Page 98 of Sloth
A voice came over the speaker in her hood. “I’m here.”
Wyatt. Must be close.
“That timer gets down to twenty seconds, I'm running up and smothering it.”
“Fuck off, bras,” she growled. “You get near this bomb, and I’ll kill you myself.”
“I won’t let you die, Sloan.”
“No one’s dying, drama queen.”
“What’s the timer say?”
She shut her mouth. The man had a kid on the way, and he was being a dope. He was bulletproof, yes, but he’d never tested his invulnerability against a bomb. No. She shook her head. Not happening.
She must have whimpered, must have made a sound, because Max touched her wrist. She met his gaze and a jolt of fear passed through her. His eyes were turning glassy. A sheen of sweat spattered his forehead, wetting his hair. Something was wrong. Somethingnotthe bomb. He looked ill.
“She injected me with something,” he said. “If you can’t get the timer, run. I’m probably dead, anyway.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Her eyes burned. “Don’t start doubting me now, Max.”
“I love you, Sloan,” he croaked, and then his head lolled on the pole. His body went lax, but his eyes moved rapidly behind his eyelids.
“Max!” she shouted, but he didn’t respond.
Two minutes.
Fuck!
“You asshole. You asshole. Wake up.”
I can do this. I can do this.She dragged her eyes back to her screen, heart pounding in her chest.Follow the Space Invaders—look for the gap in the pattern. She scoured through the abstract visuals and then found a gap. The puzzle piece that didn’t fit. That might be it. She dug further. Deeper. Opened up the binary. Hit a few keys, then looked at the cell and held her breath.
The timer stopped.
A burst of sound came out of her tight throat. “Thank God. Oh, thank fucking God.”
“You got it?” someone said through the comms.
“Yeah, I got it. Which wire?” She tugged her knife from her boot.
“Where the detonator attaches to the main mechanism, there should be two wires. What colors?”
“Red and green.”
“Green.”
Without hesitation, she snipped the green wire.
Nothing. No bomb. No blast.
They were safe.
“We’re good.” She cut the tape around Max’s torso, careful not to move the C4. He was out, completely. “Wait. Something is wrong with Max. He was injected with something. He needs medical attention.”
