Split Second Read Free Page A

they
do, it won’t matter.”
    He said it with such a total air
of certainty that it was impossible for Jenna not to believe him.

3

 
    The La Jolla night sky was
cloudless, as usual, and the display of stars would have been awe-inspiring
under normal circumstances. As it was, Jenna fought to calm herself and become
a dispassionate and clinical observer and thinker.
    The physical and mental
exhaustion she had been feeling had been obliterated by repeated surges of
adrenaline and she was hyper-alert as the group of five rounded the block,
stopping before a semi. The truck was small for an eighteen-wheeler, but it was
still an eighteen-wheeler , a fish out
of water in a residential neighborhood. It dominated the street like the rare
moving vans that would visit the neighborhood every few years.
    As if the night hadn’t been
surreal enough, the truck had the words Hostess
Cakes emblazoned in blue on both sides. Several red hearts were arrayed
around this logo, and large images of cupcakes, Ho Hos ,
and Twinkies adorned the outside of the vehicle. While the sky was moonless,
the star field was just bright enough for her to make out these decorations, as
well as the truck’s license plate, which she memorized.
    Another man was already seated
in the driver’s seat of the cab, apparently waiting for his three colleagues to
return. The back of the truck was open and dimly illuminated, and they were led
up a ramp and inside.
    Three more men were waiting
there, sitting against one wall, and nods were exchanged as their two colleagues
came into view in the back of the truck.
    Wexler turned to the short,
stocky man beside him and arched one eyebrow. “Sure you brought enough men?” he
said sarcastically.
    “Yeah, this is total overkill,” admitted
the man with a shrug. “I’ll give you that. But take this as a compliment, Dr.
Wexler. It’s a measure of your importance.”
    The shorter man, clearly the team’s
second-in-command, motioned for them to take a seat on the wall opposite his
three associates, and they complied. He parked Wexler’s hard drive and laptop
beside him, and he and his blond partner sat next to their colleagues on the wall
opposite the two prisoners as well. Seconds later the truck’s engine roared to
life and the large vehicle pulled away from the curb, beginning its mysterious
journey.
    Heavy equipment of unknown type
was stacked against the back wall of the windowless trailer and strapped tight,
and each of their captors had large nylon duffel bags resting beside them.
Jenna had no idea what was inside these bags, but it wasn’t a shipment of
Twinkies or Ho Hos , of that she was certain. She
guessed weaponry of some kind, although their captors had yet to point a gun in
their direction and continued to try to maintain the illusion that their cooperation
was voluntary.
    Jenna stared at the stocky man
and forced a smile. “Surely you can tell us something ,”
she said. “I get that your boss wants to control the discussion with Dr. Wexler.
But what’s the harm in telling us where we’re going? I mean, we are American citizens, after all, and
you’re military, right?”
    The man smiled and shook his
head. “Nice try. You can assume anything you’d like. But I still can’t tell you
anything more. But rest easy. You won’t be harmed, and answers are only a few
hours away.”
    Jenna frowned at this response,
but also realized her attempt had not been entirely futile. At least they had a
sense that their journey in the back of a semi would be a relatively short one.
    The truck made a number of turns
as it worked its way out of residential areas. Within ten minutes they
accelerated up what must have surely been a freeway onramp, and less than an
hour later they began climbing steadily. While there were a number of mountains
and mountain ranges near San Diego, after twenty minutes of steadily increasing
elevation their current location was clear. Only one mountain was this tall and
this close: