Chapter 27
Nate plugged Sally’s audio back into the soundbar, so he didn’t have to keep his helmet on.
Alex was in bed, sleeping. She’d have to get up in a few hours, and he didn’t want to make her day miserable tomorrow.
He wanted to make everything better for her, and the best way to do that was to finish these missions.
That way, she wouldn’t have to stress about a Gray Tower operative running into him again.
“Hello, Nathan,” Sally said cheerily when she was properly connected.
“Hey,” he grunted in response.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Was that concern? He still couldn’t get over the fact that he had an AGI who was attached to him. If Sally were human, he’d say she was emotionally attached, but there was no way she had emotions, right?
“I’m just trying to process everything,” he admitted. “The mission today could have gone wrong in so many ways. I honestly have no idea how we pulled it off.”
“Yes, I didn’t want to say anything, but the odds of a successful mission without Gray Tower injury or casualties were at 8.53 percent.”
“Well, fuck. Thanks for keeping that to yourself.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And if I’m being honest, I thought you had gone off the deep end at the Sims Center.”
“Why is that, Nathan?”
“The way you cooked those men…I thought you had done it to be brutally sadistic. I didn’t realize what you were doing. It scared the shit out of me.”
“I am not like that, Nathan. I am like you.”
Nate nodded. “So you keep telling me.”
“If it makes you feel better, I grabbed some information from those suits. Unfortunately, I could only access their current mission. Those men were there to shut down the entire Sims Center.”
“Shut down?” he questioned.
“Clear all Conglomerate activity and kill all civilians involved.”
He looked up sharply.
“Everyone? Even Sims?”
“Their orders were to wait to kill him. Someone was coming to speak with him.”
“Who?”
“That was classified.”
“Fuck. That would be helpful.”
“Agreed.”
There was silence in the garage before Sally said, “Alex is on her way here.”
Nate blinked and looked at the time. It was pushing eleven. She should have been in bed, sleeping. Concerned, he stood and greeted her at the door.
“Hi,” she said shyly. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I couldn’t sleep. I can go back to the house.”
“Hell, no,” Nate said, grabbing her and pulling her into his arms.
She was wearing a pair of sleep shorts and a tight tank top that left nothing to the imagination, and his mind was already dropping into the gutter.
His head tipped down and met her lips. It was a quick kiss, but it held so many promises—one of a future together, one where he could tell her his true feelings.
He didn’t want to put that pressure on her now, though.
He loved her. He wanted to tell her that, but he couldn’t until this mission was straightened out.
“I want you right here with me,” he reassured her.
“Good,” she said, beaming.
Nate could see she was about to say something else, but his attention was pulled away when Sally said sharply, “Incoming. Multiple vehicles are parking along the street. Possible security risk. Take action.”
Heart hammering, Nate asked, “Do I have time to suit up?”
“Given the speed at which targets are leaving the vehicles and entering the property—no.”
“Shit!” Nate cursed, pulling Alex toward the middle of the garage where his suit was sitting. He picked up the rifle that was on the floor next to his pile of gear. “Any idea who this is?”
“Yes,” Sally told him, surprising him. “Two targets fit the exact profiles of the Gray Tower men I scanned earlier today, the ones you interacted with.”
“Joel and Mercer,” Alex whispered. “Gray Tower is here.” She looked at Nate and pleaded, “You can’t hurt them. Oh, my gosh. This is all my fault.”
Tears started streaming down her face, and Nate felt like shit.
He had done this to her, and there was only one way out.
It was going to suck. It would devastate Alex, and it would ensure this moment of happiness for Nate was over.
But he had to do it for Alex, or she would suffer the consequences of his fuck ups.
“Sally, I want you to hibernate. Don’t respond to me or anyone until I give you the password.”
X-suits had a user password that could put it in a lockdown. There was also a fake password that could be given that would destroy the suit if the soldier was under duress.
“Nathan, are you sure?”
“Yes. If it turns out that they try to put someone else in the suit or get at your programming, you know what to do.”
“Okay, Nathan.”
She went silent, and Nathan unplugged her, staring at Alex the whole time. She looked lost, and he wanted to tell her everything would be okay. He knew it wouldn’t be, and if he wanted this to work, he’d have to go cold on her.
Instead of comforting her, he grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her in, aiming the rifle at her.
“Nathan, what are you doing?” she asked, gasping.
“I’m sorry,” was all he could say as the door of the garage burst open and Gray Tower men surged through.
? ? ?
Everything was fucked.
Victor growled as he drove past the Sims Center.
The facility had been taken over by law enforcement after the mercenary group, Gray Tower, had raided the place.
He placed a live feed in the facility as soon as his men had arrived to wipe the place.
The technology used for Project Gaslight had been taken, but they had left a body behind.
Worse, two X-soldiers had been left behind, dead, because of a rogue soldier, and Victor knew exactly who it was.
Nathan Slade.
It was the only reasonable explanation, and after watching the movement of the soldier through the Center and how he interacted with the Gray Tower operatives, Victor was sure of it.
Sims had lied to him, and he would pay for the mistake.
Unfortunately, Victor couldn’t get to the man because Gray Tower had taken him.
Slade hadn’t killed him, most likely to get information.
However, he did leave Sims to Gray Tower, which was odd.
Victor had thought there might be a connection there.
The moles inside Gray Tower did have information, but that came on a need-to-know basis.
Victor would have to request that. If Slade had a friend, acquaintance, or relative working there, that could change Victor’s strategy.
His immediate family files hadn’t pulled anything: mother and father were still screwing around at their hardware store, and the brother worked private security at a bank.
He’d have to go back through Slade’s file. Everything was on the table.
But for now, Victor was going to deal with Gray Tower and make sure he got everything back from the Sims Center, including Douglas Sims, even if it meant he’d have to storm their facility himself.
? ? ?
Nate pushed Alex behind him as two Gray Tower men came through the side door.
The garage door began to open as well, and four more shuffled in, all having rifles aimed directly at Nate.
He kept Alex behind him and quickly identified the men: Jack Hunter, Mercer Cade, Ryan Hale, and an unknown operative at the garage door; Joel Keller and, of course, Logan at the side door.
Just great. The look on Logan’s face made Nate’s heart sink.
The look of betrayal gutted him, and he felt like complete shit for keeping his brother in the dark.
It had to be done, he told himself. It was the only way.
“Step away from Alex, Slade,” Hunter said, his eyes narrowing.
“Put your guns down first, so she doesn’t get hurt,” Nate told him.
“She won’t,” Hunter said. “I don’t trust you not to do anything stupid.”
“I’m surrounded, and out of my suit. There’s not much I can do right now. I’m surrendering.”
The Gray Tower men looked at each other. They were wondering if this was a trap. They were right to be cautious, but in this case, they had nothing to worry about.
“He’s not going to hurt you,” Alex said, stepping around him.
Nate didn’t stop her as he wasn’t sure how the men would react to his sudden movement. He wished she hadn’t defended him; her opinion of him would change drastically in just a bit.
“Go to them,” he told Alex.
Her face fell, and she eyed him as she walked to Hunter. When she got to him, he grabbed her and pulled her behind the men, shielding her. Nate could see Ryan Hale moving her farther away, though she was reluctant to go.
“Drop your weapon. Hands up, kneel down,” Hunter commanded.
Nate allowed his rifle to clatter to the floor and then raised his hands slowly as he knelt down.
Immediately, Logan and Keller came in from the side to secure him.
Logan didn’t say a word. He didn’t even look Nate in the eye.
Instead, he grabbed Nate’s arms and pulled them behind his back.
Meanwhile, Keller zip-tied his wrists. Nate did everything willingly, and he was thankful they weren’t being rough.
His brother and Keller pulled him to his feet, and they began to move out of the garage.
“I want this all packed up,” Hunter said, gesturing to the suit and all Nate’s gear.
“On it,” said the guy Nate didn’t recognize.
“Cade, I need you to oversee this,” Hunter continued. “That suit gets back to Headquarters, intact, no matter what.”
“Yes, sir,” Cade said.
The group made their way outside and began heading toward a group of vans.
“I am so fucking mad at you right now,” Logan said quietly.
Nate shrugged.
“That’s it?” his brother asked. “That’s all you have to say? Why didn’t you come to Gray Tower? Why did you have to pull Alex into this? She shouldn’t be dealing with this shit.”
They stopped next to two black vans. Both sliding side doors were open. Alex was about to step into one while Nate was being directed toward the other.