by M. Malone
A long, long time ago, my name had been Gigi, and I’d been a bright-eyed, red-headed girl full of hope and love. And then the Family had taken me.
I never thought I would know love or hope again, until I met Matt and he made it his life’s mission to protect me. But, of course, his protection hadn’t been enough. He’d nearly gotten us both killed.
So affection, it was a dangerous thing. I dialed the number I had committed to memory. After one ring, I hung up. Then dialed and let it ring for two rings, and hung up again. Finally, I sent a text and then called again. On that final call, the person on the other line answered immediately. “Persephone, status?”
“I’ve landed in New York. They still won’t tell me who the target is. I’m supposed to go to the safe house and lie low, and then they’ll give me instructions.”
“You’ve got nothing to go on?”
I knew what my orders were from ORUS. I was to do whatever was necessary to gain the trust of the highest levels of the Family. If that meant taking out this target, then that’s what I would do.
“I know nothing. All I know is that if I take care of the target, I’ll meet Father.”
“Whoever it is, they want him badly. So if they want him, I want him. It’s risky, and we don’t know where they may or may not have moles, but if we can take the target alive, talk to him, question him, that can be extremely useful to us. If need be, we’ll tell the Family you had to put the target down. We’ll fake proof of death.”
“That will be risky, and there are other lives involved here.”
He sighed. “I know you’ve made promises and we’ll do our best to keep them, but that is not our primary objective. Do you understand?”
“Understood…” Except not understood. I was getting Sabine out of there whether Orion liked it or not.
I was playing a dangerous game. One that could get me and Sabine killed. Never mind whoever the hell my target was. I had to keep all three of us alive.
But I could do it. I had to do it. If I could get to Father, I could bring down the whole damn family: the people that destroyed my life; the people who took away the only other person besides my father that I’d loved. I was going to make them pay for everything, and I was going to stand back and watch them burn.
“My other mole inside the organization has no idea on the target either. But again, he is there to give us human trafficking routes and drug routes. Finding out about your target is above his pay grade.”
I cursed softly. “I know. I’ll call you as soon as I have more information.”
Orion was silent for a beat. “Be careful. I understand how great a risk this assignment is to you. Andromeda has already let me have an earful.”
I let a smile tug at my lips. Andromeda had saved my life more times than I cared to count. She was still an active agent in ORUS, but I had a feeling that the woman would retire soon.
A long time ago, she’d pulled me out of the Thames, nearly drowned, sick, and had taken care of me, had given me a whole new life. I owed that woman everything. “Tell her she taught me how to take care of myself. I’ll be fine.”
“Get to the safe house, lie low, sunset the phone and the chip.”
He always gave me the same set of instructions, as if I needed them. ”I understand. Will do.”
“Roger that.”
2
Matthias
When I was a boy, I saw a fire break out in the council estate where I lived. I would never forget the terror on people’s faces as they’d watched everything they owned burn right before their eyes. I’d been too young then to truly understand how far-reaching a disaster like that could be, but I’d understood all too well what it was like to have nothing.
I’d been an expert even at that young age.
Now, years later, I watched the lines of code streaming past on my screen and felt the same bone-deep emptiness I’d felt that day. I couldn’t stop this attack. Blake Security was in chaos and there was nothing I could do.
Panic clawed at my throat as I continued to furiously type commands.
My mind racing, I tried everything I could think of. Then I tried things I was sure wouldn’t work but I was desperate enough to try anyway. But no matter what I did, section after section of my network went down. It was like watching dominoes fall.
I wasn’t being at all dramatic to say it was like watching my world come to an end.
“I’ve been shut out. I’ve been shut out of my own system.”
The words hung in the air, sharp as knives. I was sure if I said them too many times they’d slice my lips to ribbons. But I had to do it. Saying it aloud made it all too real. It was just the slap in the face I needed to bring me out of the trance I’d been in since I’d first discovered the breach.
Like a shot, I was out of my seat. As soon as I hit the hallway, I called out, looking for my friends.
“Noah! Lucia!” I thought back to earlier tonight, trying to remember where everyone was going.
It was dark in some areas but the lights were still on in the kitchen. As if on cue, the lights went out, plunging me into darkness. We’d just discovered that we could control the lights remotely. I let out a disgusted sigh. There was no way of knowing just how much damage had been done so far by whoever was mucking around in my system.
“Help! Somebody help!”
I rushed forward at the panicked scream. It was a woman, which reawakened my fears that everyone hadn’t left as planned. When I got closer to the elevator, I realized the sound was floating up from a floor below.
“Lucia?” I asked incredulously.
“Matthias! Thank God! We were on our way back up when the elevator stopped.”
Noah spoke up then. “Matthias, what’s happened?”
My boss’s voice was steady but I’d known Noah a long time. This was his damage control, don’t-freak-out-Lucia voice.
“There’s been a cyberattack. I’m trying to get the cameras back online and restore my access but it might take a minute.”
Before they could respond, I heard a pounding coming from behind me. I whirled around, drawing my weapon in one fluid motion. Panting, I glanced right and left, looking for intruders. Nothing.
Not wanting to give away my position if there was someone in the penthouse with me, I didn’t bother to update Noah and Lucia on what I was doing. I could hear Noah still talking but I didn’t turn back. At least if there was someone in the penthouse with me, they were safe in the elevator.
For now.
Although it would have been really fucking convenient to have Noah to back me up right about now.
I kept my eyes trained on my surroundings as I traced my steps back to my room. Whoever had gotten into the system hadn’t turned off the power yet but it was only a matter of time before they figured out how to do it. If I had even a chance in hell of stopping them, I needed to regain control before that happened.
Just as I was sitting down, my phone rang. I snatched it out of my pocket and answered without even checking the number.
“What?”
“It’s Dylan. Ryan just tried to log in to the system and he’s getting an error.”
“We’ve been hacked. Don’t come back yet in case it’s a trap.” I hung up and immediately sent a text with the same message to everyone. Whoever was behind this had spectacular timing, locking down the system when Noah and Rafe wouldn’t be able to help me. Lucky.
Unless it was planned that way.
Whoever had executed this plan was skilled. Very. I was one of the best hackers in the world and it wasn’t false modesty that told me so, merely the number of systems I’d broken into over the years. It wasn’t often I met a system I couldn’t gain access to, and all of that experience breaking in places uninvited had given me unique insight on how to keep people out. So for someone to take control of a system I’d designed by brute force, it wasn’t a garden-variety hacker. Maybe not even one person. In all likelihood, it had taken a team working on it together.
> Which could mean that my past was coming back to haunt me. Finally. But if that was true and someone was coming to take me out, I’d go out in a blaze of glory.
Reaching under my desk, I unclipped the Glock that I always kept there. Next, I reached over to the shelf behind my desk and pulled forward my three volumes of the Lord of the Rings series and slid out the knives I kept hidden behind the books. Whoever was coming in, they’d better have done their homework. Because hacking was one thing; hand-to-hand was another.
At least I’d get to look the bastards in the eyes before I slit their throats. I was in the killing zone now. Nothing could bring me back.
Then I heard the one sound guaranteed to penetrate through to the heart. A baby’s cry.
“Isabella. Oh bloody hell,” I whispered. How could I have forgotten?
When Noah and Lucia had gone out for a quick bite, they’d only planned to be gone for an hour or two so they’d felt comfortable leaving the baby with me. Isabella slept so well that I rarely had to do much anyway when they left, other than the time I’d knocked her pacifier out and she’d screamed bloody murder until I’d found it and given it back.
I stood, my blood prickling in my veins like ice. This wasn’t just about me anymore. Whoever had chosen tonight to attack had signed their own death warrant. Because I would die myself before I let any harm come to Izzy.
Gemma
Waiting in theory was much easier than in practice. I had given myself plenty of time, leaving my hotel room earlier, being sure to dress in jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt—nothing that would attract undue attention. I’d taken a cab to the first address provided and then, per instructions, walked to the second address.
I stared up at the imposing glass and concrete structure, my burner phone clutched in my hand. This was the target? A security company? Knowing that my time was short, I whipped the T-shirt over my head to reveal the tight black compression vest beneath. This thing was designed to withstand a lot of force, was bulletproof, fireproof and could even keep me afloat if I found myself in deep water. From my pocket, I pulled out a band and tied my hair back. I would put on a mask before going in and would need my hair to be out of the way.
This area of town was busy so I kept to the shadows, feigning interest in the screen of my phone. But while I waited, I used the time to scope out the building. There was only one entrance visible from this side. Honestly, it looked like a run-of-the-mill office building or maybe a warehouse of some type.
I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting but this wasn’t it. Usually the Family had much loftier goals but perhaps this security company had information they needed.
Disgust roiled in my belly. God, I was tired of this. Living my life in the shadows, always at someone else’s whim. I thought back to the long-ago night when my mentor had fished me from the icy waters of the Thames. The night I should have died but instead had been granted a new life. My mentor, Andromeda, had taken care of me, taught me to defend myself and trained me to be a weapon so I’d never again be vulnerable the way I’d been as a child. But I couldn’t deny there were moments, in the dark of night, where I wondered if being saved that night was truly a mercy. Was this really a life I wanted to lead, being used to further the agenda of men drunk on the thought of more money and power?
Oh yes, even though I was undercover with the Family and had seen close up the atrocities they’d commit to solidify their power base, I was under no illusions that ORUS was much better. The organization had saved me, true, but it didn’t mean I was blind to the things going on behind the scenes.
Even a broken clock was right twice a day. I shook my head at the thought. It had been something Andromeda used to say when I would question their methods or strategies. As a teenager, I’d accepted it as being an easy way to brush off my questions. But now that I had more experience under my belt, I wondered if my mentor hadn’t been trying to justify the things they did in her own mind as well. If I was this conflicted about the ORUS mission after only seven years, I couldn’t imagine the moral compromises one would have made after a lifetime in. Not that I knew Andromeda’s age. Questions were one of the first things I’d learned to squelch. An inquisitive child, I’d quickly learned that people in my strange new world didn’t take kindly to anyone trying to ferret out personal details.
Not even the ones who claimed to trust you.
Some life.
Whatever. Shaking my head, I pushed away the uncertainty. I was here to do a job, and Sabine’s life depended on my succeeding. If this was the place I was designated to infiltrate, then so be it.
The phone in my hand vibrated. I raised it to my ear but did not speak, per my instructions.
You have three minutes to get up the stairwell to the penthouse level. The voice sounded robotic, like a computer.
I had so many questions. What if I took longer than three minutes? What if someone saw me? But instead, I waited quietly.
A second later, the robotic voice continued. Once you reach the penthouse level, your target will be alone. You have seven minutes to secure the target and exit through the rear door. The click in my ear was the only indication they’d hung up.
Well, that was that, then. I sighed. It was crazy to go through with this on so little information but what choice did I have, really? Bring back the target or my friend would die? It was an impossible choice.
Being an ORUS agent for the past decade had taught me plenty about impossible choices. And I didn’t have the time to ruminate on my decision because I had no doubt the voice wasn’t joking when it claimed I only had three minutes to get upstairs.
Tucking the phone into my vest, I walked quickly to the east side door, letting out my breath when it opened easily beneath my hands. The stairwell was dark as I sprinted up the floors, barely breaking a sweat as I passed floor five, six, seven and on.
At the top level, I paused briefly to allow my heart rate to settle and patted the Sig Sauer at my hip. More than likely I wouldn’t need the weapons I’d been issued, and it was a definite that ORUS would prefer I didn’t use them. Whoever this target was, Orion wanted him alive and well when I delivered him. No matter. It should be easy work to incapacitate some middle-aged office worker. I glanced down the stairwell I’d just ascended as it occurred to me I’d have to take him back down the same way I’d come up.
Change of plans.
There was no way I’d be able to get in, subdue the target and then carry him all the way down. He’d have to be conscious so he could walk down the stairs on his own. Otherwise, it would take too long.
Seven minutes.
The echo of that robotic voice urged me forward. I was wasting time.
The click of the door sounded loud in my ears as I entered the penthouse level. A baby’s cry in the distance stopped me in my tracks. What the bloody hell? There hadn’t been anything in the briefing about a child.
Motion up ahead caught my eye and I shrank back against the wall. If there were a baby here, I might have to take care of more than just the target. My eyes closed briefly before I blocked out all emotion as I’d been taught.
It was time to take care of this.
3
Matthias
Fuck.
Fuckity fuck.
Fuck queen and country. Fuck a duck.
The alarms were still blaring. The watch on my wrist vibrated over and over again, and I was helpless to stop the cyberattack that was happening.
And Isabella was still crying.
Multiple denial-of-service code attacks were happening at once and I wasn’t fast enough to kill them all. It was as if whoever had tried to break in before had learned their lesson and had come back with multiple friends who were pissed off because I’d insulted their mother, or in this case, their father.
I shut down one attack, only to have another one pop up on another server. I rolled my seat around backward and forward, killing off attempts to hack into my system. All around me alarms blared when the cameras went d
own. Jesus Christ. I’d poked a hornet’s nest all right. The power went out and the generators went on. But even though the generators had come on, an alarm went off in the elevator, which meant it was still stuck.
Fuck me. Stay calm. Deal with one problem at a time. That’s all you have to do… one step at a time.
My phone rang and kept ringing. Noah. I put it on speaker. “I’m a little busy right now.”
“Yeah, I figured, considering that Lucia and I are still stuck in the elevator.”
And then all the alarms flashed red on my monitor, letting me know that all exterior doors were locked and interior ones too. Shit. That meant that anyone in the conference room, the gym, and maybe the bedrooms was going to be locked in for the time being. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Everything okay? How serious is it?”
Do not tell him. You can handle this. “I’m working on it. I’ve got it handled.”
“It’s fine. I just want to make sure Izzy’s okay.”
“I’ll bring her in here with me while I’m working on this. She’ll be fine. I’ll find Rafe, too. I know he’s around here somewhere.”
Noah was silent for a moment. “Matthias, what the fuck is going on, kid?”
“Not the time for questions Noah. I’ll get Izzy.” I hung up on my mentor, knowing that I’d probably pay the price for that one later. But right now, I had other fish to fry.
I pushed up out of my chair, and then jogged out of my room to Izzy’s. The generators powered the lights lining the hallways, so at least I wasn’t running in the dark. As I approached Izzy’s bedroom, the screeching got louder. My heart hammered as I leaned over and scooped up the baby.
“Hey, love. That’s a good darling. That’s a good girl. Uncle Matthias is here. No need to cry.”
She blinked teary gray eyes up at me, and then a chubby hand reached up to smack my face. “Baba?”
