North drove down the alley behind her apartment tower and stopped in front of the heavy garage gate.

“Damn.” Sierra unbuckled her seat belt. “I just remembered I lost the remote opener when those Puppets firebombed my SUV. There’s a security box beside that door over there to the right of the gate. I’ll use my fob to open the door. Once I’m inside I can open the garage gate.”

She got the SUV door open, jumped down to the pavement and hurried toward the door. A swipe of her fob and she was inside. She went to the security panel next to the gate and punched in the code.

The big steel gate rumbled as it rolled up into the ceiling. North drove into the garage and stopped. She opened the passenger-side door and used a handhold to hoist herself onto the seat.

“My parking spot is number one-oh-three,” she said. “Second level.”

North waited until the gate closed before driving up the ramp. He turned the corner and cruised down an aisle created by two rows of vehicles.

A screech of tires on cement shattered the gloom-filled silence of the garage. The vehicle appeared at the far end of the aisle. It stopped, blocking the exit.

“We have a problem,” North said.

He threw the SUV into reverse and started to retreat swiftly back toward the opposite end of the aisle. He slammed to a halt when another set of headlights appeared, blocking that route.

“Out,” he said.

He unclipped his seat belt and leaped from behind the wheel. Sierra scrambled out of the passenger’s side.

“The elevator lobby and the emergency stairs are that way,” she said, pointing toward the center of the garage. “The lobby is locked. If we get inside we’ll be safe.”

“We don’t have enough time,” North said.

The doors of the cars blocking them slammed open. Two of Loring’s men charged out of one of the vehicles. The other two emerged from the second car. They raced toward the Foundation SUV. Sierra saw that three of them were clutching conventional handguns, not paranormal weapons. The fourth, Ralph, had a glass globe in one hand.

“They’ll head for the elevators,” Ralph shouted.

“They’ll never make it inside,” Joe said. “I disabled the security panel.” He raised his voice. “Hear that, Chastain? You and the bitch are trapped.”

North pushed Sierra down behind the protection of a car and crouched beside her. He slipped his gun out from under his leather jacket. She sensed energy rise in the atmosphere. They were both running hot now.

“Loring got the damn crystal,” North said, raising his voice to be heard in the echoing garage. “What do you want from us?”

“The boss says he wants to talk to you,” Ralph said. “He wants to do a deal with the Foundation.”

“What kind of a deal?”

“He’ll turn over the entire cache of weapons if Arganbright agrees to let him and the four of us leave the country,” Ralph said.