Danger in a Fur Coat (The Fur Coat Society Book 4) Read Free

building. The windows of the lobby were all shattered, and the walls had been completely vandalized. The numerous computer screens around the lobby had been cracked and destroyed. Juno gingerly stepped over the broken glass that was everywhere, and made her way out onto the city streets. She was in the middle of the Loop, the heart of downtown Chicago. There was snow everywhere, which was a strange sight since the city streets would normally have been plowed and kept clear no matter how many inches of snow were dumped on the city. Instead, the streets were abandoned, full of snow with footprints crisscrossing in every direction. Juno wondered about the footprints. Were there still people here?
    As if in answer to her question, she heard a bloodcurdling scream ring out through the dark night. She jumped, her heart pounding again as she took a step backward to lean against the wall of a nearby building. Moments later, gunshots rang out, followed by more screaming. Juno shivered, and not just from the cold. It didn’t sound like the current residents of the city were all that friendly. She resolved to keep a careful eye out as she started walking down the street. Everything was ransacked. Every storefront had broken windows and messy, spray-painted messages on the outside walls. The stores seemed mostly empty, and Juno stepped inside a few only to find that all of the food, drinks, and anything else that might be vaguely useful had been taken. She wasn’t sure who was still living here, but it was clear that Chicago was in a state of chaos. Once again, Juno was overcome with a sick feeling in her stomach as she realized just how true the dire news reports had been. Death and destruction were everywhere.
    Juno quickened her pace and started heading in the direction of Hook Labs. She wanted to get off the streets as quickly as possible. Every now and then, a scream rang out, and she didn’t want to meet with whomever was causing those screams. Thankful that at least she knew the streets of the city like the back of her hand, she broke into a run and didn’t stop until about fifteen minutes later, when she stood in front of the Hook Labs building. The lobby windows were smashed in, just like all of the other buildings’ windows. Juno’s heart sank. She hadn’t thought about what she would do if the Lab was completely ransacked and destroyed. Without the equipment from Hook Labs, she wouldn’t be able to work on a vaccine or cure, and then this whole dangerous little trip would have been for nothing. But as she stepped inside, she noticed that the main doors to the interior of the building were shut. She also noticed that there were some lights on, because light was creeping from under those doors. Somehow, this building still had electricity. There must be some sort of backup generator working. Probably solar powered, which also meant that the security system was most likely still working. On the one hand, that was good. It would have kept the looters from getting in and raiding the lab. But, on the other hand, she was going to have to find a way to break in—no easy feat since she was sure that Hook Labs’ systems would have been programmed with the highest level of security. Even though the scientists that work here had probably all died off or abandoned the place long ago, Juno was sure that they had left the security systems set to the highest levels possible. Juno pulled back her long sleeve to glance down at her solar-powered watch, which glowed dimly in the darkness. It was after three in the morning, and she was exhausted. She was having trouble thinking straight at this point, and she needed time to think about how she was going to get in to a high-level security building with no special tools and no one to help her. Juno let out an exasperated sigh. She needed to find a place to sleep tonight, and then try in the morning with a clear head.
    As silently as she had entered, she left the building and went back out