“Three o’clock. Take five steps in that direction, then you’ll find a tall, metal server rack. The keyboard is on a tray approximately belt-high.”
She walks me through entering the password and navigating to the right directory, though the process is painfully slow, and by the time she tells me to take the USB drive out of my pocket, I’m ready to beat my head against the wall.
“The slot for the drive is on the front of the server. Seven o’clock. No…lower,” she says when I try, and fail, to find it.
“That’s not seven o’clock. That’s six-thirty.”
“Snack cakes, Dax. I’m doing the best I can. Ry’s been at the warehouse training all damn day, I have both you and Evianna in my ear, and I’m walking a blind man through how to break into a secure server.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just…on edge. I need to get back to Evianna.” Finding the slot, I plug in the drive and breathe a sigh of relief.
“She’s fine. Now type exactly what I say.”
In less than five minutes, the trojan is running, and I grab the little USB drive, tuck it back into my pocket, and head for the door. “Wren, tell Clive we’ll be on our way out in three minutes. And turn up Evianna’s comms again.”
“Got it, boss,” Wren says as I close the door to the server room behind me.
But a second later, the comms go silent. “Wren?”
Pain explodes along the back of my head, and I fall to my knees. Another blow catches me in the ear, and my entire world fades into nothing.
32
Evianna
I can’t make my way out of the crowd surrounding us, and the music’s so loud, Dax and Wren have only been a low murmur in my ear for the past fifteen minutes.
Noah presses a glass of Champagne into my hand, then raises his own glass, and half a dozen developers, including a very drunk Barry, do the same.
“To Beacon Hill and Alfie. May this be the first of many celebrations we have together,” Noah says, and I force down a single sip of the drink while scanning the room for Dax.
“Excuse me for just a minute,” I say, finally fighting my way out of the circle of people. “I need to grab a bottle of water.”
Noah tries to stop me, but I’m just quick enough, and hurry towards the bar. “Dax? Wren? What’s going on?”
I can’t hear anything, and my heart threatens to beat right out of my chest. “Wren?” Snagging my purse from the table, I pull out my cell phone, but then a heavy arm drapes around my shoulders.
“Noah, shit. Don’t do that,” I protest, but he tightens his grip, and then I feel a pinch along my side. “Get your fucking hands off me.”
But when I turn to him, his face blurs slightly, and his voice is muffled, like he’s on a bad cell connection. “Come with me, Evianna. Time to get some air,” he says.
Air? I don’t need air. I need Dax. But my lips don’t want to move, and he leads me towards the stairs.
What…did you…do…? My head lolls to the side, and I think I can see Barry staring after us. “N…oah,” I manage. “I…”
“Be quiet. You’ve had too much to drink, and you need to sit down. It’s nice and cool in the stairwell. You’ll feel better in just a couple of minutes.”
No…I won’t…
I try to unlock my phone, but my fingers don’t want to type in the code, and then Noah snatches it out of my hand. As the gray metal door to the stairs clicks open and we spill out onto the landing, I stumble, losing one of my shoes. It makes a loud, clanging sound as it bounces all the way to the next landing, and I watch it fall, almost in slow motion. I can’t keep my eyes open. It won’t hurt to sleep a while. Alfie’s done. Released to the world. But Dax… Where’s Dax?
Have…to…find…him…
I’m moving. Floating. And then…I’m not.
Dax
I can’t feel my fingers. My shoulders burn. Where am I? Oh fuck. It’s dark…only a dull reddish glow from somewhere above me. Jerking my hands, I start to hyperventilate. No. Not this. Anything but this. My wrists are bound behind me, zip ties, I think. My ankles too.
