Page 70 of Lethal Game

“What happened?” Max asked in a tone so cold, so rigid, he had both her attention and Con’s immediately.

“Smoke woke me with a radio call, saying there was smoke coming from the lobby,” Con said. “I stepped out to check and confirmed smoke, but the fire alarm wasn’t ringing yet. It should have been. I went back into the room. The power was off, but Sophia had woken and we both grabbed our go bags and armed ourselves before leaving.

“She stuck with me most of the way to the north exit, but we got separated by a large group of people running for the way out. From there I tried to find Sophia, but was unsuccessful. She’d agreed to head to the lab if we got separated, so I worked my way out of the building on the east side. I headed straight for the gate and found Sophia and River inside the base.” Con turned and nodded at her.

She started with, “After Connor and I got separated I continued toward the exit, but I sort of crawled along the floor mostly, so I could only see people’s feet. A man went by who moved like Con, so I grabbed him. It was Smoke. He dragged me to the door, but two men were waiting there and one attacked Smoke. The other was moving in, at least that’s what it looked like from three feet off the floor, so I kicked that guy’s kneecap as hard as I could. Smoke grabbed me up and told me to run, so I did.” She stopped to catch her breath for a moment, then continued.

“I got to the gate, where River found me, and we headed toward the lab.” She was going to leave out the part where she tried to go back through the gate to look for Con. She hadn’t gotten very far, after all. “Con met up with us and we came here.” She looked at Smoke. “What happened to you?”

“Knife fight. I won.”

“That’s an awfully short story?”

“Stupid man offered a lot of money for you, Ghost.”

“He thought you were a local?” Con asked.

Smoke nodded.

“Why didn’t you just shoot him?”

“Dead men can’t answer questions.”

“Where is he now,” Max asked.

“I was dragging him back to the base when someone started shooting at us. He’s dead.”

“God damn it,” Max muttered.

“How much did he offer you for Sophia?” Con asked.

“Ten thousand.”

The men all looked grim.

Sophia frowned. “That’s all?”

River chuckled, then coughed to cover it when Max glared at him. “It’s not funny.”

“It sort of is,” River said.

“I’m insulted. I’m worth more than that. Right?”

“This is the second attempt, Colonel,” Con said. “They started a fire this time.”

“Did anyone get hurt?” Sophia asked.

“No casualties reported yet,” Max told her. “But I’ll be surprised if the answer is no.”

“Why do they want me?” She couldn’t understand it. She wasn’t the world’s authority on viruses or doing advanced research. She was smart and educated, but so were many other doctors.

Max considered her with a long look. “You’re a creative thinker with viruses, a fact that’s well known in our corner of the medical community. Perhaps that’s it. Regardless, the way things are going, there won’t be a base left if they try for you again.”

“Akbar,” Smoke said in his deep drawl, “likes to play games.”

“Agreed,” Max said. “So, what game is he playing now?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Con said, a smirk tilting one side of his mouth up. “We play our own game, and let him catch up.”

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