The night rain grew heavier, thunder roaring overhead. Carter Industries Tower stood amid the storm like a leaning black obelisk, its glass curtain walls streaked with worm-like trails of rain.
The red light of the security door's fingerprint scanner flickered three times in Carter's eyes before it finally recognized him. He could not help silently thanking the IRS for not cutting off the backup power.
A muffled sound of tactical boots striking the metal floor suddenly came from the corridor behind him. As Carter slipped into the shadows of the break room, he saw the reflection from Agent Lake's night-vision lenses sweep across the wall. The seasoned Agent was inspecting the scraps in the shredder with a tactical flashlight.
"Team B, seal off the fire exits. Team A, advance with me." The static from Lake's radio briefly echoed down the corridor, filled with an inorganic indifference and the mercilessly brutal aesthetic unique to law enforcement.
Carter carefully moved toward the doorway. A sudden crash of thunder lit up the entire floor, and he saw Blon's blood on his suit cuff glowing an eerie blue under the lightning.
Ten minutes later, Carter crouched on the maintenance platform in the freight elevator shaft. Below him came the creak of Gauntlet against the rubbing steel cables. Lake's voice resonated through the shaft with a metallic timbre. "Mr. Carter, the shell companies you set up don't come with bulletproof protection."
The flashbang Agent threw upward made Carter instinctively jerk back. The back of his head slammed into the wall, spraying blood. But enduring the searing pain, he jumped through a gap in the maintenance platform.
Rain lashed against the glass curtain wall with a rapid patter, as if countless invisible hands were pounding on the heart of this steel behemoth.
Carter panted heavily as