Ghost Canyon (The John Decker Supernatural Thriller Series Book 7) Anthony Strong (popular romance novels .TXT) 📖

allow only one person at a time through. I’ll go first. Wait for the door to close behind me and then follow my example.”

“Understood.”

“If you have any issues, speak to the guard,” Hunt said. Then he leaned in and let the scanner do its work.

A brief alarm sounded, and the door opened. Hunt stepped through before it swung closed again.

Decker heard the clunk of hidden locks re-engaging.

He glanced toward the guard, who was paying no attention, his unwavering gaze still fixed upon the monitors. Decker stepped up to the scanner and leaned close, looking directly at the optical reader. After a moment, a red light on the scanner turned green, and he heard the locks draw back again. Seconds later he was standing with Hunt on the other side of the door.

The corridor was featureless, with blank white walls, a white floor, and a ceiling that exuded light with no visible fixtures. It ran thirty feet to a second door identical to the one Decker had passed through moments ago. The only visible items were two small security cameras, one mounted above each door. Decker felt strangely claustrophobic and hurried after Hunt to the second door.

“This corridor acts as a safety valve between The Zoo and the outside world,” Hunt said. “The system only allows one door to open at a time. The guard in the antechamber we just left can also override the optical scanners and instigate a lockdown to prevent either door from opening if the situation warrants it.”

Decker didn’t ask exactly what circumstances it would require for a lockdown. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Instead, he remained silent while they repeated the process with the scanners, and then he stepped out of the corridor and into a place unlike any he had ever seen.

“Welcome to The Zoo,” Hunt said, clearly amused by the look of surprise on his companion’s face.

“This is nothing like I expected.” Decker had visited many prisons, and The Zoo resembled none of them. He stood on a high gantry that ran through the middle of a vast space that fell away beneath them. Other gantries ran off at right angles leading to metal doors set into the cavernous chamber’s exterior walls. On the levels below, he could see more doors. Like the corridor they had just left, the ceiling was one large, illuminated block with no visible fixtures. It flooded the chamber with clean white light.

Hunt gave Decker a few moments to take in the spectacle before he spoke. “Each level has room for one hundred and twenty containment pods, which we call suites. There are sixty bays on each side, accessed only by these suspended walkways.”

“Containment pods? Suites? Those sound like fancy words for a jail cell.”

“An accurate assessment. We try to avoid associating this facility with a regular prison. We use the containment pods to transport those we bring to The Zoo from the location of their capture. Once the pod arrives at this facility, we move it to an empty bay where it becomes part of the structure.”

“The transportation doubles as the inmate’s permanent cell.”

“Again, we don’t like to use terms like inmate or cell,” Hunt replied. “But yes, at least partly. The pod becomes part of a larger suite designed for the occupant’s specific needs.”

“Got it,” Decker said. “How many levels are there?”

“Five, all of them independently accessed via the elevator we just rode down here.”

“There’s no movement between levels from this chamber?” Decker asked.

“No.” Hunt shook his head. “Each level has its own access point and security. That way we can control entry to different parts of The Zoo. For example, your own temporary security clearance will only allow entry to this level. Travel down to D3 and you won’t get in. Likewise, we can set security clearances suite by suite. If you have business with a particular guest, as we call the occupants of The Zoo, you won’t be able to gain admittance to any of the other suites unless your basic clearance level allows it.” Hunt started along the gantry. “Follow me.”

“This place is incredible,” Decker said, glancing around as they traversed the high walkway. He looked over the railing to the levels below, noting how the bottom floor contained rows of tables and chairs much like the rec area in a conventional prison. The occupants of that level, it appeared, enjoyed greater freedom than those on the floors above.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Hunt replied. He turned left and led Decker along one of the branching gantries. They stopped in front of the metal door and once again repeated the ritual with the scanner in order to gain access.

The door opened.

Decker stepped over the threshold into a dimly lit room with an opaque wall made of a shiny material that resembled glass.

Hunt crossed to a narrow podium that held a touchscreen. He played with the controls for a moment and then, much to Decker’s surprise, the wall’s opacity faded and became transparent to reveal the room beyond.

Decker took a step forward, his eyes wide. A dim cavern sat behind the glass, with rugged stone walls and a gravel floor interspersed with small boulders. Beyond this, at the edge of darkness, Decker could see animal bones strewn in the dirt. He looked sideways at Hunt. “What are you keeping in here?”

“You’ll see.” There was a smile on Hunt’s face. As if reading Decker’s mind, Hunt motioned toward the bones. “Before you ask, we’re feeding it sides of beef and pork ribs. We are not sacrificing goats to it or anything.”

“Feeding what?” Decker moved closer to the glass and peered into the gloom. From the darkness, a pair of yellow eyes glowed. Then a familiar figure stepped out of the shadows and returned his stare.

Hunt joined Decker and stood, arms folded, mesmerized by the creature beyond the glass. “Not so scary now, is he?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Decker felt a shiver creep up his spine. He approached the glass and Grendel did