No. This couldn’t be happening.
“No. Rick. You don’t have to do this. You are safe with us. We can fight Marcus together—”
Rick shook his head, stepping away from the table. “I tried. But you never listened. Sorry. It’s too late now and you know too much.”
“Why? You are my only friend. Why are you doing this?”
“I liked you, Aiden. You are a good guy. But we were never friends. I had a task, and I simply did it. That’s all there is to it. Sor—”
“Fuuuuuuck,” Nyle shrieked, jumping up from his chair and knocking the holomonitor in front of him as he tore the earring from the decryption device. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. They are in! Darren we nee—”
An alarm cut him off as the hideout lost power and darkness surrounded them. The perimeter alert system activated as Darren’s bad feeling turned into dread so profound he felt like he was drowning.
[Intrusion detected at Sublevel –1. Primary power supply and systems have been compromised. Please, eliminate the threat or proceed to evacu—]
A loud bang came from the direction of the elevator on the ramp above, then metal scraping against metal as if its door was being torn from its hinges. Dozens of bright red laser sights broke through the gloom, lighting up the war room.
Darren’s gaze clashed with Rick’s a moment before Rick pushed his chair back and darted in the direction of the ramp, shouting something at the intruders.
Heart hammering against his ribs, Darren acted on instinct. Grabbing the wooden box with Sara’s chip and the crowns, he yanked Aiden up. “Everyone, run!”
He didn’t wait to see what Rick did next. He didn’t wait to see if his friends did as told. He squeezed the box to his chest with one hand and Aiden’s wrist with the other, bolting for the hangar doors with one sole purpose in mind: to make it out of here alive.
