THE BRAVO BOYS - SNAKE EATER [book three]

Chapter FORTY SEVEN

Logan Nash

The front door to the Alpha Tech premises swings slightly ajar in the bristling evening breeze, but the lights inside are all blacked out, leaving the first floor shrouded in a velvety darkness.. "Kalliope? Did you forget the alarm codes again, Little Darlin'?" Calling out to the forgetful temp who has been known to lapse in memory and lack general competency, I set foot inside to be greeted by an eerie quiet..

The kind of quiet that only comes in the solitude of the night.. Stagnant nothingness.. The place is empty..

My skin crawls with an anxious warning as my palm slides across smooth plaster to the place where the silent alarm flashes in strobes of bright white.. Inputting the six digit code, I then flick on the downstairs switch to flood the first floor with fluorescent overhead light..

Momentarily stunned by the sudden illumination, I blink rapidly and allow my eyes to adjust, only to be confused to find the place completely empty.. Not a paper lies out of place, or a screen left idle..

Everything is exactly as it should be..

Did Kalli simply forget to lock the door behind her on the way out?

Good god, the girl is useless..

Still, I can't bring myself to actually fire her, that would be needlessly cruel.. Instead I think I'll have a serious talking-to with her about diligence and professionalism..

Making tracks across the glossy marble tiles underfoot, I reach the narrow staircase that leads up to my office.. When my fingers wrap around the cool steel the bannister, I catch the aroma of something strong and sour.. Distinctly actinic, with pungent notes of chemical solvent, the air grows thicker with each stair I climb.. "What the fuck-?" I mutter beneath my breath, lifting my arm to bury my nose in the crook of my elbow as a means of evading the acrid stench..

When I reach the landing, I find sharp, shattered shards of glass strewn across the carpet and it is then my concern escalates..

Somebody has been in my office..

Reaching into my jeans pocket, I draw out my cell and proceed to dial 911 at the same time as I set foot inside to find my workspace has completely ransacked.. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of tech lays smashed to smithereens among the upturned furniture.. Emptied file cabinets and fallen bookshelves lay dismantled with their contents spilling out..

It is as if somebody had taken a baseball bat to my entire life and yet their motivation remains mysterious..

There is no threat or warning accompanying the violent disarray.. There is only destruction..

Whoever did this wasn't trying to send a message.. They were looking for something..

"Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?" A calm and controlled female voice resonates down the line as my gaze slips over the wreckage of my workplace.. A deep sense of violation stems from my unsettling surroundings that causes my vision to distort as cortisol floods my system..

My heart pounds heavy behind my ribcage and my head throbs with tension as I struggle to open my mouth and form words.. I had worked my whole life to create a space of my own.. A place where I was in control and nobody could enslave me.. But in a flash, that security had been stolen from me..

I feel helpless..

Weak..

Fucking pathetic..

"Theres-uh- been a break in at my office.." I reply numbly, crouching down to rectify an overturned box filled with discarded computer components..

"Okay.." My words seemingly have little to no effect in the emergency service operator.. No doubt she has received word of far more serious, life-threatening scenarios.. "And what is the address of your office, Sir?"

"It's 874, Parkview Parade, Northgate.." I listen to the sound of long nails tapping away at computer keys before the operator speaks in confirmation..

"874, Parkview Parade is The Alpha Technology Company? Is that correct, Sir?"

"Yes." I nod reflexively, slumping back in my haunches as defeat seeps into my bloodstream to exhaust me entirely..

"And what is your name and relation to the premises?" The responder continues her practiced proceedure..

From the corner of my eye, I noticed the leather bound notebook laying discarded with its spine twisted and it's cover torn.. "My name Logan Landry Nash, I'm the leaseholder of the building, Mam'.."

On hands and knees I crawl across the floor to overturn the notebook, my gizzards twisting into knots when I find the pages torn out..

Hendrix's codes were in this book..

The cipher key to his mutated nano-site formula that would bring about the birth of a new bio-weapon, the likes of which the worlf has ever seen...

A weapon that wouldn't just start wars, but finish them..

There is only one person who could be responsible for the desperate destruction before me..

The boogeyman of Blackstar..

Wyatt Bennings..

"Okay Logan-" Croons the operators calming voice, snapping me out of my bitter rumination.. "Can you tell me if there is any immediate danger to you or others in the vicinity? Are the intruders present?"

"No, mam' it's just me.." Folding the misshapen notebook beneath my arm, I haul myself back up to my feet, scanning for anything salvageable.. But there is nothing..

Fuck..

"And are there any weapons on the premises that police should be aware of, Sir?" Her smooth lilt becomes muffled to my ears as a steady ticking sound grows louder, echoing from the far corner of the room where my desk sits, splintered and capsized..

-TICK-TICK-TICK-TICK-

"Sir? Are you still there? Can you confirm there are no weapons on the premises?"

-TICK-TICK-TICK-

I take a slow backwards step, retreating with caution.. "Yes, mam'...But uh- there's a real strong smell- like diesel fumes or summit' in here- I think somebody was fixin' the burn the place-"

-TICK-TICK-BOOM-

The sudden eruption throws my body sideways with the force of a thousand charging bulls as a blast of bright light and fire roars all around me.. Unforgiving, blinding heat licks at my skin and the thunderous echo of an explosion rips right through me with a deafening impact that feels as though it tears apart the very fibres of my being..

In those final milliseconds before everything turns to black, one final thought flashes through my head..

So, this is how Dixie must have felt the night she died..

This is what must be like to burn in hell..