Chapter 37
Thirty-Seven
Mo checked the status of the download. “Almost there.”
“Maybe this is my total lack of computer knowledge at work, but I thought this would go . . . faster.”
Mo could tell Bronwyn was trying to be nice. And she had succeeded. For the most part.
“If I knew exactly what I was looking for, I could have downloaded less. Instead, I’m downloading a lot of information, most of which I don’t need, but it’s more efficient to do it this way.
Tonight, my computer programs will filter it out.
In the morning, we should have some shiny answers waiting for us. ”
He glanced at the computer. Another minute. “Almost there.”
“Then what?”
“Then we go back to your house and pack your bags.”
“I thought you had to stay on-site for this kind of work.”
“I did while we were being covert,” he said. “You’ve hired me. We’re all out in the open now. Everyone knows what I’m doing, and I’m obligated to protect your interests.”
“Mo?”
“Yeah.”
“You haven’t signed anything.”
“Sure I have.”
“When?”
“This afternoon. I printed out my standard contract. It’s signed.”
“Do you think of everything?” She sounded impressed.
“No. I don’t. And I’m sure you’ll figure that out soon enough.” The laptop chimed, and he disconnected it from the server. “Got it. Let’s—”
A piercing shriek filled the room. Light flashed all around them.
Bronwyn covered her ears and bent in half. “What’s going on?”
He yelled into her ear, “Fire suppression system. Come on! We need to get out of here!”
If this system was like most, they had anywhere from fifteen to thirty seconds to vacate the room before it filled with a gas designed to extinguish fire without damaging electronics.
No one would put this much money and effort into their servers just to see them destroyed by sprinklers.
He and Bronwyn weren’t about to get wet.
But they might be about to breathe in some very unpleasant chemicals.
Some of the systems on the market were better than others.
Some even claimed to be safe for humans, but Mo didn’t care to test that theory.
He’d had some experience with tear gas. This wasn’t the same, but if he could spare Bronw—
“Mo!” She tugged on his arm. “There’s no way this is an accident. Stop! If we run out that door, who knows what’s waiting for us.”
Mo froze. He’d been so focused on getting her out, he hadn’t stopped to think about what had put them in this situation.
He pulled her to the far corner of the room and then draped his body over hers with no time to spare. The system activated, and the sound of high-pressure gas releasing filled the room for ten seconds.
When it was over, Mo had the disturbing sense that they were no longer alone.
The room remained dimly lit from the emergency lights and, thankfully, the alarms had stopped shrieking.
But had someone used the noise to break in?
Mo held one finger to his lips, and Bronwyn nodded that she understood.
He handed her the laptop and retrieved his weapon from his waist.
He took precious seconds to consider and discard options. He had no idea who was in the room with them. Was someone waiting outside? What were their motives? Were they here to destroy data or lives?
“This would have been so much easier if you’d just gone to dinner with me, Ms. Pierce.”
The voice was familiar. Where did he know that voice?
Bronwyn pulled her phone from her back pocket and typed. She held the phone up so he could see the text she’d sent to Gray.
Bob’s at Haven. Armed. Server room. Mo’s with me. Call me and I’ll put you on speaker. Do not make any noise.
Bob had been interested in far more than dinner, after all.
A second passed, then a thumbs-up emoji flashed on the text thread.
When the incoming call from Gray popped up, she answered it and put the audio on speaker.
She held the phone, then closed her eyes.
Her lips moved in what he assumed was a silent prayer.
He was glad she’d come up with something because he didn’t even know what to pray for.
He had few options for how to proceed, but none of them were great. He went with his best guess. “What’s your end goal?” he called out into the now eerily silent room. Then he motioned for Bronwyn, and they moved as quietly as possible toward the opposite corner.
“Ah, Mr. Quinn, is it? Come now. I know you and Ms. Pierce are in here. No reason to hide. I’m not here to kill you. I just want to chat.”
Mo didn’t need words to translate Bronwyn’s look. Her face said “does he think we’re stupid” loud and clear. He agreed.
They moved away from the voice.
“I know, I know. You don’t believe me,” Bob went on. “But I feel sure we can come to some sort of mutually beneficial arrangement. I have information you need. And you have something I want.”
Mo and Bronwyn continued to move as quietly as possible. Based on his voice, Bob had almost reached the spot they’d been when this all started. They weren’t far from the door. Did they dare exit the room?
Who was the greater enemy? Bob on the inside? Or whatever—or whoever—waited on the outside?
It was possible that Bob was alone and if they left the room, they could make a run for it.
Or they could run straight to their death.
“I can see you aren’t the chatty type.” Bob tsked in what sounded like fake disappointment. “Fine. I’ll start. I’m here because my employer is convinced that the person blackmailing her father is none other than one Bronwyn Pierce.” A pause. “Oops. Did I say that out loud? I guess I did. My bad.”
Bronwyn looked as mystified as Mo felt.
Her father? Did that mean Bob was employed by Senator Carlsman’s daughter? Why?
“Really, Ms. Pierce, you should have Mr. Quinn completely revamp your computer security. It wasn’t difficult to pay off a few people to hack into your files.
And, as I’m sure he has informed you, it does look like you’ve been milking the dear old senator out of large sums of cash for a very long time.
My employer was convinced it was you, and she wanted you .
. . well . . . let’s say, out of the picture.
I’ve always liked that phrase. I mean, it’s not so bad, being out of the picture. ”
A scuffle of feet, and Mo and Bronwyn moved again.
The next time he spoke, Bob was in a different place in the room.
“This is becoming tedious. Here’s the problem.
I’m not just hired muscle. I have a brain.
And while it looked like you had been blackmailing Carlsman for a while, Ms. Pierce, this latest move just didn’t make sense to me.
” Bob clearly had some things to get off his chest. “I mean, don’t get me wrong.
No one could blame you for wanting him to pay through the nose.
Teenage pride is a fragile thing. I’m sure his brother made you think you were so special and then he left you to fend for yourself.
And why? So he could do research for a film?
He was a horrible person. A definite bad apple. ”
There was something very unhinged about this guy.
“But why would you try to protect your cousin? Talk about a bad apple. It doesn’t fit your profile at all. And, believe me, you have a profile. I worked on it for a long time. And this play? It doesn’t fit.”
The next sound was unmistakable. He’d popped the clip out of a gun and then popped it back in.
“This clip holds fifteen rounds. There’s no way you get out of here. I know it. You know it. But I can make sure you go fast. No pain. No drama. I swear. You won’t even know it happened. All you have to do is tell me who is behind the blackmail. Because I promise you, they’re going down too.”
Mo didn’t think Bob was joking around. If Mo started firing, he might be able to take Bob out. Or they could both die.
He looked to the exit.
“Oh, and don’t bother trying to leave. I left a present on the door. The next person to open it will lose a hand, at the least. Maybe more.”
Well, that certainly limited their options.
Bronwyn glanced at her watch, then showed it to Mo. There was a text from Gray.
Keep him talking. Marcus is outside the room. I’ve told him not to open the door.
“You really aren’t giving us much of an incentive to help you.
” Mo shoved Bronwyn down the row of servers and plastered them against the end of the row.
Even if Bob started shooting, he wouldn’t have the right angle to hit them.
He’d have to come around the corner or down the aisle, and Mo would have a chance to take him out.
Bob chuckled. “Yeah. Stinks to be you. Look, I know it’s cliche and all, but I really don’t have anything against you personally. You seem like good people. But I have a job to do.”
Bronwyn’s body trembled against Mo, but when she spoke, her words were clear. “You said you know it isn’t me. Why do you need to kill us? Why go through all this?”
“Ah, Bronwyn. Can I call you Bronwyn? The thing is, you know too much. Simple as that.”
Mo had his body pressed against Bronwyn’s. He covered as much of her as possible. When Bob made his move, Mo would open fire. He’d never shot a person before. Didn’t want to do it now. But he’d die to protect Bronwyn.
He shifted his grip on his weapon, leaned toward Bronwyn, and breathed the words into her ear. “I love you. Forever.”
Bronwyn looked into Mo’s eyes and mouthed, “I love you.”
Shots rang out. From where she stood, her back to the frame of the server, she couldn’t tell where Bob was. Mo leaned toward her right and fired three times.
And then the ceiling collapsed all around them. Something hit her hard on the shoulder. Mo went down. She grabbed him around the waist and went down with him.
Another shot.
Then lots of yelling. “Clear! Clear!”
“Mo! Bronwyn!” Gray’s voice came through the cacophony. She tried to move, but the motion jerked a scream from her throat as agony pulsed down her arm.
“Over here!” Gray stood over her. “Bronwyn. Let me have Mo. Come on. You need to turn him loose.” Gray sounded . . . wrong.
“Mo?” The question rasped from her throat. Blood. So much blood. Was it his? Hers? “Mo!”
Then Cal was there and he was rolling Mo off her body. She fought through the pain in her arm and made it to her knees. Mo lay beside her.
Breathing. He was breathing. Oh, thank you, Jesus, he was breathing.
His eyes opened, wild with terror.
“I’m here. I’m here.” She fell across his chest. “Mo?”
“Love you.” The words were slurred.
“Love you more.”
“You’re bleeding.” His eyes were on her arm.
“I’m sure it’s just a scratch.” Bronwyn ignored Mo’s muttering and lay across his chest. She rode the steady rise and fall of his breathing until he started yelling for someone to come get her to a doctor.
“Calm down, man,” Cal said. “I can see the cut. It’s probably going to need stitches, but she’s not going to die. Mom will be here in a few minutes.”
Cal helped her to her feet and pressed what looked like someone’s shirt to her arm. She hissed, and Mo nearly levitated off the floor as he tried to get to his feet.
“I’m fine.” She bit back a cry when Cal shifted to help Mo up.
Mo put an arm around her, and Cal helped them both maneuver down the hall and eventually onto a small sofa outside the security office.
She snuggled against Mo, and he held her hand on her good arm while she tried very hard not to think about Bob’s very dead body lying in the server room.
Cal stood sentry in front of her and Mo, and no one was allowed to approach until Doug and Jacque, both in pajamas, came through the door.
They ran to where she and Mo rested and then knelt beside the sofa.
Mo pulled his mom into a hug and held her close.
When he released her, she went to Bronwyn’s other side and settled in beside her, careful to avoid her wound.
Doug rested a hand on Bronwyn’s knee. “Sweetheart, we need to tell you something.”
Mo must have heard the same thing in his tone that she did because his hold on her tightened. “What is it?”
Doug looked at the floor, then back to Bronwyn.
“I don’t have all the details, but there was a confrontation at your grandmother’s house tonight.
Your dad’s on his way to the hospital in Asheville.
Your mother’s with him. Your uncle Ronald didn’t make it.
Your uncle William and a reporter are en route to the police station for questioning. ”
Bronwyn heard the words, but they didn’t make sense. Uncle Ronald was dead? Her dad was on his way to the hospital? That was all bad, but she got the feeling there was more. “What else happened?”
Jacque scooted closer and rested her hand on top of Doug’s.
“Sebastian was injured, but he was able to tell Donovan that a reporter came in and made some accusations about blackmail and that your grandmother somehow got caught up in the fight. I’m sorry, but your grandmother didn’t make it.”
“Grandmother?” Bronwyn dropped her head to Mo’s shoulder.
“I’m so sorry.” Doug squeezed her knee. “You are not alone, darling. No matter what.”
Jacque laced her fingers through Doug’s. “You are so loved, sweet girl. So loved. We’ll be here. We’ll help you through this.”