Protected by a Hero

by Susan Stoker, Cristin Harber, Cora Seton, Lynn Raye Harris, Kaylea Cross, Katie Reus, Tessa Layne

  They came to an abrupt stop, and the bag was ripped off, grabbing her hair with it. “Shit!”

  But no one cared. They simply tossed the bag on the floor, and two men were walking away. Oh no—their faces weren’t hidden, and they didn’t look concerned. Prime time TV 101 said that her likelihood of dying just skyrocketed.

  Lexi sucked down the desire to puke or pass out and glanced around at where they’d left her. It was the middle of an open area with industrial ceilings, a metal door on the far side surrounded by pallet-made walls. The space was maybe twenty yards by twenty, and there was a desk and computer in the middle.

  A man she hadn’t seen before walked from the shadows. He circled her, assessing and judging. His intense scrutiny wasn’t about her as a woman but a hacker. She could sense her people, and this guy was a wannabe-elite hacker, a man with no scruples. He was evil. It flowed in the air as he breathed. His eyes were as intelligent as they were dead. He had no morals, no compass, no thought for humanity. He was as emotionless as she’d ever seen a person. It was completely terrifying.

  “SilverChaos.” The man towered over her, just a little shorter than Parker, and he was pissed. In a major way. All because he couldn’t figure out Monarch.

  Her objective was the ARO network as much as it was pretending to fix Monarch. She needed to infect their system while she worked, creating a dormant program. Whenever the laptop connected to the internet, the malware would silently, automatically come to life and trace how large the Arab Resistance network was, both on US soil and abroad. The demon program would hunt and harvest the ARO’s contacts, correspondences, uploads, and downloads. Every keystroke, every one click. Everything.

  “It was hard for me to believe a slight woman like you, dressed like sin, was smart enough to be SilverChaos.”

  Bam! A gunshot echoed through the air. She jumped, turning toward the noise. Terror ran through her. Parker had been shot? God. Wait. No. In her briefings, they’d said that the abductors might trick her, make her think they’d harmed Parker to get to her react. Or they might have actually harmed him, in which case there was nothing to be done.

  Bile burned her throat. Now she was the one running the probability statistics, even though she had no idea what the confidence intervals or variable manipulation factors would be to correlate survival. A small sliver of what Parker had to have been feeling began to overwhelm her.

  Bam! As the second shot rang, she cried out. She needed Parker to explain that the shots were simple tricks, that everything would be alright. Her lips trembled, her teeth chattered. With blurry eyes, she squeezed them shut to get rid of the tears and end the nightmare, but neither happened.

  “I go by Taskmaster. You will do as I say.” His lightly accented English was articulate.

  “Please, I don’t—”

  He inclined his head. “I’ve been impressed with you. I will give you that. But I’m done with your games. The ARO revolution is in place, and you hold the key.” Carefully, he reached behind him and unsheathed a long, serrated blade. “Your mentor did not go easy.”

  Eyes wide, she moaned at the thought of Shadow under the knife’s blade. “No.”

  He nodded then tilted his head toward the desk. “You don’t need all of your fingers to work. We will go one at a time if that is what it takes.”

  Tears flooded her eyes. “Please—”

  “Or you will sit down and repair the Monarch files.”

  She sniffled. “Don’t kill me.”

  “I’ll kill you if you don’t work, but not before I get what I need.”

  She moaned with fear. “I’ll do it, and you’ll let me go?”

  “You’re not in a position to negotiate.”

  “What can I do to”—her hands shook—“survive?”

  “You’re a resource. Prove your talent is worth keeping.” A flat, uncaring smile moved on his lips, but he’d just given the reason he might not shoot her dead the second he thought she was done.

  All she had to do was make sure he knew she was game. Careful to use the simple words she’d been taught by military psyche-war people, she nervously continued the conversation. “Keep me alive, and I’ll do whatever you need.”

  His eyes assessed her again.

  “Please,” she whispered, wiping away tears.

  “Sit. Work.” He spun the knife in his hand. “We can discuss other options after you have completed your task.”

  Numbly she walked to the computer and booted it up, tears still quietly streaming down her face. She wondered if the gunshots were a tactic or if Parker was really dead.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  Two gun shots in the old warehouse, and Parker was going to murder everyone that he didn’t recognize as a friendly. The men guarding him cackled after the shots were fired, knowing it had gotten to him. Damn it, his mind was stronger than these petty maneuvers, which were not unexpected. But the mind games got to him more than they should. One of his guards paced closer, delighting in what had obviously made Parker react, and chuckled as if the inevitable had just happened.

  “I’m gonna kill you first, fucker,” Parker snarled with his hands still taped behind his back. “Then you next.”

  Both men laughed, and Parker seethed. They’d gone through a maze of hallways with his eyes covered before arriving there, where they took off his hood. The room held little that he could use as a weapon when the time came. A few chains hanging overhead. The table, a chair. Metal barrels marked as chemicals. His mind ran over every object, assessing how they could be used, even if right now, he wasn’t in a position to do much but wait.

  Another man walked into the room. His dress varied from the men who’d taken him. Motherfuckin’ terrorist middle management.

  “Ah,” he said in a light accent, “I see we have SilverChaos’s boyfriend. Unexpected, but a useful incentive if need be.”

  “You hurt her, so help me God, I will tear you apart.”

  “See?” He grinned like death. “We all do things in the name of our god. You want to kill me.” He made a face as though he found humor in it. “And I want to kill you.”

  “I will.”

  “You might try.” The man clapped. “She was hard to pin down, but I assume that has something to do with you.”

  “Eat a dick, asshole.”

  “Stupid American. All muscles, no brain.”

  How many minutes had gone by? If the ARO had put her on a computer already, they were almost golden. He needed to drag this out for another fifteen? Maybe? Then she would have done what she needed to to infect their system in a way that this dumbfuck never saw coming.

  “You don’t like a smart woman, do you?” Parker goaded.

  “Smart and useful are different.” A snide, self-important sneer crossed his face.

  “Sucks to be outmaneuvered by a female, right? Is that what bothers you most? Or that your attempts to get her before were amateur?”

  “You aren’t worth my time.”

  Parker turned to the two men at the door. “Your boss was one-upped by a woman. God—Allah—whoever you fucks pray and kill for is laughing.” The guy smacked Parker across his face, making him laugh. “No wonder a woman outsmarted you. You even hit like a girl.”

  That time, his captor roared back and punched him in the gut.

  Parker laughed harder, arms still taped behind his back. “Pansy ass.”

  “Kill him.”

  Parker caught the man’s eye. “Another thing you can’t do yourself.”

  With a maddening look, the man charged. Parker dropped to the ground, pulling his legs up and sliding his duct tape-tied hands from behind him in the split second it took to fall. Wrists now in front of him, Parker wrapped them around the captor’s neck, locking him inches from his own face. Parker slammed his head forward, rendering the other man stunned, then pinched his neck with his forearms, suffocating the leader as the other men ran forward, guns drawn.

  “Don’t shoot your boss.” Parker released the strangleho
ld on his neck, keeping him alive and worthy of a terrorist-human shield.

  The man gasped and sputtered in Parker’s face. They backed into a hall as the guy fumbled for his side, trying for something, likely a weapon. As they rounded a corner where Parker had sufficient cover, he slammed the leader’s head back against the wall then dropped the unconscious body. A serrated knife clattered to the floor.

  After grabbing the blade, Parker ran down the hall, needing a place to hide and ditch his tape cuffs. Door after door was locked. Foreign voices echoed as people looked for him. When they found their leader, alive or dead, their rage wasn’t good news for him, but it was potentially detrimental to Lexi.

  Needing to find her quickly, he tried one more door and ducked into a dark bathroom. For the next forty-five seconds, Parker held the blade between his knees and sawed like all hell through the tape, nicking and scratching, slicing and tearing apart both skin and restraints. Finally he ripped his hands apart and palmed the knife.

  The searching voices had quieted, and that was fine. As long as they stayed away from his woman, they could search all they wanted because now he was hunting them.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  Lexi typed as fast as her mind could process and juggle both of her tasks. A ringing cell phone startled her, but she kept going. The man answered, snapped in foreign-tongued surprise, then her guards split. One with a full beard came at her while the other ran out.

  “Hey!” She jumped from her chair. “I’m working. I swear!”

  He pushed her back into the chair and pulled cable ties from a pocket. He grabbed her kicking feet and tied them to the chair legs as she fought. Next, he yanked off his belt.

  “Hey, no!” Her eyes went wide. Her ops briefing had very quickly run through the types of attacks on women that could be expected, but this made no sense. Not now. Not when she was doing what they wanted. “I’m working. I promise. See!” She pointed at the screen. “See! Don’t touch me!”

  She batted his hands, but he didn’t grab her how she expected. He wrapped the belt around her torso and buckled it behind her back, securing her to the chair.

  “I was working.” What had changed?

  Her lone guard didn’t say a word but used his foot to push her closer to the table and computer. Was something wrong with Parker? Was Titan there? Her mind raced, and her hands slowed. The man yelled at her, slamming his hand on the table and pulling her from her thoughts.

  “Okay, I’m working.” She picked up her speed, letting her fingers dance on the keyboard until finally she stared at the masterpiece before her. The malware was ready. It looked right. It read like it would do what she wanted, what the DIA had asked of her.

  Another slam on the table, and the man yelled unknown orders in her face again. She pressed Enter without looking at the keyboard, just staring at his face.

  “The job is complete,” she said flatly, praying her hidden microphone announced to the world that she needed a rescue.

  Her gaze dropped to the screen as the man stood down. Nothing changed on the laptop’s screen, but it was working. An error message would have popped up if not. Her heart warmed that at least she was able to accomplish that. In addition to the malware, it looked as if the Monarch exploit program had been completed, but in reality, all the data would be siphoned and manipulated with any search the ARO tried. It switched like-named cities in different states and reversed specific numbers on street addresses with identical names on the file. If the Taskmaster did little more than a cursory check, her work would look correct.

  Lexi turned to the man and nodded. “Done. I want to see my friend.”

  The man nodded as if he understood and stepped forward, but instead of releasing her, the black bag came out. Lexi gulped in surprise as he tugged it on and tied her hands to the chair. Fear erupted even though this was on her list of possible things that could happen. The DIA had told her so many things, so many possible situations and reactions that her mind couldn’t process them until they happened.

  Titan had to have heard her proclamation that the job was done. They should arrive in minutes. Right? That was the plan. But seconds felt like decades.

  Her captor’s phone rang again, and after another conversation she didn’t understand, he also ran away.

  The warehouse echoed with noises, voices, and sounds of heavy movement. What had been a dozen ARO sounded like twice that. Doors slammed far away, and muffled shouts boomed. Where was her rescue team—but more importantly, where was Parker? There was just no way he’d been shot. It had to have been a diversionary tactic. Her heart wouldn’t make it if she’d lost him.

  A door slammed against a wall. “Lexi!”

  Her heart exploded at the sound of Parker’s voice. His boots flew across the room to her. Seconds later, the bag was ripped off.

  He sawed at the ties on her feet and wrists. “They hurt you?”

  “No.”

  He unbuckled the belt, untied her limbs, and grabbed her with one hand. “Did it work?”

  “Yes.”

  “Atta girl.” An explosion ripped through part of the building, and he smiled as he palmed the knife. “Sounds like backup arrived.”

  Backup was a bomb? Okay…

  Another sound boomed. He took off, dragging her with him. They made it to the wall and ducked behind pallet boxes. He pulled a gun from the back of his pants. “Here. Same thing—point and shoot. Aim, trigger, that’s it. Got it?”

  “Yeah.”

  He tucked the open knife into his boot and removed another gun that was tucked at the front of his waist. Jesus, when had Rambo found time to gear up?

  “Come on, sweetheart. We need to make it to rendezvous.” Parker placed her behind him.

  Well, alright then. It wasn’t the first time she’d held a gun with him in a sketchy situation, and hopefully it wouldn’t be too often of an occurrence.

  “These fuckers swarmed like ants. Must be a compound somewhere on site. Good thing is, not all of them are armed.”

  “Oh, great.” Only some of them were armed and trying to shoot them.

  Parker guided her into a hallway, and she wondered how massive the warehouse was, how long it would take Titan to find them, and how many terrorists constituted a swarm? Taking another turn down a maze of industrial hallways, they ran where the lights were low and noise ricocheted all around. She couldn’t get a read on where it came from.

  “Shit, turn around. Let’s go.” Parker spun them in another direction.

  A loud foreign yell stunned her in place.

  “Goddamn it.” Parker spun, pulling her behind him.

  A whole team of not-Titan was moving in on them. Parker pushed her down, firing at them as they moved toward him en masse. Four bodies dropped before he threw down the gun, and two men were left charging the hall—as Parker charged right back.

  She was frozen, watching the man she loved about to die for her. Parker grabbed the knife from his boot and threw it, hitting the upper chest of an attacker with bull’s-eye precision. Her mouth gaped as she watched the man gurgle and go down. But the other man dove for Parker as her man jumped up. In one fluid motion, Parker swung on a pipe to reach a chain then dropped down on his attacker, chain still in hand, and wrapped his neck in metal. A quick pull left the ARO man dead.

  Too much was happening around them, and she couldn’t keep up. Parker spun toward her as she heard the noise that had caught his attention. His arm reached out, pointing past her, as he sprinted. “Lex, shoot!”

  She rotated. An ARO man was gunning for her. Her heart stilled, her breaths stopped, but she raised the gun and pulled the trigger. Point. Shoot.

  When she realized her eyes were shut, she opened them. Holy crap. The man was bleeding on the ground. Parker swooped in, grabbing the weapon from her hand and lifting her in one strong motion. He ran them down the hall, jumping over the dead man like a bloody body wasn’t a big deal. Her ears rang from the blasting shot, and her hands trembled from the violent kickback.
But her mind was most affected. She’d just killed a man. Just killed a man…

  They rounded a corner, and he tucked her close, pressing her head to his chest, as his hands ran over her body as though he was searching for an injury. “You okay?”

  She shook her head, tears she couldn’t classify brimming and stinging her eyes. “No.”

  “You will be. Swear to God.”

  He took her hand, and they moved faster than she thought she could run through a bevy of hallways. She had no idea how he knew where he was going. As they went around yet another corner, men in tactical gear moved low and fast their way.

  Titan. The good guys. Whoever was there to lend a helping hand.

  “About damn time,” Parker growled.

  There was some kind of hand gesture. Someone came over, and from him, Parker took two weapons. The tactical guys motioned what she could only assume, with a thumbs-up and directionals, was an all-clear.

  Parker nodded. “Time to take you home.” With a possessiveness she almost couldn’t comprehend, he walked her quickly out into the cold black night, where the edge of the sky showed a sliver of light, a smoky yellow ray of hope.

  “Dawn,” he mumbled as if all was well and they hadn’t just run for their lives.

  A vehicle rushed toward them. Parker picked up the pace, covering her from behind as if he was living, breathing Kevlar, and the vehicle’s door flew open. She didn’t have an option to jump in because Parker lofted her in, tumbling inside as well. When she got her bearings and sat up, they were speeding away. A quick look at the driver made her mind spin.

  “Hey ya, hacker girl.” Sugar laughed. “Like I was going to be sidelined on this one. Even if it is just middle-of-the-night carpool duty.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT