Page 87 of Leading Conviction
She hadn’t seen him in years. His hair was still dyed jet black, but it looked slightly disheveled. Come to think of it,helooked disheveled in his wrinkled suit. But he still somehow seemed more imposing than the monster from her past, even on the small screen. The face that plagued her waking nightmares from childhood looked eerily the same, frozen in time. Goose bumps rose on her skin as her father pointed and commanded one of the soldiers.
“The viper circles the nest…” Hannah repeated. “How did he get in through the gate? I thought BlackStone was safe.”
“It is! Wes changed all the security after Vlad attacked the facility.” Nora flicked through scenes on the monitors and groaned. “But I guess that doesn’t matter if someone bombs the m-effin’ gate. Godsdammit, they have to know the men are gone. They’re being way too brazen.”
Footsteps in the hallway sent Hannah’s pulse racing and her hand fluttered to her chest as she whirled around to face the door.
“It’s us,” Callie called out before appearing through the door with Tommy in tow and shutting it behind them. “What’s going on?”
Her voice sent relief flooding into Hannah’s veins and once her son entered the room, she resisted every urge to run toward him, grab his hand, and flee the building.
“Ven aquí, por favor, mi avecito.” She beckoned him softly to come to her.
He nestled under her arm and she embraced him as calmly as she could, trying her damnedest not to freak him out.
“Mom, is everything okay?” he whispered, his worried eyes searching hers.
It was on the tip of her tongue to reassure him, even though she had no basis for the promise of safety, but Nora beat her to the punch with the truth.
“We’ve gotcom-pan-y,” Nora sang nervously and pointed at the monitors. “But we’re safe inside right now.”
Callie peered closer and cursed. “Fan-fucking-tastic. Did you tell the guys?”
“Waiting for the message to go through.” Nora tapped the phone screen in front of her, but Hannah sucked in a breath as a red “Not Delivered” alert popped up underneath it. “Shoot. Looks like they jammed the system. Clever, clever, Mr. General.”
“What does that mean?” Hannah asked.
“They have a device hindering us from using normal communications. It’s why Wes sent his vague message through the backup channels. If I had to guess, this team probably used the device at the CTI facility too, which explains why we couldn’t talk to the guys then either.”
She returned to the keyboard and typed quickly. A black screen filled the center monitor. White numbers and letters scrolled across at speeds that were far too fast for Hannah to read.
“There. I sent a message,” Nora said, finishing her typing with a flourish.
“They went to that facility to get the General.” Callie shook her head. “How the fuck did he make it here so fast? BlackStone has a helicopter.”
Nora grimaced. “Maybe the boys got held up?”
The lilt in Nora’s question didn’t hide the very same fear Hannah was beginning to feel slicing up her own lungs.
“Look, I’m not sure what happened,” Nora pointed out quickly, making Hannah wonder if the careful expression she was trying to keep for Tommy wasn’t as covert as she’d hoped. “But they weren’t very far away. It was why they were able to take the helicopter in the first place because it could make it in one trip without needing more fuel. They could’ve been held up for routine things like questioning bad guys or gathering evidence, and these crazies drove here like aMario Kartdriver in the meantime.”
“Well, what do we do now? PlanAwas go to the garage, right?” Hannah hated the waver in her voice and the fact she didn’t have any skills to help at the moment. All she could do was fight against every cell in her body screaming at her to escape.
Before the party two years ago, Hannah already avoided her father. She’d dodged calls, ignored messages, and been all around aloof toward the man. But once his henchman threatened her, she was out. She and Tommy had fled every home they’d had for the past two years, searching for a place her father’s power couldn’t reach, and every time they’d gotten settled, he’d done something to prove she still hadn’t hidden well enough.
She was tired, so fucking tired. And now that Hawk was back in her life, all she wanted was to dig her roots in and settle down for real. No more running. Despite current circumstances, BlackStone was still her best option. But even knowing that, her first instinct was to disappear. It was taking everything in her power not to pick Tommy up like she used to when he was a toddler, and run for the hills.
“Yuppers. PlanAwas go to the garage and take Drake’s truck, but—”
An explosion rocked the building. Callie whipped around to face the door, her gun pointed and ready to fire. Hannah’s grip tightened around Tommy as her eyes snapped to the bottom right and top center monitors.
“Okay…” Nora’s voice pitched higher than normal at the sight of the huge hole that erupted in the garage door. The General waltzed right through with a soldier at his side.
In the top screens, another soldier entered the roof door that was now open. Hannah glanced around the monitors to see nearly every screen had a soldier appearing in it.
“Guess we gotta go with plan freakingDsinceBandCdidn’t account for being surrounded,” Nora groaned before jutting her chin to the door. Callie tugged the handle.
“It’s secure,” she replied quietly. Hannah didn’t know how soundproof the walls were, but with the garage right across the hall from the war room, Callie obviously didn’t want to draw any more attention to their location.
