“No, there are three more,” Dr. Meade answered. “They’re off shift.”
“Get them on shift, they need to guard the doors.”
Dr. Meade huffed out a breath. “Uh, that may cause some panic.”
“Good,” Ava answered. “It should. If we don’t contain this, seventy percent of your town is going to die, doctor. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
As Ava said the words, the reality of the situation smacked her in the face.
She’d brought a team of four people here. Four people. Four lives. What were the odds that all of them would make it out of here untouched? Alex’s germophobia would protect him to some extent, but Kyle... he’d be on the frontlines.
CHAPTER 11
ALEX
Alex tucked his arms closer to his sides, careful to avoid letting any part of him touch the chair’s arms in the cramped security office where he’d been stuck. He would have much rather completed this task from the comfort of the motel room–or even better, from the comfort of his own sanitized home.
He hated sitting here only feet away from rooms brimming with sick people, but he wouldn’t let Ava deal with this on her own. He wanted to be by her side, to support her, especially if she had another blackout.
He worried that this type of stress could push her over the edge again, and he wanted to be there for her if she needed him.
He flicked his gaze from his screen to his wife as she ordered the security guards to call in reinforcements tosecure the hospital and ensure no one left, except in a body bag.
One guard hurried from the room to make the necessary calls.
A shiver snaked down his spine as he considered how many of these people would end up dying. He shook his head at the audacity of The Board to do something like this. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he accessed the security system.
A chair squeaked as one of the guards twisted to face Alex. “You’re going to need access credentials if you plan to open the system on your laptop. I can–”
“No need,” Alex said with a dismissive wave. “I can get in without them.”
The guard screwed up his face as Alex raised his eyes to him.
“I’m literally the world’s best hacker. I don’t need credentials to get into your system.”
The man raised his eyebrows, a chuckle escaping him. “Uh, okay.”
“He’s right,” Ava answered as she crossed to him and rubbed his shoulder. “Once you’re in, could you also pull access to the patient charts and build a timeline for Doc?”
“Will do, Sparky…er…Agent Slate.”
The guard rocked back in his chair, a grin on his features. “Sparky, huh? Are you two, uh–”
“Married,” Ava answered him, flashing her left ring finger at him.
Alex’s chest puffed a little as he continued to type before a low power warning popped up on his screen. “Ugh, you’re kidding me.”
“Tell me you brought the cord.”
“Of course, I brought the cord,” Alex answered, climbingfrom his chair and handing the laptop over to her. “Hold that a second, and I’ll go get it. Oh, do you think your partner extraordinaire locked the car?”
Before she could answer, he shook his head. “Never mind. I’ll just…hack the frequency and open it with my phone.”
“You can do that?” the guard asked.
“With my hands tied behind my back, bro,” Alex answered with a bob of his head before he kissed Ava’s cheek. “Be right back.”
He tugged his phone from his pocket as he stepped into the hall, tapping around on it while he made his way toward the entrance. He sidestepped around a few people before he bumped into someone.
