Soft Target (Major Crimes Unit Book 2) (5 page)

The last thing Sarah saw was the
horizon disappearing from the windscreen as the nose of the Snatch rose up into
the air, riding on a blanket of roaring flames, before crashing back down on
its roof.

S
arah bucked forwards and
gasped.  For a second she thought she
’
d been struck by that
IED all over again.  When she saw Howard staring back at her from the cockpit,
she registered where she really was.

“
You okay, Sarah?
”
Howard asked.

“
Fine.  Just a dream.
”

“
It was good timing you woke up now.  We
’
ve
arrived.
”

Sarah went to look out the
window, but remembered they were blacked-out. 
“
Where
are we, exactly?
”
she asked.

Howard smirked. 
“
Not until you sign the paperwork.
”

Sarah rolled her eyes, then
rubbed at them.  Her cheap, yet ever-reliable Casio watch, informed her she
’
d been asleep for only thirty minutes.

The helicopter tilted forward
and rotated, losing altitude.  Despite his lumbering appearance, Mandy kept
impressive control over the aircraft and brought them down smoothly.  When they
finally touched down, Sarah barely felt it.

Howard hopped out of the front
passenger seat and slid the side passenger door open.  Sunlight flooded in and
Sarah shielded her eyes as she got out.

“
Good day for it,
”
Howard said.

“
That remains to be seen.
” 
Green fields and
trees stretched for miles, in every direction.
“
We
’
re in the middle of nowhere,
”
she
noted.

“
Not as far from civilisation as you might think, but we do have our
privacy, that
’
s for sure.
”

Sarah turned another circle,
hoping to catch something she might have missed the first time around, but
there was nothing. 
“
Why have you brought me to an empty field?
”
she
asked.

Mandy stepped out from behind the helicopter
and stood beside Howard like a marble statue.  Howard pulled a small tablet
from inside his jacket and held it to his ear.  “We’re here,”
he said, and ended
the call.

There was a sudden vibration followed by a
clunk.

Howard moved to a patch of weeds, kicking them
flat.  After a few moments he reached down and grabbed at something.  He yanked
open a wooden hatch, scraps of soil and clumps of mud sliding off of it. 

A gaping hole now lay in front of them.  

“
Welcome
to the Earthworm,
”
Howard said.

Sarah raised an eyebrow. 
“
Earthworm?  What the
hell is that?”

“
It
’
s just what we call it.  Its real name is MCU Facility One.
”

“
How many other facilities are there?
”

“
None.
”

Sarah cleared her throat. 
“
So why give it a number?
”

“
Originally, there were going to be more,
”
Howard explained.

“
What happened?
”

“
The banks collapsed.  There were two more sites halfway-built but
the economic crises meant that the funding for the projects fell through.  MCU Facility
One is the only site that got built to completion.
”

“
So, this hole in the ground is
…
what?  A secret base?
”

Howard smiled. 
“
Why don
’
t we find out?
”

Sarah shrugged. 
“
Sod it, I came this far.
”

Howard led her over to the
opening in the ground, while Mandy stayed behind with the helicopter.  There
was a long staircase before them, heading deep into the ground. 

“
After you,
”
Howard said. 

Sarah was happy to take the
lead for a while.  She was tired of following like a confused child.

Howard pulled the hatch back
into place above them and the sunlight disappeared.  LED strip lighting
illuminated the staircase, but there was no heating and it got colder as they
went descended.  Sarah began to feel claustrophobic.  It felt like the walls were
closing in and a hundred tons of soil was going to bury her.

“
You okay?
”
Howard asked.

Sarah tried to take a deep
breath. 
“
Yeah, I
’
m fine, just not a fan of confined spaces.
”

“
We
’
ll be at the facility soon.
”

“
Good.  Why is this place buried underground, anyway?  Even MI5 has
an office on the Thames.
”

Howard sniffed. 
“
MI5 is known to exist, our agency is not.  It was set up in response
to the 9/11 terrorist attacks as a joint enterprise between the US and UK
governments.  Its purpose is to provide a jointly-run task force that can follow
up leads on both continents quickly and cohesively.  The US had three
facilities of its own until recently, but this is the only one we have on our
side of the Atlantic.  We share whatever intel we have with the Pentagon, and
they with us.  There are no secrets between our two governments under the
purview of this task force and we are a united front against all known threats
to our nations.
”

 Sarah clip-clopped down the
steps, hoping to reach the end soon. 
“
So, it
’
s kind of like a US/UK bromance.
”

“I suppose you could call it that.  One thing
we learned after 9/11 was that much could be gained by working in tandem,
rather than pursuing only our own interests.  President Bush and Prime Minister
Blair agreed to commission the MCU and give it autonomy to act as it saw fit,
answering only to the president and prime minister themselves.  Of course,
nowadays we answer to President Conrad and Prime Minister Breslow.
”

Sarah whistled sarcastically. 
“
Those are some pretty
swanky connections.  You could probably tell me if Elvis is still alive, huh? 
What about Benny Hill, who did he leave his millions to?  Is the New World
Order a thing?  Who is Keyser Soze?”

Howard ignored her.  They came to the bottom of
the long staircase and Sarah finally let out a sigh of relief.  Howard stepped
up to a keypad and thumbed in a code.  The console chirped back at him and then
a round door slid aside into a hidden alcove.  For once, Sarah had nothing to
say.  In front of her was a vast open space the size of a football stadium. 
Her claustrophobia disappeared completely.

“
Told you it opened up,
”
said Howard, patting
her back.  Sarah stumbled forward, her mouth wide open.  She gawped at Howard,
but he just smirked at her and said,
“
Welcome to the Major
Crimes Unit.
”

“W
elcome to the Major
Crimes Unit.
”

Howard followed Sarah in,
pressing a button on the wall which closed the hatch behind them. The ceilings
were fifty-feet high with massive vents.  Banks of computers lined every wall,
while a desk, large enough to seat twenty people, took up the centre of the
room.   At one end of the desk was a large monitor. 

Sarah glanced around for
people, but there was no one.  She noticed that all of the computers were
switched off. 
“
Where is everyone?
”
she asked.

“
We have offices in the back,
”
Howard
said. 
“
Come on, I
’
ll take you there now.
”

Sarah followed Howard, taking
it all in, but the more she concentrated on her surroundings, the less
impressive they became.  The equipment was not high-tech, as she
’
d first believed; the monitors were old CRT units and the desktops
were square and clunky.  A thick layer of dust covered almost everything.

“
When was this place built?
”
Sarah asked as they
made their way through the rows of computers.

“
It was commissioned after 9/11, so it
’
s more
than ten years old.
”

“
And when was it last used?
”

Howard understood Sarah
’
s confusion. 
“
The facility is bigger than we need.  The team confines itself to a
smaller section at the front.  The reason we call this place the Earthworm is
because it
’
s very long.  We just entered through the tail; we tend to do our
work in the head.
”

At the far end of the room was
another hatchway.  Sarah then realised that the area was not completely
deserted.  A lone security guard in black fatigues stood in the entryway. 

Howard nodded to the guard as
they drew nearer.  The guard nodded back.

Sarah looked the man up and
down, then said. 
“
What do you do if you want the toilet?  Do they give you a bucket?
”

The guard said nothing.

“
Do you have a bag strapped to your thigh?
”

The guard said nothing.  Didn
’
t even look at her.

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. 
“
I
’
m starting to get the impression that people don
’
t like talking to me.
”

Howard inputted another code
and the hatchway opened.  The area that followed was far more confined.  A
narrow corridor branched off in several directions, leading to various
doorways.  Some of the adjacent rooms had glass partition-walls, allowing one
to see inside, but Sarah was concerned to see that most of them were as empty as
the
‘
tail-section
’
had been. 

“
We
’
re still not at the head yet, I take it?
”
she asked.

“
No,
”
said Howard. 
“
This is the middle. 
It
’
s mostly offices and research rooms here, and the infirmary is just
up ahead.  We have a doctor onsite who works there.  Dr Bennett, you
’
ll probably meet her later.
”

“
Can
’
t wait.
”

There was no denying that the
Earthworm was huge, but it was vastly under-utilised.  The middle section must
have contained four-dozen empty offices and, while they only passed it briefly,
the infirmary was large enough to handle a minor epidemic.  The facility must
have cost a fortune.

Eventually they came to
another hatchway, but there was no guard at this one.  Instead there was a
bulky CCTV camera hanging over it.  Howard inputted another code and the door
slid away. They headed into what Sarah suspected was the Earthworm
’
s head section.  This area of the facility was warm, and scented
with the heady pong of bleach and air freshener.  A corkboard affixed one of
the walls, with multi-coloured pins spearing notes and memos in a dozen places.

“
Some of us pretty much live here,
”
said
Howard as they progressed. 
“
There are dorms for those of us who want to use them.
”

Sarah frowned. 
“
Bit unusual for a bunch of civil servants.  Do
you
stay here?
”

“
Not usually.  I keep a place nearby in the city.  Sometimes I stay
here, though, if circumstances require.
”

“
We
’
re near a city, then?
”
said Sarah. 
“
Interesting.  We travelled forty minutes from Birmingham by
helicopter, so, assuming we flew around 130mph on average, that would most
likely put us in Greater London, someplace rural on the outskirts perhaps.  The
drive here takes you thirty minutes, so, with the traffic in and out of the
city
…” 
She put her finger against her lips and thought for a
few seconds. 
“
My best guess would be that we
’
re
in Uxbridge, or maybe as far out as High Wycombe.
”

Howard
’
s
lip twitched, which let Sarah know she was right
–
or at least close enough.  For once, she was the one smirking at Howard.

Howard quickly changed the
subject and ushered her forward. 
“
I suspect everybody
is in the briefing room waiting for us.
”

Unlike the rest of the
facility, the following room was high-tech and in obvious use.  Paper-thin flat
screens lined the walls, and blinking apparatuses sat on side desks all around.

Three people sat around a
glass table in the centre of the room, but stood when they saw Sarah.  The
largest of them was a middle-aged Asian man with a shiny, bald head.  From the
steel bracelet around his right wrist, Sarah made the quick assumption that he
was Sikh.  Beside him was a diminutive brunette, with impeccable make-up and a
clean, white lab coat.  The third person was a mousy-haired bag of bones.  He
had the gleaming, bright blue eyes of a child, and didn
’
t
seem much older.

They all flinched subtly when
they saw Sarah
’
s scars, but she was so used to the reaction that she didn
’
t even let it worry her anymore.

The Sikh offered his hand. 
“
Ms Stone, thank you for coming.
”

Sarah shook the man
’
s hand but didn
’
t say anything.

“
I can
’
t say she came entirely willingly,
”
Howard
said,
“
but we got there in the end, didn
’
t we, Sarah?
”

Sarah watched the Sikh man,
clearly the one in charge.
“
Why am I here?
”
she asked him. 
“
I
’
d like some answers.
”

“
My name is Director Palu and I am in charge here at MCU.  I assume
Howard has shared at least a little about why you
’
ve
been brought here.
”

Sarah shrugged. 
“
He just told me we were somewhere outside London, near High Wycombe.
”

Howard spluttered. 
“
I
…
I never
—
she guessed.
”

Director Palu waved his hand
dismissively and smiled at Sarah. 
“
Your guess was
correct.  We
’
re located beneath some fallow farmland owned by the Government.  It
’
s considered a patch of wasteland to the public, so we
’
re relatively undisturbed.
”

Sarah was astounded a place such
as this could exist, but she wasn
’
t about to reveal her
surprise.  These situations were all about power. The more she could keep them
off their game, the more power she would have. 

“
Please, take a seat, Ms Stone.  Officer Hopkins and I will conduct a
quick debrief and be right back with you.  In the meantime, please fill out
this
Official Secrets Document
.  I
’
m
sure you
’
re familiar with one.  I
’
ll leave you with
Agents Jacobs and Bennett.
”

Howard and Palu left the room.

Without being asked, Sarah
took a seat at the table opposite the skinny kid and quickly scrawled a
signature for one
Basil
Fawlty on the OFS document before swatting it
aside.

“
So, are you here for some work experience?
”
she asked the kid.

His bony cheeks went red. 
“
N-no, Captain.  I work here.  Well, sort of.  I leave today.
”

“
Leave?  Bit young for a career change, aren
’
t
you?
”

“
I
’
m twenty-four.
” 
He glanced down at the table.  Sarah wondered if he
couldn
’
t face her scars. 
“
I
’
m not really cut out for this place,
”
he
muttered. 
“
I tried, but
…”

“
But what?
”

“
But he screwed up,
”
said the pretty brunette in the lab coat.  She had an
American accent that reminded Sarah of her late husband
’
s
Floridian drawl. 
“
He screwed up lot.
”

The kid blushed a deeper shade
of red.

“
What
’
s your name?
”
Sarah asked.  For some reason the kid interested her.

“
His name is Bradley Jacobs,
”
answered the
American woman. 

“
And what
’
s your name, sweetheart?
”
Sarah asked the
American woman.

“
My name is Dr Jessica Bennett, not
sweetheart
.
”

“
Oh, so you
’
re Bennett.  Look, doctor, I understand that being a git is all the
rage in medicine thanks to Hugh Laurie and Dr Becker, but I
’
m trying to have a conversation with Bradley here and all I can hear
is your yap.
”

Dr Bennett shot up from her
chair and slapped her palms down on the glass table.  She glared at Sarah, but
couldn
’
t keep her gaze for more than a few seconds. 

Sarah scowled, to make her
scars that bit uglier.

The doctor stormed out of the
room, leaving Sarah to fix her gaze on Bradley.  The kid struggled to keep eye
contact with her. 
“
Do my scars frighten you?
”
she asked.

“
What?  No!  Why would they?
”

“
Because
it looks like someone lit my face on fire and then wiped their arse with it.
”

 
“
No, it doesn
’
t.  You just look
…
different.  Anyway, your scars don
’
t bother me, but they obviously bother you, though.
”

Sarah sniffed, a little
surprised by the comeback.  The kid had deflected her button-pushing and
prodded back at hers. 
“
So, why
are you leaving?
”
she asked, trying a different tact. 
“
Did
you really screw up that badly?
”