“Reed,” she hissed into her earpiece. “I’ve been made. They’re coming.”
She grabbed her drive from the terminal, shoved it into her pocket, and pressed herself into the shadows behind the nearest server rack. She made herself as small as possible, barely daring to breathe.
The server room door burst open.
CHAPTER 12
Reed’s blood turned to ice the moment Elena’s voice crackled through his earpiece.
“Reed, I’ve been made. They’re coming.”
He moved before she finished speaking, his body responding to years of training while his mind raced through tactical scenarios. He’d positioned himself near the east wing entrance, close enough to provide backup if Elena needed extraction but far enough to avoid drawing suspicion. Now that careful planning meant nothing.
She was in trouble. She was in the basement, surrounded by hostile forces, and he was three floors away.
“Walker, James—converge on the east service corridor,” Reed said quietly into his comm, weaving through the crowd of oblivious guests who were still sipping champagne and admiring artwork. “Elena’s been compromised.”
“Copy,” Walker’s voice came back immediately. “Moving now.”
“On my way,” James added. “What’s our extraction route?”
“Working on it.” Reed ducked through a service door, leaving the glittering party behind. The utilitarian hallway beyond was a stark contrast—concrete floors, exposed pipes, fluorescentlighting that buzzed overhead. “Terrel, I need eyes. Can you access their security feed?”
“Already trying,” Terrel responded from his position in the SUV outside the compound. “Their system is locked down tight, but I might be able to piggyback on their emergency protocols. Give me sixty seconds.”
Sixty seconds. In combat situations, sixty seconds was an eternity.
Reed moved quickly but carefully, his hand resting on the concealed weapon at his hip. He’d dressed for his role as a potential buyer—expensive suit, silk tie, a watch that costed more than most cars—but underneath the civilized veneer, he was still a SEAL. Still the man who’d spent fourteen years learning how to navigate hostile territory and bring his people home alive.
Elena.Her name pulsed through his mind with every heartbeat.Hold on. I’m coming.
He thought about the way she’d looked that morning, sitting perfectly still while he applied the prosthetics to her face. The trust in her eyes as he worked, her breath warm against his fingers. The way she’d smiled when he finished—a stranger’s smile on the face of the woman he loved.
If anything happened to her now, after everything they’d been through to find each other again...
Reed shoved the thought aside. Fear was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
“I’ve got partial access,” Terrel said, his voice cutting through Reed’s spiraling thoughts. “Basement level shows five—no, six hostiles converging on the server room. Elena’s tracker puts her inside.”
“Is she moving?”
“Negative. She’s stationary.”
Hiding. She’s hiding and waiting for extraction.
The thought brought a surge of pride mixed with terror. Elena was smart, trained, and capable of handling herself in dangerous situations. But she was also outnumbered and outgunned, trapped in an underground room with no clear exit.
“I need a route to the basement that avoids their security sweep,” Reed said.
“There’s a maintenance shaft on the north side of the building,” Terrel replied. “Access panel should be in the hallway you’re approaching. It’ll drop you into the mechanical room adjacent to the server room.”
“Copy.” Reed spotted the panel—a nondescript metal grate set into the wall at knee height. He kneeled and began working the screws loose with the multi-tool he always carried. “Walker, James—what’s your position?”
“East corridor, ground level,” Walker reported. “We’ve got two hostiles blocking the main stairwell to the basement.”
“Can you clear them quietly?”
A pause. Then Walker’s voice, grim but certain: “We can clear them.”
