“I must stop you.”
He didn’t move and his voice was still kind, but I looked up in alarm, my hand already on the door handle. I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but Charlie was faster.
“Our systems just identified a sniper in one of the buildings nearby. You are the most likely target.”
Chapter 3
Sera
“Oh, that’s very convenient!” I huffed as soon as my heart restarted from a brief panic freeze. “You want to force it on me, don’t you? I’m leaving!”
I stormed out of the room with Charlie following close behind me.
“I cannot let you leave the premises, Miss Evans. I’d also advise you to stay away from windows once you reach an upper level. We use armored glass, but it can be traumatizing to see a bullet rushing at you.”
I stopped, biting the inside of my cheek so hard, I tasted blood. “So it’s true? There is a sniper out there? How do you know?”
The lights dimmed, and the wall clicked, a screen sliding out from a partition in the ceiling. It displayed the feeds from about six cameras, showing a tall, narrow building from different angles. It definitely belonged in this area of high rises and fancy office towers. Two feeds showed movement and a glint of metalin a window, followed by a clear shot of a long barrel, but not the person holding it.
I folded my arms, locking my knees. The memory of my car exploding replayed in my mind, and sweat poured down my spine, soaking into the waistband of my shorts.
“Fine. Let’s assume there is a sniper. What will you do about it?”
Charlie gestured at the screen and the image changed, showing the parking lot in front of the MSA’s main door. It flickered with lights and the view seemed distorted, the edges of objects blurring and shifting. I blinked and looked away. There was something unsettling about the view, and it made my head hurt.
“We’ve deployed a visual distortion system that makes it impossible to aim at any target present on our premises. The law only permits us to use it on the land belonging to the MSA. It should be sufficient protection for our guests and clients.”
I didn’t feel sufficiently protected. Sweat poured down my face and I heard a low click. Cold air from the nearest AC unit blew down the top of my head.Thoughtful.I clenched my eyes shut and trapped a frustrated scream in my throat.
“Aren’t you going to take them down? It’s what you do,” I said through gritted teeth.
The MSA was known as the most proactive agency when it came to neutralizing threats. I heard they had agents who weren’t so much bodyguards as trained assassins. This looked like the perfect case for one of those.
“We have no cause to attack the sniper. They are in a building that does not belong to us and haven’t fired a single shot. Most likely, the sniper will wait until you leave the safety of our perimeter and attack you then.”
I threw my hands. “Fine! Can I hire a cyborg for just one hour and have him get rid of the sniper so I can leave?”
“The shortest possible detail duration is seven days once a threat is detected,” Charlie said, sounding apologetic. “It’s one of the provisions in form Z12, which you signed. A week is the minimum amount of time allowing us to bring you to relative safety so you don’t expire as soon as our contract ends.”
“Seven days! And if I stay here and wait until the sniper is gone, I’ll be charged 800 bucks an hour?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“That is correct. May I encourage you to look at the silver lining, Miss Evans?”
A sharp bark of laughter tore out of my throat. “What silver lining?!”
Charlie smiled gently, and I clenched my teeth so hard, my jaw burst with pain.
“Had you left here before we detected the threat, you might not have survived. But you are alive and aware of the danger. That gives you all the advantage you need.”
I deflated, leaning my back against the wall. Charlie was quiet, and the only sounds were my rapid, unsteady breathing and the soft murmur of the artificial waterfall on the other end of the corridor.
I wanted to fight, wanted to rally, but a bone-deep, stifling exhaustion filled my chest and belly. I felt so heavy, the idea of taking even a single step filled me with nausea. All I wanted was to slide down the cool wall, lie down on the thick carpet, and sleep.
It would be the most expensive nap in my life. Not a chance. Leaving on my own was out of the question, too.
I was truly out of options. Defeated by bureaucracy. What a joke.
“I’ll take one,” I whispered. “For—a month, let’s say. I don’t care which one. They all look the same. Could you please get me something to drink? Thank you.”
