Scream, and I’d vanish before they entered, blown mission, wasted lead, back to square one. Stay silent, and she was harboring an intruder. Accessory to whatever crime I was committing.
Found her watching me. Something flickered there I couldn’t read.
She turned toward the door as it opened.
“Everything’s fine.” Calm, professional, bored even. “Just reviewing files.”
Two guards entered, sweeping the room. I’d already slipped back between equipment racks, body angled to minimize profile, breathing controlled. They wouldn’t see me unless they walked the perimeter.
“Thought we heard voices.”
“Just talking to myself.” She offered a small, self-deprecating smile. “Bad habit when I’m working late.”
“Need anything? Coffee? Water?”
“No, thank you. I’ll be done soon.”
The guard closest to her nodded, gaze still tracking the room. He was thorough but not suspicious. “Alright. Alert us if you see anyone or anything unusual.”
“I will.”
They left. Door closing. Footsteps fading down the hallway.
Silence dropped like a weight.
Emerged from concealment again. She stood by the workstation, palms at her sides, expression unreadable.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“You had a perfect opportunity to expose me. One word and I’d be in custody.”
She was quiet for three heartbeats. “You haven’t hurt me.”
“Yet.”
“Are you planning to?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t see the point in creating a problem that doesn’t exist.”
Logic. Cold, practical logic from someone who should have been screaming for help.
But it wasn’t just logic. There was something else in her eyes, curiosity, maybe. Or recognition. Like she understood what it meant to be somewhere you weren’t supposed to be, doing something you weren’t supposed to do.
Most people operated on fear. She operated on assessment. Risk-benefit analysis. The kind of thinking that kept you alive in situations where panic got you killed.
Who the hell was this woman?
Opened my mouth to ask when the smell hit my nose.
Acrid. Sharp. Wrong.
Like burning plastic mixed with something metallic and sweet, fruity undertone that made my training scream threat before my conscious mind caught up.
Looked around, tracking the source. The UPS battery banks along the back wall, large industrial units mounted in series. The smell was getting stronger.
