Chapter 32
The scary-looking man in Alex’s guest apartment stalked over to her, and she took a step back, almost crushing Ashlen’s toes in the process.
Stumbling, she righted herself and tried to hold her ground.
It was obvious this was a Conglomerate agent; she and Ashlen were in big trouble.
The only hope they had was if they could stall long enough for someone to help.
Sally was monitoring everything, right? She would send someone to help.
At least, that’s what Alex was telling herself as the man grabbed her arm and flung her to the ground.
She skidded on the hardwood floor, stunned. Ashlen backed all the way to the kitchen counter until she bumped into it, and Alex watched as the man took his weapon and hit her friend in the temple. Ashlen cried out and crumpled to the floor.
Oh, shit. Oh shit, Alex chanted in her mind as she scooted back until she hit the back of the living room couch.
The apartment was small, and everything was in one large room, except for the bedroom and bathroom. It made this large, sinister man appear even more imposing. The man hovered over her, dark brown eyes piercing. He sneered.
“I don’t know why you’re here, but I will eliminate the problem,” he told her, aiming his gun at her chest.
She squeezed her eyes closed. After all that had happened, she was going to die like this.
“No,” a haunting, mechanical voice said from behind them.
Alex’s eyes widened when she saw Nathan in the doorway, his suit on. Its red eyes glowed, making it look terrifying. However, Alex felt nothing but relief when she saw him there.
“Nathan!” she cried out but immediately regretted it when the intruder smirked.
“So, you know Nathan,” he said, a terrifying grin forming on his face. “Perhaps…” His eyes scanned her body. “Intimately?”
She had screwed up. This man knew they were connected. And more importantly, he knew that it was Nathan underneath the suit.
“Get away from her, Victor,” Nathan said. “It’s me you want.”
This was Victor? It was even worse than she had thought.
“Oh, I definitely want you,” Victor replied, “but now I have leverage.” Victor grabbed Alex, spinning her around and pointing his gun to her head. “I don’t think you’d like it if her brains were painted all over this room.”
“I’ll give you one more warning,” Nathan said. “We could end this peacefully, and even though I would love to see you suffer, this isn’t about us anymore.”
“I’m good,” Victor replied, smiling.
“Then, you’re leaving me with no choice,” Nathan said.
“Oh, Nathan,” Victor said darkly. “You are the one with no choice.”
? ? ?
Rage filled Nate as he carefully watched Victor’s every move. How dare he touch Alex! How dare he threaten her! Nate had tried to negotiate. Victor wasn’t going to budge, which meant Nate had to end him.
“I have highlighted the best spot to shoot him,” Sally said. “As soon as I see an opening, I’ll let you know.”
Victor grinned.
“It looks like your time is up,” he said.
Confused, Nate wanted to question Sally on what Victor could possibly mean, but she answered for him.
“Nathan,” Sally said, alarm in his voice. “Something is wrong.”
“What do you mean—” Nathan began but was cut off by Victor.
“It’s time to level the playing field.” With that, Victor grinned and said loudly, “Suit X-59: Alfa, Bravo, India, Kilo, Whiskey, Tango, four-hundred-seventy-five.”
“Erasure and shutdown commencing in twenty seconds,” Sally said robotically.
“What the hell?” Nate demanded.
“Every suit has a kill switch, Nathan,” Victor told him. “We had problems with the earlier generations and needed a way to quickly destroy them. It’s time to shut yours down.”
“You’ll lose the AI!” Nate said frantically.
“I can put a new one in. It’s the suit itself I need. Your Gray Tower friends have made it impossible for me to build new ones.”
“Five seconds,” Sally said. “I’m sorry, Nathan. I promise it will be okay.”
“Have fun, Nathan,” Victor taunted as Nate’s helmet display went dark.
Shit, shit, shit, he thought, trying not to panic.
He couldn’t think about the fact that he just lost Sally. He had to get his helmet off and hope that Victor didn’t shoot him in the head. Breathing out heavily, he clutched his helmet and began taking it off.
As light flooded his vision, he immediately rolled to the side while popping his helmet the rest of the way off. Shots were fired, and before Nate could reorient himself, he heard Victor shout, “You fucking bitch!”
Alex.
? ? ?
Fear coursed through Alex’s body when she realized that Nathan’s suit wasn’t functional.
Once he started taking his helmet off, Victor could easily shoot him in the head.
That couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t let it.
She had taken enough self-defense classes so that she could give Victor a surprise once the gun was aimed away from her.
All Nathan needed was a moment to reorient himself.
Watching closely as Nathan began taking off his helmet, she felt Victor’s grasp loosen on her. His handgun started to point at Nathan instead.
Now was her chance.
She went slack, making herself deadweight. Victor lost his grip on her, especially while he was trying to aim at Nathan. As she was sliding down his torso, she elbowed him right in the balls.
There you go fucker, she thought.
“You fucking bitch!” Victor howled, but Alex was already on the ground and rolling away, kicking at one of his legs while she went.
He went off-kilter slightly and recorrected himself, but it was enough time for Nathan to have his helmet off, reorient himself, and fire his gun.
BAM. BAM, BAM.
The three shots echoed loudly in the room, and Alex watched as blood spurted from Victor’s chest. He looked shocked—as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened. Then, he crumpled to the floor, his eyes still open in that thousand-yard stare.
He was dead.
Alex’s gaze moved to Nathan, who was standing there, rifle pointed at Victor’s lifeless body. Once he was satisfied Victor wasn’t getting back up, he looked at Alex, his expression softening.
“Alex…” he said, his voice trailing off.
He didn’t have to say anything else. She jumped from her position on the floor, body protesting, and ran over to him. Her arms enveloped him. It was weird hugging him with the suit on, but she didn’t care. He was here with her. They were alive. That’s all that mattered.
Alive.
“Ashlen!” Alex gasped, turning to her friend, who was still on the floor, unmoving.
She ran over to her, pressing her fingers to her neck. There was a pulse, and Ashlen was breathing.
“We need to get help,” Alex said.
Nathan nodded.
“I have backup coming, but I can’t contact anyone because Sally…she’s…gone.”
The implications dawned on Alex, and her heart sank. Victor had said there was a kill switch, but Alex thought he was bluffing. She couldn’t hear Sally’s reply. Apparently, Victor had been telling the truth.
“Oh, Nathan. I’m so sorry.”
His expression hardened as he said, “It’s fine. She was getting dangerous. She put the whole building on lockdown because she thought I was in trouble.”
“You were in trouble,” Alex said softly, cradling Ashlen’s head. “I know what you did and why.” There was silence between. Nathan swallowed hard. “And if it wasn’t for Sally, Victor’s plan may have gone through.”
“Yeah. You’re right,” he admitted. “She was a little intense, but her heart was in the right place.” He laughed sharply. “Her heart. She’s a fricking machine. Why am I so upset about a glorified computer program?”
“She was special. She reflected you. It’s like losing a part of yourself.”
He nodded.
“I get that. It’s just…odd. I wasn’t expecting to have an attachment. But at least…” He studied her closely. “I have you?”
Alex smiled and said, “You have me.”
She wanted to kiss him, but movement flashed from behind them. Nathan was already tracking them with his rifle, but he relaxed when he saw Jack and Mercer.
“Where. Is. She?” Mercer asked, punctuating each word sharply.
“Here,” Alex called from her seated position. “We need medical. She’s alive but unconscious. Victor hurt her.”
“Where the fuck is he?” Mercer demanded. “I’m going to kill him!”
“Dead,” Nathan said. “Along with Sally.”
Mercer and Jack glanced at each other.
“Well…shit,” Jack said.
Mercer walked over to Ashlen and knelt, talking to her softly.
“Hey, baby,” the big man cooed. “Please wake up for me. Please be okay.”
“Dr. McKay and medical are on their way up now that the building is being secured,” Jack said.
“Fifty percent of the civilians have been transferred off-site. All Conglomerate targets are secured after the rest of our ops guys get here. Security is running smoothly, but we’re getting everyone out who doesn’t need to be here. ”
“Makes sense,” Nathan said, nodding.
Ashlen started to stir, and Mercer told her, “That’s it. Come back to me.”
Alex let out a breath as her friend began to wake up, disoriented but otherwise okay. She didn’t know what would happen next. Victor and Sally were gone. Gray Tower had huge security gaps. She didn’t even know if she had a job. And what about Nathan?
Everything felt chaotic.
Luckily, it was only about an hour later—after they had secured the building and taken care of Ashlen—that the cards were laid on the table.
? ? ?
Nate was exhausted, yet he was wired. So much had happened in such a short time. Victor was dead. Sally was gone. The Conglomerate had attacked Gray Tower. And he and Alex were…what exactly? It felt like they were okay, but he hadn’t talked with her. This whole thing was a complete clusterfuck.
Now, everyone was in the conference room, trying to pick up the pieces. Even Stratton had decided to stay. Nate assumed he would duck out at an opportune moment. Did he feel like their mission was accomplished now that Victor was dead?