After handing over the supplies, Kazimi returned to the lab to gather up Humphrey’s notes. Lou had given him orders to escape from Red Cliff through the guardhouse tunnel in the event anything happened to him. If for any reason Lou failed to take down Bacon, someone had to get the Janus research to the authorities.

Humphrey seemed more concerned with getting his research completed, and he urged Kazimi to stay and work with him and the other scientist.

They entered the passageway and paused for Lou to don a pair of rubber gloves and to review their plan. He had misgivings, but the thought of once again testing his mettle as a gunfighter held no appeal, either.

Not surprisingly, the door to the security room was closed.

Humphrey maneuvered his wheelchair to face it, while Lou, pistol in his waistband, pressed his back against the wall to Humphrey’s right. In one hand, he held Vaill’s listening device. In the other, he gingerly cradled a beaker half full of the concentrated sulfuric acid that Kazimi had retrieved from the lab.

The headphones fit snuggly. He put the microphone up to the wall and listened.

“Bacon, it’s Jessup here,” Lou heard a man say. “Burke is dead. One of the intruders I reported about carried him through one of the big windows in the Great Room. They’re both gone. I’m back in my office now. No sign of the other guy or the two scientists. They were all there a few minutes ago, but now they’ve all vanished. Remember, the cameras have blind spots, and there are only a few of them down at that end.… So, what do you want me to do?… Yes, boss, I’ll stay right here and keep my eye on the screens. But if you want me to go after them, just say the word. Yes, sir. Yes. I understand. Protect the scientists at all costs—especially the one in the wheelchair.”

Lou put the listening device away and tightened his hold on the beaker.

He was surprised at how calm he was feeling compared to his state of utter panic staring down through the trapdoor opening in the stone house. He sensed it was from having watched Vaill give up his life the way he had. Witnessing that kind of selflessness had its effects.

A single deep breath, and he nodded to Humphrey that it was time.

Humphrey took the extender arm from its hook on his wheelchair and used the custom-made contraption to knock on the door.

Even without the listening device, Lou could hear scuffing from within. He imagined the goateed security man peering through the peephole. It was a good idea not to go for a gunfight, but now Jessup had to open the door wide enough for Lou to make his move. That would depend on Humphrey. The door opened a sliver, then a bit more.