Ingrams & Assoc 6: Downfall Ch. 03

"This is gonna take a couple of minutes, to see if there is anything on these machines. These are the ones I told you about. They normally are only activated from another thumb drive, but they may have some stuff on them. We have to check. I'm going to look through the records. You go to the other end of the corridor, and open the door there. You'll see... you'll see some dorm rooms in there. Get everyone out. Do whatever you have to."

He passed her the skeleton gun, and nodded past her.

"Go on, quick as you can. Get them out up top. I'll join you in a second."

April looked at the skeleton gun and then back at Morgan.

"GO!" he urged.

She rolled her eyes at him. How like a man to make her do all the work.

But she turned and ran out the ruined door to the other end of the corridor. Another locked door, this one steel. No kicking this one in. She looked at the skeleton gun again, then jammed it into the lock, pulling the trigger.

As she did so, the end of the gun, with the small protuberances that attempted to form fit the locking mechanism whirled and clicked, and the door unlocked, opening slightly.

She removed the gun from the key hole, and opening the door, walked in.

What she saw beyond shocked her to her core.

The entire room was a massive dormitory. Bunk beds down the room, at least twenty sets, if she was a judge. The room was lit, dimly, and she could see steel toilet bowls and sinks at the end of the room. As she opened the door, the light from the corridor spilled in, and she could see some of the occupants of the beds shifting slowly, some opening their eyes at her.

The smell was fairly omnipresent, but it was the dull looks in the eyes that had opened to regard her that shocked her.

They were empty. Dull. Lifeless. Basic curiosity, but anytime she met anyone's eyes, they looked away, furtively.

The word she was looking for was afraid. These were people who's will had been broken. Pushed into the dark, they wouldn't know what to do in the light.

All of this she took in an instant, and it galvanized her. She knew now what Morgan had meant. They had to get these people out there. If the heat above didn't kill them, the smoke that would drift down probably would. They had been left to die, unknown and uncared-for by the world above.

"Right," she called out, voice clear and strong. If these people were broken, then she'd have to be the voice of authority. "I want all of you up now. The building above is on fire, and we have to get out. Now."

No one moved, although more people had apparently woken and were shuffling in their beds, looking over at her.

"NOW PEOPLE. LET'S GO," she shouted. She needed to get their attention. She had to be the one in charge, even though she hated the reason she had to be.

She looked over at one frightened pair of eyes. A woman. Young. Early twenties, she guessed. Almond skin.

"You. You speak English?" April demanded.

The face nodded, slowly, cringing a little.

"Good. Get down. Now."

The face hesitantly, stared at her, then nodded, and the girl clambered down from her top bunk. She was wearing a simple smock, with nothing on her feet.

"You have a name?" asked April, still brusquely.

"Ni... Naomi," she replied, flinching a little at Aprils overbearing stance.

"Right Naomi. Good. Now, get the person on the bunk under you up, and I want them all to be in single file. Right now. Got that?"

Naomi hesitantly nodded, and then bent down to help the man on the bed under her to his feet.

The log jam broken, everyone started moving, climbing down from their high perches, or rolling out from the bottom bunk, all standing by their beds, eyes averted from April.

"Right, we all ready?" April demanded, not waiting for an answer.

"Naomi, you stay there, make sure everyone is out, then follow us. I'm depending on you, okay?" she ordered, grabbing the man next in line to her.

"You, come with me. Everyone else, follow. Single file."

April led them out, all the way down the corridor, turning right to the longer corridor, and up the stairs, out through the storage room and then through the water dropping from the ceilings, out the main door, and right outside. She noted they were all following obediently, heads down. The women in the white smocks, the men in pants and white scrubs shirt.

When she got outside, with the first man, she hesitated, not knowing what to do with these people. She could see the security that was still around stand up and take notice, along with the emergency personnel, but thankfully, the first face she actually looked into was Mike, dressed as a medic. Right next to him was Beatrice, dressed similarly. Behind them, just past the fire engines, was a large bus, and they nodded to April and then gathered up the man she was leading.

"Here, this way. This is the way, let's get you someplace safe," they murmured gathering all the people as they exited the house, and taking them towards the bus.

April had to admit, they had this down, Morgan's crew. They knew exactly what they were doing. They had an escape route for all these people all set up, leaving nothing to chance.

As she turned to go back into the building, - noting that the fire was still expanding, despite the fireman's best efforts, - the local cop that Morgan had talked to earlier hurried across.

"Where did they come from?" he asked in a puzzled, but also relieved way.

"Basement," replied April, truthfully. "We found a doorway. We need to get these people out of here. To a hospital. Possible smoke inhalation," she improvised. It seemed to fit.

"Yeah, good call. Glad we had the bus on hand," the cop said, rubbing his jaw. "I hope there's another one on the way. We've got more to get out of here." He said, nodding at the other people, standing around in various stages of undress.

April noticed that the security guys from the building were staring at her. They obviously couldn't do anything with the police and firemen around, but they knew. They knew that the entrance was hidden. That these people must know something. But they couldn't do anything right there and then. She could feel them studying her face.

But, as she shrugged internally, "who cares?" She needed to get these victims out, and far away from these animals who would imprison their souls. What they would do with them once they had escaped was a problem for another day.

"I wonder why the security guys didn't mention a basement? Something isn't right here," the cop said, almost to himself, after a moment of watching people in white clothes exit the building.

He turned towards the security contingent and yelled, "Hey, you guys."

It was already too late. The security group of about eight men were already walking away, very fast, towards three black SUVs, parked at the edge of the front parking area, beyond where the emergency vehicles where.

"Hey, stop!" he yelled, starting to run after them. Others were starting to turn around and pay attention, and April took the moment to slip back into the house, pushing past the exiting people, who looked back at her, uncomprehendingly.

As she hit the bottom of the steps, she met a visibly frustrated Morgan, heading in the opposite direction.

"There's nothing there. Stuff on upkeep of the house, management stuff, but nothing about what they do down here. Just like the other places."

April just looked at him, and then said, "We got these people out. If that's all you do, that's going to mean something pretty amazing to them."

"Yeah, I guess," he replied, somewhat bitterly. "Just... you know."

"Look, we need to get the last four out. Hey, Naomi," exclaimed April, turning to talk to Naomi, as she walked slowly past, the last of the exodus.

"Stick around for a second. There are four more, in these rooms. We need to get them out, but they'll need the most help."

Without waiting to see if Naomi listened to her words, April walked back to the first door, the one she'd already been through, and pushed open the door.

The woman within was awake now, the noise of the people leaving obviously having woken her. She was afraid, trembling and more than a little apprehensive when April went through the door.

April, remembering her own experiences in a room just like this one, was as gentle as she could be. She was hampered by the fact that they didn't have much time, but she managed to coax the woman out, and left her with Naomi, as she went to do the same to the other three. Morgan wanted to go in and help, but she shushed him away, explaining that these room occupants weren't ready for a male appearance. They'd just assume it was part of their captivity.

Eventually, after fifteen minutes, between her and Naomi, and a hovering and frustrated Morgan, they had everyone out from the building's hidden cellar, and aboard the bus, ready to take off.

"You know where to go," nodded Morgan at Beatrice, who was already sitting in the bus driver's seat. "Get going. We'll see you in a bit."

She nodded back and started the engine, and Morgan exited the bus and slapped the side.

"Okay, just you and me now, and probably time to leave," said Morgan, looking at April, but nodding towards the local cops. "I think they are going to get inquisitive."

The lead cop, the one they'd spoken too was staring at them, and chose this moment to come over.

"Where did you get those people? We didn't find anyone else the firemen went through the building?"

"Seems like they didn't do the best job," replied Morgan, smoothly. "We found steps down to a cellar. Looks like where they kept the hired help."

"Why wouldn't the security have told us about them?" wondered the cop. "They just took off. And you showed up with a bus, ready to take those people. Something is wrong here. Who are you guys again?"

"Captain," said Morgan reassuringly. "I suggest you go look at the basement area yourself. Take a good look around. The fire department looks like it's gotten the blaze under control, and the structure isn't going to fall in on you. Take a look. It'll answer some of your questions, I'm sure. As for the bus, well, that wasn't us. I assumed you guys had asked for some. Isn't that just the first one that arrived? I commandeered it because some of those people needed hospital treatment. Smoke inhalation and such."

He was very smooth and convincing, and April wondered again at how good a military intelligence captain this man had really been.

The cop nodded, his head at an angle, as is done when something is pointed out that they'd previously overlooked.

"Yeah, I guess. Take a look, you say? Okay. But stick around. I want you in my report."

The cop waved to one of his subordinates, and took off the house.

"And that, I think, is our cue to leave," smiled Morgan at April.

She didn't need telling twice. They slowly maneuvered themselves to the back of the crowd, and walked away, to the edge of the car lot, jumping in the car they'd sequestered and driving away carefully.

When they were out of sight of the drive way, April turned to Morgan. "It's what I thought. Exactly as I remembered it."

He grimaced. "Yes, we need to talk more about that, really understand what is going on. Let's do it when we get back and then you'll only have to tell the story once."

That was unexpected patience on Morgan's part, considered April. If it was her, she'd want to know everything immediately. And while she had him...

"So, that cop. Isn't he going to see the basement? See what it is? Raise some kind of alarm? Actually, why haven't you just taken a journalist down into one of those places? Do an expose? Surely that would get you some results?" she wanted to know.

"Well, it's not like we haven't tried April," replied Morgan, patiently, not taking his eyes off the road as he guided the car down dark country roads.

"Firstly, you have to understand that the way we get into these places, well, it's different each time. They learn and adapt their security. We try and burn the damn things down every time, just because it'll cost them. But what we do is very illegal. You think Sixty Minutes is going to follow us down with a camera crew when we've done something extremely illegal to get in, in the first place? As it is, we won't be able to use the dodge we used this time again."

"How did you get close to the place? There are cameras everywhere?" interjected April, curious now.

"While their internals are not on any network we can hack, their security system is. We got in and messed with the phone connection to the place. Did that for a few days, then intercepted the call to the phone company, and substituted our own crew for theirs. Lindsey and Mike got there, fiddled with the phone box on the wall, and added our own little concoction, which distributes clear accelerant over the walls, and then ignites when we make the call. The place starts burning, and we aren't anywhere near it. But they are smart. They'll do an investigation and figure it out, and we won't be able to do it again."

April smiled sardonically. She should have figured that out herself.

"But back to your question about an expose. The second time we did this, we did actually take a local TV journalist with us. We had the same thought you did. Even if she couldn't use what we found there, she'd have enough to do her own research, legally. Knowing what you might find is often the basis for looking in the first place, you know? So, we took her with us. She was appalled, but also pointed out that the reality is that the place itself isn't that indicative of what is going on there. So they have a hidden basement? That's not illegal. They have dorms down there. That's also not illegal. Lots of bigger places have the help live on site, and while it's a bit squalid and not the norm, so what? Again, not illegal. We've never been able to find any of the drugs they use there, assuming there are any, - and what you've said confirms our belief, - but the treatment rooms, well, they are unusual, but there are a lot of things you can come up with for what they are for? There's no smoking gun there, if you don't understand what you are looking at? It's very carefully put together to leave no obvious illegal ways of interpretation."

"What happened with the journalist?" April wanted to know. There was more to this, she could smell it.

"That's the first time we began to have an inkling of how ruthless this little group could be. Three days after we hit the building, she vanished. Now, she was a low journalist on TV in San Diego. The one used for externals, covering the state fair kind of thing, you know? She sent in her resignation, - didn't even show up for it. Just vanished out of sight. She showed up six months on the arm of some rich oligarch in Canada. Pregnant. Which was surprising, since when she was in San Diego, she was a mother and married. He got some documents from a lawyer giving up all her parental rights. When she surfaced again, Don went to find her. He couldn't even get close. Her new fella's security turned him away, and left him with the message from Shelly that 'she didn't want to look at her past life. She'd made a new one now.' You do the math on that."

April nodded. "They got to her."

"Yeah. Wasn't money though. It was... something else. That's when we really began to realize what these people were capable of. And why we aren't bringing anyone else in until we have one hundred percent proof. We don't need to be putting anyone else in danger till we get all we need."

"Makes sense," replied April.

They lapsed into silence for a while, before April asked, "Where did Beatrice take the people we pulled out?"

"Hospital. For real. Although a specially selected one, that's a bit further out. One with a psychology wing. We left them there since they are the best qualified to take care of them. We left them with clear instructions of where they came from, and what we think had happened to them, - you helped a lot in giving us some idea of that. Still want to hear your story though. All the details."

April turned to him and said, "I gave you the basics already."

"Yeah, but there's always some detail that's important. Something on the periphery that we might need to know. Sorry, the intelligence officer in me won't let it go," replied Morgan, glancing at her with a smile.

April regarded him for a moment, not saying anything, just taking in his profile. For some reason, he'd never been more attractive to her than he was in that moment. With a start, she realized the mission was over now. He wasn't a target or a potential patient going forward. Everything that happened from here on was on her shoulders; there was no eventual aim to guide her decision making.

And he was tremendously attractive. For some reason, that was troubling.

Morgan glanced over at her and saw her staring at him. "What?"

To cover her own emotional turmoil, April said the first thing that came to mind.

"Just trying to work you out. What's your aim here? What's your end game? You get some details on this lot, and then what?"

"Go public. Talk to the New York Times, or the Times of London. CNN. The BBC. Who'll ever listen really. We need to stop what is going on. There are bad people involved in this, April. It needs to stop." Morgan said it all flatly, like reciting a food order. It was obviously something he'd said more than once in the past.

"Yeah, I get that. But why you? What's your race in this horse? The ex-wife?"

Morgan pulled up at a T Junction, and stopped, looking over hard at April, his face emotionless. She could tell she had hit a nerve.

They sat there for a moment, then Morgan judged he could turn the corner, and as he did, he said, curtly, "We'll talk about that later."

And there was silence in the car until they arrived at the apartment building, both staring out the window alone with their own thoughts.

* * * * *

When they walked into the apartment, they found they had beaten Beatrice and Mike back, only Lindsey and Darrel were present. They were a little jumpy, and immediately accosted them to ask how it went. Was it all successful? No problems? Did they get what they needed?

Morgan handled all the questions, while April just plonked herself in a comfy chair, and sat silently, waiting for Beatrice and Mike to show up. While she waited, she made herself and everyone else a hot drink but otherwise kept to herself. She had a lot to sort through, emotionally.

Eventually, a couple of hours later, Beatrice and Mike came bustling through the door, talking back and forth. Evidently their mission had been a success. Their first questions on entering the apartment were the same as Lindsey and Darrel, - 'where they successful?' Morgan had to disappoint them as he had the other two earlier.

Morgan made a point of breaking into his own personal stash, - Johnny Walkers Blue, he didn't skimp on the good stuff, - and gave everyone a glass. When everyone had a drink, and they were all sitting comfortably in a circle, he called order.

"Okay, so tonight's was a bust. At least in terms of getting us further or any actionable intel. As April pointed out, we did get people out of their clutches, so that's a definite plus. But we aren't any closer to getting these guys."

He stopped and took a sip, thinking about the events of the evening.

"Now, I think we need to hear April's story in more detail. There may be information here that will help. We've got the gist, but we need a proper debrief. April, you want to give it to us?"

April nodded, and for once, she didn't feel a Them vs Her vibe. They were all on the same side now. Even Beatrice was relaxing a little.

April considered her options for a moment. Did she tell them everything? If she did, it would be a gross breaking of all the rules Ingrams had. There would be no going back after that; these people would have intimate information on how Ingrams operated and what it did, and if it got back to Jessica, it would be an instant fire able offense. On the other hand, April felt that this was bigger than her. She'd been on the receiving end of what these people were doing, and she wanted to fight back. If she was as trained as she was, what was the point if she wasn't using those skills to take down what the Stormy Clouds cabal was doing?