“Even if you manage to come up with a couple of hunters, it won’t do any good,” Jack said. “Your people would be outnumbered by the Nightshade freaks.”

“I know you’re something more than a strat now,” Fallon said urgently. “But you’re still just one man. What makes you think you can do this?”

“Power of positive thinking.”

“How do you know they’ve got Chloe inside that gym? The auras haven’t reported seeing any unusual activity in the alley or in front of the building.”

“She’s in there. Those bastards aren’t the CIA or the FBI, either. They don’t have unlimited resources any more than J&J does.”

“You’ve got a point,” Fallon said reluctantly.

“They could have smuggled her in through an underground entrance. Hell, maybe that’s how they got me inside.”

“It’s a possibility. What exactly are you, Jack?”

“According to Chloe I’m still just a strat. But I’m a really strong strat. I’m turning off the phone now, Fallon. I don’t want it ringing at the wrong time.”

“No, wait, don’t hang up—”

Jack cut the connection and hit the off key. He dropped the phone into his pocket, crossed the street and went down the alley behind the old brick building that housed the gym. It was only six o’clock, but at this time of the year it was already full dark.

There was a guard outside the rear entrance, but he was easily distracted by a wave of panic that had him staring, wide-eyed toward the opposite end of the ally. By the time he realized that the attack was coming from the other direction, it was too late. He swung around when he heard Jack behind him, reaching into his jacket with hunter-enhanced speed.

But there was no way even the strongest of hunters could move faster than a current of energy. Jack hit him with another sluicing wave of terror. The guard’s mind could not handle the nightmare that engulfed him. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Jack dragged him behind the nearby metal trash container and stripped him of his clothes, gun and keys.

Two minutes later, dressed in the guard’s clothes, cap pulled down low over his eyes, he used the keys to enter the back of the gym. He generated small pulses of fear to make sure that the two burly-looking hunters he passed in the hall were distracted, unnerved and looking the other way when he went by.

There wasn’t a large staff in the building. He hadn’t expected to encounter a lot of people. As he had pointed out to Fallon, Nightshade was forced to work with many of the same limitations that applied to J&J. In addition, maintaining a low profile was Job One for any self-respecting conspiracy that wanted to survive.

He found the stairwell and went down into the basement, emerging in a familiar corridor. This was the reverse of the route he had followed the night he had escaped, he thought.

He found the room where he had been held with no difficulty. Being a strat meant that you never had to stop and ask for directions.

There was a guard outside the door again, a strong indicator that Chloe was locked inside. He refused to let himself think of what the bastards might have done to her. That way lay madness. He had to stay focused, or he would be of no use to her.