by Katie Reus
Moving quickly down the hallway, he was aware of Isa directly behind him. Her scent and heat practically wrapped around him, reminded him she was alive. The sheer relief he experienced when he realized it was her stepping out into the hallway, that she was unharmed… There were no words to describe how he felt now. All he knew was that he was going to make sure he got her out of this alive.
Whatever the hell this was.
He’d left a meeting with Hamilton an hour ago and had been doing some work in one of the offices when the power went out. When he’d noticed that the building was the only one in the city that appeared to have lost power, he’d gone to find Isa.
Instead he’d found two armed men roaming the halls. Two armed men with suppressors on their Gen3 Glocks. He’d quickly taken care of the problem—then divested them of their weapons. But he still wasn’t certain what he and Isa were up against.
The building was square-shaped, with the hallways running in a perfect square and offices on the interior and exterior. On the fourth floor there was a walkway that attached to a neighboring parking garage owned and used by Raptor Aeronautical. He had no doubt the main entrance to the parking garage was being guarded. But there was another way into the garage, one exclusively used by Hamilton.
The only reason he knew about it was because of the CEO himself. Unfortunately, there was still a chance it was being guarded as well, but at this point they had very few options for getting out of the building unnoticed. If he could just call in for backup, he had no doubt they’d be able to hole up somewhere until then.
Without knowing more about who had this building under siege or how far they were willing to go to flush out anyone inside, his options were limited.
When they came to an office on the opposite side of the building from the elevators, he ducked inside, Isa right behind him. He shut the door and turned to face her, taking in her appearance fully. No shoes, which he’d already noticed, but she seemed unharmed.
“Have you been hurt?”
“No. But they killed two people, a man and a woman.” Her voice trembled slightly, but she was holding up well.
“I saw the bodies.” He’d nearly lost his mind when he’d seen the motionless female body. For a moment he’d thought it was Isa and… He couldn’t even go there.
She swallowed hard before continuing. “I think I know why this is happening. I found something in the specs for military drones about to be released to the US government in the next week—in the actual computer programming. I know I wasn’t even supposed to be looking in those files, but I followed a hunch. I have no idea what the actual code means but it shouldn’t be there. I called Emerson from a landline because I didn’t have my cell… This is all my fault. What I said shouldn’t have been enough for all this.” She motioned with her hand, her voice low. “But I don’t believe in coincidence. This has to be because of that phone conversation. Alan Persky is the man I found linked to the code. He tried to cover his tracks and did a damn good job, but I was digging hard.”
Persky, the VP of the company. Yeah, he’d have unlimited access to pretty much everything. Still, the man would have left a digital trail no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Graysen could see by the recrimination in Isa’s expression that she blamed herself for what was going on, but now wasn’t the time to reassure her. “You saved all the information?”
“Yeah, on my laptop.” She held it out for him and rattled off what name she’d saved the files as.
He snagged it from her, slid it out from the soft case and turned it on. This was a Red Stone laptop, one she’d used specifically for this op. They’d been monitoring it, and had left a security lock off it so sneaky employees up to no good would be tempted to look at her computer. It was the reason they’d managed to get two people arrested today. And soon, likely a third. Not that it mattered right now.
As soon as the laptop fired up, he tried to hook up to a wireless connection. They might not have any power here, but he was hopeful they could connect to a neighboring building. He knew the chances were slim, but he had to try.
“I also saved the information on a flash drive,” Isa whispered as he tried to find an unsecured connection.
“Good,” he murmured, typing quickly. If he could get a message out to Harrison, they’d be home free.
She started rummaging through the desk drawers. Without asking, he knew what she was doing: looking for a cell phone. Smart woman.
“Damn it.” Of course there were no unsecured connections in the business district. But he’d been hoping to find a random coffee shop or something with free Wi-Fi. From their location, however, he couldn’t connect to anyone. With enough time he could probably hack into someone’s system, but right now they didn’t have time.
He shut the laptop and looked up at her. “I set up an email to automatically send to Harrison as soon as this computer connects to the internet.”
“So what you’re saying is, if we don’t make it out of here alive, if we get this laptop somewhere secure, the message will eventually make it to Harrison?”
He nodded. “That’s the plan.”
“Good. Where do you want to leave it?” she asked.
He scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. One laptop in a huge building would be difficult to locate no matter how many people they had sweeping the place.
“There’s a possibility that Hamilton has a cell phone in his office. I spotted a satellite phone on his desk earlier in the week.” And leaving the laptop there would be as good a place as any. Not to mention Hamilton had a private stairwell, one that led to the parking garage. Unfortunately, his office was on the top floor.
“We’ll have to get up the rest of the stairs undetected.” Isa’s voice was grim.
He nodded again. “I know. I’ve got two weapons I took off two men I killed.”
Her eyes widened. “Wait…where are the bodies?”
“I dragged them into an office.” He hadn’t had time to hide them well, not when his main focus had been finding Isa.
She let out a short curse. “Whoever is working with Persky is going to find out soon enough—if they haven’t already.”
He nodded. “Exactly. And staying in one spot is stupid. We need to be on the move, trying to find a way out of here. I think Hamilton’s office is a good spot to start.” At the very least they could hide the laptop there while they tried to find a way out. If not through the parking garage, then they’d find another way. Or if they had to, they could just hole up there as long as they could. He had two weapons, which wasn’t a lot against an unknown number of enemies.
She nodded after a long moment. “If he doesn’t have a satellite phone, we can keep searching for cell phones in other offices.”
“Agreed.” His voice was low, and even though now wasn’t the time, he gently cupped her cheek, needing the contact with her. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I’m glad you are too.” She placed her hand over his in a gentle hold, the action mirroring the surprising tenderness he saw in her gaze.
Though it jarred him, there was no time to dwell on it. He dropped his hand and pulled out one of the pistols. He knew she could shoot well, thanks to the training her father had made sure she had. Isa might not like weapons but he wanted her to have one now.
He handed it to her and though he could see slight distaste in her eyes she nodded and took it. She held it against her body and kept her finger off the trigger.
He pulled out the other weapon, and automatically checked to see how many rounds it held even though he’d checked before. Force of habit. “We’re going to head to the eastern stairwell. From there we’ll go as far as we can. If we hear someone entering the stairwell, we take the closest exit.” Graysen had no doubt of his own skill, but he didn’t want to put Isa in any unnecessary danger. If that meant lying low instead of facing some of these threats head on, that was the way it had to be. “We’ll avoid using these weapons if at all possible.” Because he wanted to save ammun
ition in case they got trapped somewhere. But he didn’t tell her that.
She nodded and reached for the laptop, but he picked it up and tucked it into the back of his pants. It was slim enough that it fit fine against him.
“If I tell you to run, you run. Got it?” He needed to know that she would follow orders. There were too many unknowns, and with such a huge threat, he had to be secure in her reactions.
“I’ll do whatever you say. You’re the trained one.”
His gaze fell to her mouth and he had the most insane urge to kiss her. He wouldn’t. The timing was pure shit and she wouldn’t welcome him anyway, but the urge was still there. It would probably never go away.
He nodded and turned away from her. Quietly, he opened the door a fraction, listening for any sounds. After ten solid seconds and hearing nothing, he drew his weapon and swept out into the hallway. It was empty in both directions. Turning, he motioned to Isa, who hurried out behind him.
She might be a civilian, but she was holding up incredibly well. After everything she’d been through a year ago, he wasn’t surprised. Even if he hated that she was stuck here with him right now. He would do anything to get her to safety.
Their movements were mostly silent as they hurried down the hallway. Her breathing was slightly elevated, the only giveaway that she was stressed. When they neared the end of that first hallway he held up a hand and slowed, motioning for her to do the same.
A slight shuffling made him pause. Then he heard it again. When he turned to Isa, saw her eyes had widened, he knew she’d heard it too. He pointed to a doorway with the door cracked open about a foot.
He waited until she’d slipped inside then put a finger over his lips. She nodded but he saw her surprise when he shut the door, closing her inside. He wanted to know she was somewhere relatively hidden while he did some recon.
Someone was trying to be quiet, which could mean another innocent civilian was trapped in the building, or one of Persky’s men was hunting for him and Isa. He was betting on the latter. There weren’t that many people in the building around this time of night on a regular basis.
With his back against the wall at the end of the hallway, he kept completely immobile, strained to listen.
He heard the shuffling again. Then again. It was very faint, like the sound of clothing rustling. Maybe someone was sweeping offices. Or some innocent civilian stuck in the building had witnessed some of the bloodshed and was attempting to hide. Didn’t matter. He needed to find out if there was a threat coming his and Isa’s way.
He ducked into the office next to the one Isa was hiding in. He had to trust that she would stay put. She was smart and wanted to get out of this alive as much as he did.
She sure as hell wouldn’t be safe forever, so he had to make sure no one got through him. He would keep her safe, no matter what.
He left the door slightly ajar and hid behind it. Using the shadows as cover, he kept an eye on the corner of the hallway so he’d see when anyone rounded the corner. From the sound of it, someone was definitely coming their way.
Adrenaline pumped through him as he honed his focus. But training and instinct wouldn’t allow him to zero in only on that potential entry for a threat. He was very aware that someone could come up on him from behind. Unfortunately, that was a risk he was willing to take. Anything to keep Isa safe.
The tenderness he’d seen in her gaze earlier was still with him. He couldn’t get the sight of it out of his head. She’d looked at him the way she had when they’d been a couple. When he’d been lying to her about who he really was.
He might have missed her desperately for the past year, but seeing that expression on her face was like a punch to his solar plexus. A reminder of everything he’d lost.
All the muscles in his body tightened when he saw one man, then another, both armed, round the corner. He’d been right—the slight shuffling he’d heard was their clothing. They were quiet enough, but without any external noise like the hum of lights or computers, every sound seemed over-pronounced right now. Which was why he would have to move hard and fast.
He needed to take both these threats out without any fanfare. He hoped there were only two of them. The two men who Isa had seen earlier had been working as a team. And the two men he’d killed had been working as a team as well.
It stood to reason there were only two men here now if they stuck to pattern. But if there were more, he’d end them too. He’d end anyone who thought they could harm Isa.
He waited one beat, then two. Three, four. They moved farther into the hallway, almost past his line of sight. He didn’t see anyone else coming. Had to move now, regardless. They were sweeping offices and his would be one of the first.
He watched from the shadows as one man made a hand motion to his partner, showing that they’d split up—one going into the office across the hall, while this guy would move to the one Graysen was in.
Whisper silent, Graysen stepped out, his weapon already raised. He shot the one closest first, then the next. It took 1.5 seconds to make the head shots. The second guy had started to raise his weapon but he never got the chance to fire. Graysen didn’t bother checking their pulses. No one survived a head shot.
Keeping his weapon up, he scanned the hallway behind him before easing around the corner the men had come from. He couldn’t afford to get sloppy now.
There were a hell of a lot of shadows but it appeared clear. And it was silent.
Moving quickly, he dragged the two bodies into the office he’d been hiding in. Nothing to do about the blood stains on the carpet or against the wall, but at least it put the men out of sight. He patted them down, found no cell phones.
Of course it couldn’t be that easy. But he did take their weapons: two more Glocks, again with suppressors, and three blades between them. He was actually glad for the suppressors since no one would be alerted about the shots he’d just made.
He also stripped them from the waist up when he realized they had on Kevlar vests. Took both of them. Then he snagged both hand-held radios, hooked one onto his belt.
Once he’d taken everything from them he and Isa could possibly use, he gave two gentle knocks on the door of the office she was in. They might not have a signal in place but he hoped she wouldn’t shoot someone who took the time to knock.
He stepped inside, found it empty. “It’s me, Isa.”
She popped up from behind the desk, her eyes wide. In the dimness, her normally bright green eyes appeared to be almost black. “I heard a couple thuds. Are you okay?”
“Fine. I took out two of them. Come on, we need to get moving.” As she rounded the desk, he held out one of the vests for her. “It wouldn’t hurt to wear this. And this,” he said, handing her a pair of socks he’d taken from one of the dead men. Her feet had to be hurting by now.
Wordlessly, she slipped the vest on over her head as he did the same with his, tightening the Velcro in places. It stood to reason that any armed men coming for them would aim for the head once they realized Isa and Graysen had on body armor, but accurate head shots were damn hard to make.
When they were done, he handed her the radio. She hooked it onto her skirt, but it was too heavy and slid off so he took it back. After a quick search of three offices, he found a duffle bag someone used for the gym, emptied the dirty clothes in it and dropped everything he’d taken into it—except the laptop, which he handed off to her. Then he hooked the long strap over his body and wore the bag like a satchel.
“You ready?”
A brisk nod, her expression determined. “Yeah.”
After peering out and scanning the hallway again, he stepped out, Isa right with him. Adrenaline punched through him as they reached the next stairwell entrance. He motioned for her to stand flat against the wall as he pushed the release bar.
Weapon up, he eased the door open. No one was waiting to ambush them. He was still tense, all the muscles in his body pulled tight as he moved carefully onto the landing. Isa moved in behin
d him, held the door until it shut quietly.
He pointed upward even though she knew what they were doing. She just nodded. He could have moved faster, but kept pace with her as they headed up the stairs.
Even with the extra added weight of the Kevlar vest and no shoes she was still moving at an impressive clip. Fear of dying could do that to someone. They made it to the top floor in record time but Graysen was still careful as he opened it using the old-school key he’d received at the beginning of this job. Since he’d been on this floor before he knew the layout well.
Glossy tile gleamed under the city lights streaming in. He paused, listened. No signs of life.
Even so, he moved in first, weapon ready as he scanned the area. Hamilton’s assistant’s desk was clutter free and because it was glass and chrome it was clear no one was using it as a place to hide. Isa stepped in with him, her own pistol in hand.
She looked so damn fierce with the vest and weapon.
He motioned for her to stand next to a bookshelf on one of the walls of the huge, open space.
Methodically, he checked the visitors’ restroom, then Hamilton’s private one as well as his office before moving on to the conference rooms and other offices not currently in use. The entire floor had the feel of being empty but he had to be vigilant.
Once he was certain the floor was clear, he hurried back to Isa, gently took her elbow and led her to Hamilton’s office. Inside, he shut the door and locked it for good measure as she set the laptop on the oversized desk. He did the same with the bag.
“How’d you get a key to Hamilton’s office?” Isa asked, her voice still low even though there was enough insulation where they were that no one would be able to hear them.
Instead of answering, he crushed his mouth to hers, pushing her up against the nearest wall. The timing was shit, but he didn’t care. There was a chance they weren’t going to make it out of here, and if they didn’t—he was going to taste her one more time.
