Page 20 of Redeeming Meg

Gathering all her strength and balance, she propelled her hands into the rusty metal, lunging at it as hard as she could.

Dim light seeped around the edges as she managed to lift the disk. The sounds of rioting hit her, along with yelling and glass breaking. The pungent odor of burning wood and melting plastic assaulted her nose.

So did the stringent scent of cleaning products.

Her legs trembled at the strain, her biceps screaming. It was now or never. She gathered herself one more time andshoved.

The metal slid across the floor.

Relieved, she sagged, but only for a few seconds.

No one peered down at her. No shouts rang out, alerting others. All she saw as she stared up was rows of cleaning products on wire shelves and a light fixture overhead.

Hauling herself up through the hole, she ran into several mop buckets. Edging them out of the way, she swung her legsaround, nailing a cart filled with cleaning supplies and rubber gloves. It had wheels and rolled into a pair of overalls on a hook. Boxes of napkins, paper towels, and toilet paper were on another shelf opposite her.

The janitor’s closet.

Beyond the door, she heard a scream. Rushing footsteps.

That scream…

At her core, she wanted to help people. It was who she was. She didn’t get off on power or accomplishments. She’d joined the CIA to fight against injustice and inequality.

She saved people, not killed them.

Deep down, she wanted to help each and every one of those still stuck inside the embassy. She’d known coming in that the riot was bad, but she hadn’t considered just how bad. The explosion earlier might have allowed Hagar to breach the double layer of gates. If he and his death squad were here…

All those trapped inside would be dead soon.

Her gut cramped.

Move. She crept across the floor, inventorying the chemicals lining the shelves. One never knew when they might need to create their own bomb.

Pressing her ear against the door, she listened to the chaos on the other side. If Hagar and his men, or any of the citizens they had recruited to riot, were inside the embassy, it would make everything harder.

Be a ghost. That’s what she was good at, and that’s why she was here.

It was one thing to avoid the rioters; another to avoid the embassy’s security detail. They would already be running on pure adrenaline and would shoot first and ask questions later.

This was one of the reasons Dec had outfitted her with the laser and ultrasonic weapon—she needed to be able to disable them without causing any permanent damage.

Muffled voices came from the other side, with urgent conversations and more running footsteps. Her comm gave a burst of static, making her jump, and Del’s voice came through. “Black Swan One, this is Loch Ness. Do you read? Over.”

She had to assume that the tech guru was also picking up what Eagle Eyes showed him. Flynn would know shortly that she had ditched the rest of her team.

Didn’t matter. She was already on his shit list.

And his was his own damn fault for reactivating her.

Before she slipped out into the hallway, she stole the badge hanging on the uniform. She probably wouldn’t need it, but better safe than sorry. “Loch Ness, this is Swan One. You’re coming through loud and clear. I am inside the embassy. Over.”

In the corridor, the air was thick with the stench of sweat and fear, and mingled with the acrid bite of smoke. Flickering emergency lights cast shadows along the carpeted floors and walls decorated modestly with landscape paintings that now hung askew or had crashed to the floor. It gave the whole place an eerie, post-apocalyptic feel.

“Roger that,” Del said. “Eagle Eyes not receiving, but picking you up on security cameras above you.”

Moving quickly and quietly, she checked one of the posted maps at the end of the hall, where it split left and right. An occasional crash punctuated the distant hum of panicked voices as desperate employees tried to barricade themselves against the unfolding chaos.

It was Flynn’s voice she heard next. “Where the hell is your team, Swan one?”

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