Page 80 of Tango
“Security?”
“They didn’t use to monitor this floor since the server room is password protected. No one gets in without a code.”
I turn toward her. “Do you?—”
“I’ve got us covered,” she replies with a smile. “They won’t even know we’re here. There’s a camera that points through this door, then another at the end of the hall. You’ll need to take them both out at the same time.”
“Okay.” I breathe a sigh of relief. “Then let’s do this.” I pause by the door, waiting for the device to read the two camera signatures. As soon as those are down, I stick the device into my pocket then carefully withdraw my firearm. Keeping it up before me, I move out into the hallway. It’s darker than the stairwell, with only dim lights overhead.
Not unusual for a server room. Since it runs so hot, they’d want to keep as much temperature control as possible. The air is cooler here too—drier. Again, not unusual. A wall of glass separates us from the server towers, which are standing tall in a room about the size of my entire house.
Alice moves ahead of me now, stopping at the security panel. She types in a sequence of numbers; then the panel blinks green, and the door slides open. She flips her hair over her shoulder and beckons me to follow.
Adrenaline dances through my veins in anticipation should everything go wrong.
“Over here,” she instructs and rushes toward a tower right at the heart of the room. Withdrawing the thumb drive, she plugs it into the port then pulls out a keyboard and monitor from a cabinet beside the tower.
Keeping my weapon in hand, I watch for any sign of movement. As my gaze travels around the room, I note the newly replaced windows, and my understanding of what Alice went through grows.
I doubt she even knew the gun would work on those windows. Yet she trusted in God to get her out. Faith.
“How’s it going?” I ask her.
“I’m working on it. They’ve put up more walls since I was in here last.” Furiously typing on the keyboard, she’s the picture of focus, plugged into the task at hand. “I don’t—none of this makes sense.”
“What?”
“There are no holes,” she says. “Honestly, the security is even better than it was before. I?—”
The door opens. I rush over and plaster myself over Alice, pressing her between me and the server tower, my weapon in hand. She freezes in place, her body going rigid as more than one set of footsteps grows closer.
Frantically looking for any way out, I point to the right, and she nods. Slowly, we rotate as one unit, moving around the server tower until we’re just out of sight.
“I knew you’d come back.”
Alice’s eyes go wide, and her face pales.
“It was only a matter of time before you showed up. You shouldn’t have come back here, Alice.”
She pushes past me, but I remain out of view as she steps away from the protection of the tower. “You’re dead,” she whispers.
Now, I come out behind her, weapon raised. The man on the other side of the tower is one I never expected to see. Alive, that is. Ramiro Caine.
“Tucker Hunt,” he says. “Even given the circumstances, it’s quite an honor to meet you. I’d ask you to kindly lower your weapon, though, as there’s a large-caliber rifle pointed directly at Alice. Should you not lower it, I’ll give the signal, and she’ll take the hit.” He raises his hand, and a red dot appears on Alice’s shoulder. “Either of you will work for our current needs. Therefore, one of you is expendable.”
I don’t even hesitate. Slowly, I lower my weapon onto the ground.
“The vest too,” he orders.
I peel the Velcro free and set it on the ground then keep both hands up. They tremble as fiery rage burns through my body. Alice grieved him. Her friend—or so she thought.
“You died. I watched you die,” Alice growls, her tone strained.
“You watched me get shot,” Ramiro corrects then tugs the neck of his shirt down to reveal an angry red scar right below his clavicle.
“Why? What are you doing? Why are you doing this?”
“I’m doing what I have to do,” he replies, expression sharp.
