Page 23 of Rivers and Roads

“Tell me what’s going on,” Nadya’s voice said just over his.

I held up my finger at the man. “I just wanted to go over a report with you, but it looks like the systems are down,” I said. The code, letting her know someone had seen me. “Let me know when you have time?”

“Fifteen minutes,” she barked.

I cradled the phone and looked up at the man. “Sorry, just talking to the boss. Is there something I can help you with?”

My heart raced as he stared at me. “Aren’t you in IT? Why aren’t you working on this?”

“I’m data analysis,” I told him blandly. I didn’t even know what the fuck that meant, but it was enough to take the shine out of his eyes. “I’m sure they’re on it, though.”

I glanced at my screen. It was going to start printing soon, and if he got a close enough look at what was coming through, he’d know. I opened my mouth to try and convince him to leave when the lights flickered, then everything went dead. The computer screen went black, and the only light was coming from the windows in the lobby.

My heart thrashed against my ribs. Fuck. Fuck! Had I lost everything?

When I looked up, the man was gone, and after a beat, the printer began to whirr. The computer was still black, but I realized this was her diversion. ‘Once the file prints, you can release the thumb drive, unplug the phone, and go.’ It was the last thing Nadya had said to me before we stopped working for the night.

I closed my eyes, breathed, and listened.

Six more pages, and suddenly there was ringing silence. I fumbled across the room, tucking everything under my arm, then went to the desk and scooped up the phone and drive from the little port. I had no idea if I was supposed to do something else since I couldn’t see the screen, but I didn’t have time to care.

I hurried out of the office, straight for the stairwell, and took four at a time. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest when I made it to the lobby, and I tried to keep a sedate pace as I passed the receptionist who was talking on her cell phone. All I wanted to do was run. I wanted to haul ass out of there before I lost my mind with worry that they were on to me.

I was just reaching for the door when I heard someone shout, “Hey! That fucking Wolf…”

But it was all they got out before the explosion went off. I hit the ground, everything in my arms flying across the tiles, and I scrambled for the pages as I felt heat at my back. Another boom went off, and another wave of fire.

This couldn’t possibly be what Nadya meant about a diversion, but I had to assume it was. People began screaming, began running, and I realized I could get lost in that crowd. I heard the word Wolf shouted several more times, but I ducked my head and hurried toward the parking garage.

There was a mad dash of people, and I knew then I wasn’t going to be able to get to my car. I didn’t need the serum anyway, and I had enough cash on me to get me the hell out of the city if I could find a willing driver. When another burst of white-hot flame rumbled the ground, I took to the street and managed to hail a cab before anyone else could get there before me.

The man didn’t look close enough at me to see my eyes, and I hunkered low in the back. “Airport,” I told him, choosing furthest place I could think of from ComTech.

He managed to get through the crowd with a haste I appreciated, and only when we were on the open road did I turn the pages over in my hands to look at them. There was longitude, latitude, and then a small map with a circle around a city I had never heard of before.

Greenridge, Pennsylvania.

It looked to be a hundred or so miles outside of Pittsburgh, and if I calculated that correctly, I could be there in a couple of hours. I just needed to find a car.

Before I could really start to panic about what the hell I was supposed to do, the burner began to ring. I hesitated, but I recognized the number and fought back the urge to cry when I answered it.

“Don’t say anything,” Kor ordered, and my jaw snapped shut. “You need to send the information the moment we hang up. I’m going to shoot you a text message with an address, and there will be a car waiting for you. You have less than forty-eight hours to get him and cross the border. I know you can do it, but it’s not going to be easy.”

“Okay,” I said, my voice gruff. I didn’t dare say more.

“We have intelligence that the place is guarded, but there’s a way in on the west side of the gate. There are no human guards, but there’s probably security cameras, which means you need to get him and get the fuck to the border without stopping.” Kor’s voice carried a hint of urgency that terrified me.

“What…”

“Don’t,” he snapped. “Say nothing. Just go, and I promise I will fill you in the moment I can.”

The line went dead, and I flopped my head back against the seat, taking a rough breath. I didn’t know if Nadya had survived, but I prayed to the gods she had. If she had sacrificed her life for this, I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to live with myself.

The address came in shortly after, and I read it off to the driver who adjusted the GPS. When we were headed in the right direction, I quickly hit the button to send all the files, and the moment they cleared, I snapped the phone in my hands. I tried to muffle the sound, but I saw the driver’s gaze flicker up into the mirror.

I saw when he realized what I was, but he determinedly kept going. There was every chance he would turn me in the first second he got, but it might be enough time to get away.

The GPS chirped that we were three minutes away, and I tapped on the partition. “Here’s good enough.” I dug into my pocket for cash and threw as much at him as I dared. He didn’t pick it up, and there wasn’t fear coming off him, but I didn’t smell disgust.

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