CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX #2
Brett had built something knowing exactly what it could be used for, and apparently the possibility of innocent people dying hadn’t bothered him enough to stop.
She looked toward one of the blue barrels and felt her stomach turn. How much money did someone have to offer before another person’s life stopped mattering?
“Okay. Keep me updated,” she heard Snow say.
Nova turned as Gabe lowered his phone.
“How long?”
“Bear says about twenty minutes. Maybe less if conditions keep improving. Gulf Tide has been notified, and they’re working on getting everyone off the other platforms. Helicopters are finally able to get in too.”
Some of the tightness in her chest eased. “Thank God.”
Snow nodded, but he was already moving again. He started photographing everything, taking wide shots of the room before moving closer to the worktables, barrels, and the prototype. Nova watched him send several of the pictures off before her gaze returned to the UUV.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What exactly can that thing do?”
Snow stopped. The fact that he didn’t answer immediately made her wish she had kept her mouth shut.
He looked at the UUV. “The technology itself isn’t bad.
UUVs have a lot of legitimate uses. Research, inspections, surveillance, search operations.
But not that one. If what Bear was told is right, Brett modified it to carry and deploy a payload.
Explosives, chemicals, whatever someone wants to put inside it. ”
Nova swallowed. “And nobody would see it coming.”
“That’s the idea. Most UUVs are larger. But ones like this are more dangerous for smaller waterways.”
“Wonderful.” She rubbed her hands over her arms. “An underwater terrorist delivery system.”
The door slammed shut behind them. The crash echoed through the small room, and Snow spun around before the sound had even finished bouncing off the walls.
“What the fuck?”
He crossed the room and grabbed the handle, but the door didn’t move.
Nova stared at him. “Snow?”
He tried again, harder this time, then planted his shoulder against the steel and shoved. Again, nothing.
A horrible sinking feeling settled into Nova’s stomach.
“Was that…?
Snow looked at her, and she saw the answer before he said a word.
“Brett.”
“Oh, that’s just fucking fantastic,” she said and started to pace around the room.
“Nova.”
“What? I’m processing.”
“You’re starting to panic.”
“I am not panicking.”
He gave her a look.
She stopped pacing and took a deep breath. “Fine. I’m panicking a little.”
Snow immediately crossed to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Look at me.”
She did, mostly because something about his voice made it impossible not to.
“We’re getting out.”
Nova nodded.
“Say it.”
“We’re getting out.”
“Good.”
His certainty helped. Not enough to make the situation any less terrifying, but enough that she could pull in a breath without feeling like her lungs had suddenly forgotten how to work.
Then she smelled it. For a second, she thought it was something inside the room. Oil or whatever chemicals Brett had been using.
Her gaze snapped to Snow. “Do you smell that?”
“Smoke.”
Nova’s heart started pounding all over again. “Please tell me there is a completely good reason we’re smelling smoke right after somebody locked us inside a secret room.”
Snow was already reaching for his phone. “Can’t do that, sweetheart.”
He called Bear and turned away slightly. “We’ve got a situation. Somebody locked us inside the room with the prototype.”
Nova listened to the silence while Bear responded.
“And we’re smelling smoke now,” Snow continued. “I can’t confirm it yet, but if Brett knows we’re here, I'm betting the bastard is trying to destroy the platform and make a run for it.”
Nova closed her eyes briefly. Of course he was, because being locked in a room with a potential weapon apparently wasn’t enough.
Snow ended the call a moment later.
“Well?” she asked.
“Bear and the others are moving as fast as they can.”
“That doesn’t sound like they’re outside the door with a crowbar.”
“They aren’t.”
“Okay.” Nova nodded, more to herself than him. “So we’re getting ourselves out.”
“Exactly.”
That was apparently all Snow needed. He immediately began searching the room, checking behind worktables and looking along the walls while Nova forced herself to do the same. Standing there imagining what might be burning outside wasn’t going to help anything.
The smell of smoke grew stronger.
“There’s got to be another way out,” she said.
“Most rooms like this should have more than one point of egress.”
“English, Navy boy.”
“Another exit.”
“Got it.”
He shot her a look over his shoulder, but she caught the hint of a smile. Then it disappeared.
Snow stopped moving, and Nova nearly walked into him.
“What?”
He didn't answer. His attention had locked onto something across the room, and she knew that expression well enough by now to recognize when an idea had just entered his head.
Unfortunately, Snow’s ideas tended to involve things normal people would consider insane.
“Gabe.”
He slowly turned toward her.
Nova narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think I like that look.”
“You probably won’t. But if we want any chance of getting out of here, then you’ll hear me out.”
“That is not reassuring.”
His gaze shifted back toward whatever he had spotted.
Nova followed it, then looked at him again.
“Oh, God.” She blew out a breath. “You’re about to suggest something completely fucking crazy, aren’t you?”
The corner of his mouth lifted.
“Define crazy.”
Nova groaned. She definitely wasn’t going to like this.
“The only way we’re getting out of this room is if one of us gets to the other side of that door and unlocks it.”
Nova waited for the rest of the plan, but when it didn’t come, she glanced toward the steel door and slowly scanned the room again.
Four walls. No windows. No second door. And unless Snow had been hiding some secret Navy SEAL ability that allowed him to walk through solid objects, she wasn’t seeing a whole lot of options.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “I feel like I’m missing a fairly important part of this plan.”
“You are.”
“Well, that’s reassuring.”
His gaze lifted toward the ceiling, and Nova followed it, immediately spotting the ventilation grate above them.
Oh, hell no.
She looked back at him and caught the smallest hint of a grin forming on his face. “Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.” She pointed toward the ceiling. “You expect me to climb up there, don’t you?”
Snow’s grin disappeared as he crossed the small space between them. “If I could fit, I’d go.”
Nova’s gaze moved over his broad shoulders before returning to the vent. Of course he couldn’t fit.
She blew out a breath. “So let me make sure I understand the plan. I crawl through an air duct while the platform is on fire.”
“We don’t know it’s on fire.”
Nova just stared at him.
Snow held out for approximately two seconds before reluctantly nodding. “Okay. It’s probably on fire.”
“Thank you.”
He stepped closer, his hands settling around her waist as the teasing disappeared from his expression. “I know you’re scared.”
Nova almost denied it. The response was right there on the tip of her tongue, but when she glanced toward the vent again, she couldn’t quite make herself say the words.
“Yeah,” she admitted. “A little.”
It was more than a little, but thankfully, he didn’t call her on it.
“If you follow the duct, it should take you into the storage room. Once you’re out on that side, you can get the door open.”
“Should?”
“The blueprints show the ventilation running between both rooms.”
“The same blueprints that conveniently forgot this room exists?”
Snow winced. “Yeah.”
“Awesome. I’m feeling better by the second.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to do this if there was another way.”
That quieted her more effectively than anything else could have.
Nova knew he wouldn’t. If there were another option, Snow would already be doing it himself.
She also knew standing there arguing with him wasn’t going to make another exit appear magically.
The smell of smoke was getting stronger, and if Brett really had set the platform on fire, every second she wasted was one they might desperately need later.
She could do this. At least, she hoped she could. God, she hated small spaces.
Snow tipped her chin up gently until she looked at him. “Hey. You can do this.”
The absolute certainty in his voice made her want to believe him.
“What if I get stuck?”
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No,” he admitted, his thumb brushing softly over her cheek. “But I know you, and you’re a hell of a lot tougher than you think.”
Nova swallowed against the sudden tightness in her throat. Damn him for knowing exactly what to say when she needed to hear it.
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Before I change my mind.”
He kissed her, quick but firm, and when he pulled away, his forehead rested briefly against hers. “I’ll be right here.”
Snow dragged one of the worktables beneath the vent, climbed onto it, and removed the grate before jumping back down and holding out his hand. Nova stared at the opening for a moment, deciding it somehow looked even smaller without the grate covering it.
“That is definitely not built for people.”
Snow linked his hands together, and Nova stepped into them, gripping his shoulders as he lifted her toward the opening with an ease she would have appreciated a lot more under different circumstances.
“Easy,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”
With his support, Nova grabbed the edge and pulled herself upward until her head and shoulders disappeared into the duct. The darkness closed around her immediately, along with the uncomfortable realization that the space was even tighter than it had looked from below.
She stopped moving. Logically, Nova knew there was enough room. Her shoulders fit, though they did touch the sides. She could breathe. Nothing was actually pressing against her. Unfortunately, her brain had apparently decided logic was no longer participating in this adventure.
“Nova?”