Page 86 of Heart of Danger
The bed…underthe bed.
She fell to her knees so hard she hurt herself and scrabbled wildly in the darkness under the bed. Nothing.
It was to be here, whatever it was.
Think, Catherine!
His hands, flailing, reaching…
She lifted the side of the mattress and there it was, on the orthopedic support. With a cry, Catherine lifted it up and like a button had been pushed, Ward stilled in Mac’s arms.
She studied the card, studied the 3D hologram of the face. The face of the enemy. “This is Lee’s own pass. The CEO’s. I can’t believe it. He stole Lee’s card. This definitely has clearance to Level 4. We can get in and get out now.”
“Boss, Catherine.” Nick’s quiet voice was grim in her earpiece. “Company. Coming fast.”
“How many?”Mac asked. The shit storm was almost upon them. They’d got this far, they’d already been lucky. There was only so much luck to be had on any mission and they’d just used up all of theirs.
They were going hot now, and Mac wanted Catherine out of here. She’d done a fabulous job of getting them here. Smart and beautiful and kind. And now brave. He wasn’t going to lose her. Not now, not after just finding her.
He had to get her out of here, fast.
The Colonel was still in his arms, after having what felt like a seizure. His eyes were closed, ravaged face slack. He weighed less than some of the backpacks Mac had carried into battle.
Mac could carry him anywhere. He could carry him down to Level 4. He could do anything as long as he knew Catherine was safe.
“Listen,” he said urgently. “We’ve got the pass. We’ll get down to Level 4, get the men out. Take the Antz, they’ll help you navigate your way out. Can you make it back to the helo and wait for us? You remember how to get over the microwave screen? You?—”
She was already walking to the door. “No way, Mac. No way am I leaving you. You need eyes and ears that aren’t the Antz, eyes and ears that know their way around. And you’re definitely going to be needing me to detach those men from their machines, if they are still alive. Make sure you close the door behind me.” She opened the door and signaled Nick at the end of the corridor, looked back at him. “Comeon!Close the door.”
There was no time to argue and he recognized that it would be useless anyway. Every cell in his body told him to get Catherine out of there but his head told him she was right. They needed her.
Never before in his life had he gone on a mission with a split goal. He was always narrowly focused on getting in, getting the job done, getting out. He went in with men who trained as hard as he did and who were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. He’d never gone in worried about a teammate like he was now with Catherine, and he hated the hell out of it.
But what could he do?
He followed her out, the Colonel in his arms, closing the door. She was already running down the corridor, Nick and Jon following her. He caught up with Nick. “How many?” he asked.
“Three.” He was watching Catherine as she hurried down the corridor. “They’ll be at the corner any second now and they’ll see us.”
“You and Jon be ready to take a knee.”
“Yeah.” Jon and Nick had their weapons out. Mac shifted the Colonel to a fireman’s lift and drew his own.
Nick had shifted the screen image to holo. “Boss? They’re just around the?—”
“Here!” Catherine had stopped at a door, opened it and ushered them in. Mac, Nick and Jon turned, came in at a dead run. She shut the door quietly just as Nick’s holo showed three guards rounding the corner. There was a quiet sound as they all exhaled. None of them wanted a firefight with a wounded comrade to carry and a noncombatant to protect.
Mac looked around. They were in a large room full of equipment. It wasn’t a sickroom, though. There were no beds, only inert machines stacked all around the walls. The only light came from the holo by Nick’s side. They watched it.
The three guards were walking slowly, completely alert, hands on weapons. These weren’t rent-a-cops filling time.
“Will they check the rooms?” Jon whispered.
“Yes. The Colonel’s machinery is dead, there will be a red light flashing above the door. When they see the body missing, they will sound the alarm. We have to get down to Level 4 fast. Follow me.”
Catherine didn’t wait for them to acknowledge her, but rushed to the end of the room. There was a door there Mac hadn’t noticed, hidden behind what looked like a huge old-fashioned MRI, completely different from the new handheld ones.
They filed out, into a large, dimly-lit corridor.
