Black Market Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Genesis Valley Book 2) by Amelia Jade

government operation. Or some sort of paramilitary outfit. Not good either way.
    The gate itself was big enough to fit a transport truck, with a few feet on either side, but that was about it. Sandwiched between two four-story brick buildings, he almost hadn’t noticed it. There was a walkway between the two buildings the same color as the gate. In fact, as he looked at it more, Ajax realized it was designed to blend in so most people would think it was just one solid building. Clever.
    Much to his delight, there was a coffee shop on the far side of the street and about two hundred feet down the road. Ajax slipped inside, ordering a drink and some food while he watched the place, searching for cameras and guards.
    It took him all of ten minutes and a stale bologna and cheese sandwich to realize that if there were any of either, they were so well hidden he would never spot them. Alarm bells were ringing in his head, telling him to go back, to go home. To get some reinforcements before he did anything. Whatever it was he had gotten himself into, it was bigger than just him.
    Wolfing down the last bite of his food and tossing some crumpled bills on the counter, he washed the tasteless bread down with some coffee that was surprisingly good, and then jogged slowly across the street.
    “You’re an idiot,” he muttered to himself. “This is suicide.”
    Perhaps it was, but whatever this organization was, he had yet to encounter them. They didn’t know him, or who he was, or what he did. So he could at least go and see if anyone was home. To his eye, the place looked deserted.
    As he got closer, Ajax noted that the walkway had steel-reinforced flooring, and a steel covering that rose about three feet up as well. The rest was covered, with openings every five feet like clockwork across it.
    That’s a bloody firing platform if I ever saw one, he realized with a start. Men could position themselves up there and fire down at anyone who was trying to storm the place, protected by what was likely military-grade steel below and three feet up, providing perfect cover for them. He counted eight spots all told, before spotting two larger openings in each building that had the same look.
    “It’s a fortress.” He looked around, but there was still no one. Who were they expecting to fight off?
    He didn’t like it at all, but the one thing he lacked was information. Coming to the front of the gate, he saw a man-sized door on the far building. There was a red buzzer in front of it. Ajax lifted a finger to press it before something caught his eye.
    “What the—” he muttered, leaning closer to the door. Everything so far had been perfect, in a square and blocky way. All the corners were squared off, everything perfectly level. There was no half-assed workmanship at all.
    And yet, for all that, the door was clearly at an angle to the rest of the building. Frowning, Ajax reached forward with his fingertips and gently pushed on it.
    To his surprise, it swung open easily.
    “Interesting,” he muttered, glancing around the street to ensure no one was watching him before he slipped inside.
    The inside of the building was almost exactly like the outside. Drab, simple, and utterly utilitarian. Gray paint covered every surface that wasn’t already gray concrete. White lights, a stark contrast from the yellowish sunlight, brightly lit the hallway in front of him.
    Ahead and to his left was what looked like a welcome booth. There was no one at it. All of Ajax’s senses were screaming at him that it was a trap. That somehow, they knew he was coming, and had prepared all this for him to lure him inside.
    Fighting back the urge to run, he moved forward down the hallway. Windows lined the right-hand side, looking across the open road to the building on the other side. Again, he saw steel in the wall and open windows every five feet. Looking across the packed gravel, he saw the same.
    It was a modern-day medieval castle murder hole taken to