“Then what?”
“Then we go back to your house and pack your bags.”
“I thought you had to stay on-site for this kind of work.”
“I did while we were being covert,” he said. “You’ve hired me. We’re all out in the open now. Everyone knows what I’m doing, and I’m obligated to protect your interests.”
“Mo?”
“Yeah.”
“You haven’t signed anything.”
“Sure I have.”
“When?”
“This afternoon. I printed out my standard contract. It’s signed.”
“Do you think of everything?” She sounded impressed.
“No. I don’t. And I’m sure you’ll figure that out soon enough.” The laptop chimed, and he disconnected it from the server. “Got it. Let’s—”
A piercing shriek filled the room. Light flashed all around them.
Bronwyn covered her ears and bent in half. “What’s going on?”
He yelled into her ear, “Fire suppression system. Come on! We need to get out of here!”
If this system was like most, they had anywhere from fifteen to thirty seconds to vacate the room before it filled with a gas designed to extinguish fire without damaging electronics.
No one would put this much money and effort into their servers just to see them destroyed by sprinklers. He and Bronwyn weren’t about to get wet. But they might be about to breathe in some very unpleasant chemicals. Some of the systems on the market were better than others. Some even claimed to be safe for humans, but Mo didn’t care to test that theory. He’d had some experience with tear gas. This wasn’t the same, but if he could spare Bronw—
“Mo!” She tugged on his arm. “There’s no way this is an accident. Stop! If we run out that door, who knows what’s waiting for us.”
Mo froze. He’d been so focused on getting her out, he hadn’t stopped to think about what had put them in this situation.
He pulled her to the far corner of the room and then draped his body over hers with no time to spare. The system activated, and the sound of high-pressure gas releasing filled the room for ten seconds.
When it was over, Mo had the disturbing sense that they wereno longer alone. The room remained dimly lit from the emergency lights and, thankfully, the alarms had stopped shrieking. But had someone used the noise to break in? Mo held one finger to his lips, and Bronwyn nodded that she understood. He handed her the laptop and retrieved his weapon from his waist.
He took precious seconds to consider and discard options. He had no idea who was in the room with them. Was someone waiting outside? What were their motives? Were they here to destroy data or lives?
“This would have been so much easier if you’d just gone to dinner with me, Ms. Pierce.”
The voice was familiar. Where did he know that voice?
Bronwyn pulled her phone from her back pocket and typed. She held the phone up so he could see the text she’d sent to Gray.
Bob’s at Haven. Armed. Server room. Mo’s with me. Call me and I’ll put you on speaker. Do not make any noise.
Bob had been interested in far more than dinner, after all.
A second passed, then a thumbs-up emoji flashed on the text thread. When the incoming call from Gray popped up, she answered it and put the audio on speaker. She held the phone, then closed her eyes. Her lips moved in what he assumed was a silent prayer. He was glad she’d come up with something because he didn’t even know what to pray for.
He had few options for how to proceed, but none of them were great. He went with his best guess. “What’s your end goal?” he called out into the now eerily silent room. Then he motioned for Bronwyn, and they moved as quietly as possible toward the opposite corner.
“Ah, Mr. Quinn, is it? Come now. I know you and Ms. Pierceare in here. No reason to hide. I’m not here to kill you. I just want to chat.”
