As he helped lift the stretcher into the ambulance, Jed glanced over his shoulder to see the two medics pushing Zhao’s stretcher toward the second ambulance. Unfortunately, the two Chinese agents from the conference room and one uniformed soldier were running beside them, and he could already hear a heated argument between the medics and agents about accompanying Zhao. The larger agent, who towered over the two paramedics, pulled back the edge of his coat to show them his pistol.

The two paramedics froze, and to Jed’s dismay, the Chinese agent climbed into the back of the ambulance as they loaded Zhao inside.

“You ride with us, please,” Hyeon said to Jed. “In case man wakes, we need speaking with him. No German.”

“Ja,” Jed said.

He glanced again at the other ambulance, where the doors were already closed. The others—two uniformed soldiers and the smaller man in the dark suit—took off at a sprint back toward the Renaissance hotel, no doubt to retrieve their own vehicle and trail the ambulance. Jed jerked the doors closed behind him and slid onto the bench seat beside Hyeon. The Shepherd gave him  a big, familiar grin as the ambulance accelerated.

“Now we get to the Mission: Impossible stuff,” Hyeon said and raised his eyebrows twice.

Jed nodded but knew this was the most dangerous part of the entire evolution. “Still not sure how this works,” he said, holding on to the bottom of his seat to keep from being tossed to the floor as the driver navigated at high speed toward the edge of the park.

“Just like David Copperfield, bro. It’s all smoke and mirrors and the power of suggestion.”

A moment later, the ambulance came to an abrupt stop. Jed imagined the other ambulance pulling in tight beside them. He heard a click as Hyeon activated a hidden side panel door which shifted inward and dropped out of the way, just as a small, mirrored panel flipped out between the two ambulances, filling the gap at the front of the new opening. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Jed turned to see the smiling face of the German scientist now sitting up and in perfect health.

“Fun and games,” Weider said in American English, confirming his true pedigree.

“Four is clear,” Grayson announced in his ear, but Jed ignored the call, focused on the task at hand as the side of the second ambulance, just ten inches away, opened a mirror-image hidden panel.

In the rectangular window, Bex’s face popped into view.

“You ready?” she asked.

“Pass him through,” Jed answered.

Three sets of arms appeared, cradling the unconscious Dr. Zhao, and passed the scientist through the gap to Jed, Hyeon, and “Dr. Weider.” They quickly loaded him onto the stretcher, with Hyeon cradling the man’s head to make sure it didn’t smack on anything during the transfer.