shane pulled the shears closed. He heard the quiet snip as the wire sliced cleanly and nothing else. No alarm. Shane let out the breath he was holding, dropped the shears, and felt around for the window latch. Finding it, he unlatched the window, then shoved the window up and open.
He grinned slightly. I might not be in the ISA any longer, but I still know a few things they taught me.
After he placed the box of tools inside, climbing through the open window was easy. In a moment, Shane found himself in the reception area. He stepped down onto a sofa and then found himself in an open area in front of a counter.
Then he glanced at the door and felt the air rush out of his lungs. The wires were connected to a lump of C-4 explosive. So was the wire Shane had cut. If he had gone through the door or made a wrong move cutting the wire, the entire wall would have exploded. Shane would have been a dead man.
You dodged a bullet on that one, he told himself.
Thankful that his luck had held, he scanned the room he had now entered. To his left, was a closed door. On the right, was a hallway with a couple of doors on its side and another door at the end.
The door on the left was probably designed as the owner's office. Was that were Kim and Kayla were? Pulling his gun from the shoulder holster, Shane came around the counter and checked that door first. The doorknob turned easily, and Shane aimed inside as it opened. There was nobody in the room. All Shane saw was a mattress, some blankets, some clothes - obviously belonging to a man - a radio with a police band, and little else.
So that's where Cal's staying. But where are Kim and Kayla?
Keeping the gun ready, Shane inched along the wall toward the hallway. He had no idea if Cal was through one of the doors on the side or through the door at the end of the hall, which he assumed led to the main hangar. One of the doors on the side had glass in it and Shane peeked through it. Nobody was inside what looked like a kitchenette.
Turning to the other door, Shane tried the knob. It was locked.
Someone on the other side called out; a voice he recognized. "Cal, is that you? You know you won't get away with this."
"Kayla," he said, trying to keep his voice low, but loud enough so she could hear. Kayla was alive, thank god. Despite their fear that Cal might have eliminated her, she was alive.
She must have moved closer to the door, because she answered in little more than a whisper. "Shane, is that you?"
"Yes. Is Kim with you?" Please, he prayed silently. Please let her be safe.