Kyle’s forehead creased as he studied Alex, confusion etched into his features.
“This software can’t be unblocked—that’s the point of it. If he’s using my program, it’s airtight. We’ll never find Ava.”
CHAPTER 6
AVA
Ava’s eyes widened as she watched the masked men on the screen trying to break into the building. Her heart pounded in her chest, a mix of fear and adrenaline making her muscles taut.
“Raven, how long until they break in?”
Raven ripped the flash drive from the tower before his gloved fingers pounded against the keyboard.
“Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?”
“Transferring my materials and erasing any trace of what I’ve been doing here. We have to leave.”
“Leave? Raven, you can’t do that. We need to stand our ground here.”
He snapped his gaze to her, his face unreadable because of the mask. “This location has been compromised—we can’t stay here.”
Ava clicked her tongue as she crossed her arms. “Give me a gun. I’ll handle this.” She held her hand out.
“That’s not happening, Ava.” His robotic voice sounded more clipped than normal.
“Seriously?” She scoffed before she rolled her eyes. “You’d rather erase any trace of the work you’ve done here and leave than give me a gun?”
His finger hovered over the enter key on the program on his screen.
“We’re not going to get out of here in time, anyway. They’re already in the hall. Give me a gun. We can take them. There’s only two of them, and two of us. We can do this.”
He growled as he tapped the escape button, canceling the program before it deleted any of the files on the computer. He raced across the room and tapped a code into a safe, temporarily ripping off the glove to press his thumb against the fingerprint sensor.
He tugged the glove back on before whipping open the door and removing two weapons. After checking the clip on the first, he handed it to Ava.
A pounding echoed through the room as the attackers battered the door. Ava flicked off the safety, aiming the weapon at the door as another thud sounded against it.
“They’re going to breach the door any second,” Ava said as she took cover behind one of the pillars holding the ceiling at bay.
Raven smashed his shoulder against the pillar a few feet from her, weapon clutched in his hands.
With a final crash, the door splintered open, and two men stormed into the room.
Ava peeked around the corner, eyeing the men before she raised her weapon, aiming for one of the men.
“Six o’clock!” the other man shouted, both of them twisting to face her.
Before she could retreat, Raven pummeled into her,knocking her to the ground as bullets sprayed, slamming into the outer wall behind them.
She groaned, the wind knocked out of her as he pressed against her. “Foolish, Ava. These people are professionals.”
She winced, pushing back against him. “I see that. Are those semis?”
“They take no chances,” Raven answered before he snapped his gaze higher, searching the computer for an indication of the transfer process. “We can’t let them get to the computer before it deletes all files.”
“Right.” She nodded as she scrambled to her feet, squeezing off a few rounds toward the men that did little to deter them.
Raven huffed out a breath, still facing the computer screen. “It’s taking too long.”
