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Back The Keeper of Bees Save as PDF
Contents ( 49)
  1. CHAPTER ONE
  2. CHAPTER TWO
  3. CHAPTER THREE
  4. CHAPTER FOUR
  5. CHAPTER FIVE
  6. CHAPTER SIX
  7. CHAPTER SEVEN
  8. CHAPTER EIGHT
  9. CHAPTER NINE
  10. CHAPTER TEN
  11. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  12. CHAPTER TWELVE
  13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  19. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  20. CHAPTER TWENTY
  21. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  22. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  30. CHAPTER THIRTY
  31. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  32. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  40. CHAPTER FORTY
  41. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  42. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  43. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  44. THE SAME BREATH
  45. 1
  46. 2
  47. 3
  48. Acknowledgments
  49. About the Author

He retraced his steps to the service door that led into the warehouse. Standing to one side, he used a fallen branch to hook the door and pull it open. The blast of a gunshot followed; the branch jerked in Hazard’s hand, and then the door fell shut. He studied the metal, which had been ripped open like a tin can by pellets from a shotgun blast. The branch was shredded, strips of bark flayed back where the wood remained. Hazard counted; he had barely gotten to three when a small, popping explosion made his ears ring. The door had been trapped twice. Hazard let out a soft breath.

When he got back to the coal chute, he repeated the maneuver, using a branch to work open the cast iron door. The process was more difficult this time, mostly because the chute’s door was so much heavier, but Hazard managed it after a few fumbles. No gunshot. He counted sixty seconds, but no secondary explosion followed. Planting the butt of the branch in the soft earth, Hazard wedged it in place with a rock to keep the coal chute open. Then he moved around to look into the darkness.

A plastic banner—thin and translucent, the cheap kind you might pick up for a child’s party—hung just inside the coal chute. Printed on it in rainbow colors was the word CONGRATULATIONS!

With an irritated grunt, Hazard tossed in a pair of portable lights, the plastic cases clicking when they hit concrete. He studied the opening, adding his flashlight to the illumination, sweeping the beam back and forth to check for tripwires or pressure sensors or motion detectors. He couldn’t see anything, and he decided he had just learned rule one of the game: stupid choices get punished. Lowering himself onto his belly, he slid into the Empire Fruit building.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

JULY 6

SATURDAY

4:58 AM

THE SOUND OF STEPS dragged Somers out of the half doze. His hand closed on the Glock, and he squirmed upright, bracing himself against the wall. Nico mumbled something and tried to burrow deeper under Somers’s arm.

As the steps came closer, their quality made Somers’s heartbeat rise. These weren’t custodians finishing up an overnight shift. The steps were quiet; whoever was making his way down the hall was obviously trying not to be detected, and the steps were coming closer and closer to the sub-basement.

Somers jogged Nico’s shoulder, and the younger man looked up blearily.

“Wha—”

Somers shushed him and pointed at the limestone chamber at the bottom of the stairs. Staring at Somers, Nico blinked a few times. Somers touched his ear, pointed to the hall, and then pointed to the sub-basement again. Nico’s expression changed to panic, and he scrambled down the steps. When he got to the sub-basement proper, he hesitated, still looking at Somers. Somers waved him off, and after a moment, Nico darted out of sight. Somers adjusted his position, kneeling low on the stairs, his body on the side of the stairwell where the door hung in the frame—that way, when the door opened, Somers would have an extra few seconds of cover, possibly giving him the advantage he needed.