Chapter 10
AVA
Ava grabbed Devon’s ID badge and pressed it against the scanner at the door. The badge reader beeped, turning green, but the door didn’t unlock.
She tried again, hoping it was just a malfunction, but there was no way she could get back to the elevators.
Apparently, when the guard had said they were going into lockdown, he’d meant it.
Ava lifted her phone to her ear again. “Nice move, Shadow. I’m trapped in here now.”
“How was I supposed to know they’d initiate a lockdown?” he retorted, his annoyance obvious.
“Just get me out of here,” she answered as she stood staring at the door.
“I just set off an alarm across the building, now is the perfect time to access the server room and get the information we need.”
She spun to face the empty hallway, shaking her head. “No way. I’m literally trapped in this place with armed guards wearing a badge that isn’t mine. If I get caught…”
“The Ava I know wouldn’t get caught,” Sebastian shot back.
She firmed her jaw, her nostrils flaring as she sucked in a steadying breath, trying to decide whether or not she wanted to argue or panic.
“This isn’t a joke, Shadow. I’m locked inside this place.
And even if I get to that server room, I may not be able to access the files.
We need Alex on the other end of things to help. ”
“Where is the old man, anyway? I thought he’d be back by now. Things going a little too well with the beautiful Vanessa?”
Ava pressed her lips into a thin line. “He’s here at VoltTech with her. I told him not to go, but he insisted. If you search the security cameras, you may find him. With the lockdown, who knows if I can get a hold of him though.”
“Pretend you can,” Sebastian answered. “We need those files, Ava.”
“No kidding. But I wasn’t supposed to be locked inside here to get them.” With a shake of her head, she strode down the hall, trying to remember the route she’d planned in her head to the server room from the main door.
“You’ve got to improvise. You swiped the badge, now get the job done.”
With a heavy sigh, she inched closer to the corner and peered around it. A few guards stood at their posts.
“I’ve got guards in the next hall. Any chance there’s another, clearer path to the server?”
“I’m checking,” Sebastian said.
Ava plastered herself against the wall, the phone pressed to her ear as she waited, her stomach clenching. Would she actually be able to make it to the server room or would this all be for naught?
“Negative,” Sebastian finally answered. “No clear path. You’ll need to go past the guards.””
“Seriously?” She let out a defeated sigh. “I’m pretty sure a lockdown means I’m not supposed to be wandering around.”
“You’re Ava Collins. You’ll figure something out,” Sebastian answered. “I have a call on the other line that I need to take, but I’ll be watching you on the cameras. Try not to get caught.”
She was opening her mouth to reply when the line went dead. Frowning, she let her head thud against the wall behind her before she sneaked another peek around the corner.
“Unbelievable,” she murmured as she readied herself to take the most direct route to the server room.
She sucked in a deep breath and pivoted around the corner, her chin lifted and her shoulders back. With the ID badge around her neck, she may be able to pass herself off as someone who belonged here.
But it would take some fancy footwork on her part and the element of surprise. As she strode toward the set of two guards manning the next checkpoint, she raised her voice, shouting out a sharp, “Hey!”
The guards both snapped their gaze toward her before one of them stepped forward, his hand held out. “I’m sorry, ma’am but we are in a lockdown right now. You need to stay in the hallway you were in when the alarm went off until we clear it.”
Ava arched her eyebrows high. “And what are you doing to clear it?”
“I’m sorry?” the guard asked, confusion apparent on his face.
Ava let her features settle into an unimpressed stare as she cocked a hip and crossed her arms. “I said what are you doing to clear it? Because it looks to me like you aren’t doing a thing.”
“That is being handled by another team, ma’am, and I assure you that as soon as we can get back to business as usual, we will. For now, you need to wait in the hallway you were in when the alarm went off.”
“Being handled by another team,” Ava answered before she slowly bobbed her head up and down. “Right, I see.”
She leaned closer, reading the name on his badge. “Officer Watson, is it? And who is your lazy friend here?”
Ava shifted close to him to see his badge. “Officer Klein. Well, Officers Watson and Klein, don’t you think you should be checking to see what is happening instead of standing here with your thumbs up your…well, you know. Because from your boss’s perspective, you should be.”
“Uhh, boss’s perspective?” Officer Watson asked.
Ava let her hands fall to her hips. “Yes, Officer Watson. Your boss. Me. Devon Roberts.”
She dangled the badge between her fingers, her eyes going wide before she dropped it against her chest again, making certain the picture remained hidden.
“I set off that alarm myself just so I could assess response times and readiness, and let me tell you, I am not impressed. First of all, that door leading to the elevators has been unmanned since the alarm went off, and I stood unattended in that hall. No one would have ever known if I wandered off. Second, this has now taken over five minutes with no end in sight. What is the hold up?”
“Uhhh–”
“Close your mouth, soldier, you’re not a fly trap.” She poked a finger at Klein. “You get to that front door. You go to the alarm site.”
Klein’s eyes narrowed as he glanced at Watson, clearly not fully convinced. “Ma’am, I’m not sure we should be leaving our post…” he began, his hand inching toward his radio.
Ava’s pulse spiked. She couldn’t afford a delay. “Now!” she barked, hoping to cut off any further doubts. Klein hesitated for a fraction of a second before he reluctantly moved.
“But in an alarm, we’re not supposed to–”
“Did I stutter?” Ava asked, her features sharp.
“No, ma’am. I mean, yes, ma’am. I mean…” The man offered an awkward salute before both guards scurried in the direction she’d sent them.
She puffed out a breath as she continued forward toward the server room, hoping she could fast talk the next set of guards.
She found the next guard station empty. A smirk tugged at her lips—Officer Watson had probably warned them she was here.
Without slowing, she pressed on toward the server room.
As she approached the corner and peered around it, her heart sank.
The single guard stationed outside of the room stood at attention.
She’d need to get past him, but she likely couldn’t use the same thing she had on the other guards. This man’s post was dedicated.
She squeezed her eyes closed, rubbing her forehead as she tried to think through the situation.
Gnawing on her lower lip, she tried to determine a way to draw him away from the post.
With limited options, she shook her head. She’d have to improvise and pray that it worked.
She sucked in a sharp breath before she screamed. “Fire! Help! Fire!”
The guard’s footsteps pounded down the hall toward her.
With her features pinched, she poked a finger in the direction she’d come. “Fire! There’s a fire down there!”
The guard ran past her as she stood, holding her midriff, looking as terrified as she could.
The moment he rounded the corner, Ava hurried toward the server room that was now unguarded.
She ripped the badge from around her neck and pressed it against the server room’s ID scanner.
Her heart slammed against her ribs as the light flashed red. She swallowed hard, her mind racing. Was it the badge? Had she made some mistake? Her hand trembled as she tried again, willing it to work. The second flash of red felt like a punch to her gut.
The badge didn’t work. She couldn’t get into the server room. Had she done all this for nothing?
Her hand trembled as she grabbed her phone, ending Sebastian’s call from hold. She dialed Alex—voicemail.
With her stomach plummeting further with each passing second, she pressed a shaky finger to the end call button and redialed Sebastian.
“Come on, come on,” she murmured as she waited for him to pick up.
He did on the fourth ring. “I’m a little busy, Ava.”
Ava gritted her teeth, panic rising like bile in her throat. “And I’m stuck, Sebastian. Devon’s badge doesn’t work, and I’m about to have company. Don’t tell me you’re busy now.
The line went quiet for a moment, too quiet, and she fought the urge to scream. Could she really rely on him right now, when every second was life or death?
“You made it?”
“I did. Aren’t you proud of me?” She shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Now, open the dang door so I can panic in private before that guard comes back here and tags me for being somewhere I’m not supposed to be.”
“Door opening in just a second.”
“I don’t have a second, Shadow. Open it now,” she growled.
“I’m working on it. I just need to…oh shoot.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “What’s that mean? I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Yeah, I’ve got a small problem on my end,” Sebastian answered. “I need a second.”
“No, you can’t–” The clicking of the line cut off the rest of her words. She huffed out a breath, annoyed at the put off.
Overhead, the alarm klaxons finally stopped blaring. Ava raised her eyes to the ceiling as the lights stopped flashing, and everything returned to normal.
“Oh, great,” she groaned.
With the emergency over, the guards would now return to their regular stations, meaning she would soon have company.
She gnawed on her lower lip, dancing from foot to foot as she waited for any sign from Sebastian.
She considered trying Devon’s badge again but worried it would set off the alarm and bring guards converging on her current location.
“Ava?” Sebastian’s voice cut through the silence, startling her.
“Yeah, please tell me you have this.”
“I have it. I need two seconds here.”
Footsteps pounded toward her, and she snapped her gaze over her shoulder toward the hall she’d sent the guard down earlier. He must be returning, and he probably wasn’t happy that she’d send him on a false alarm.
“I don’t have two seconds, Shadow. I need this door open now.”
“Almost there.”
Ava’s chest constricted as she waited with her hand on the doors handle. The footsteps got louder, and she expected to see the man turn the corner at any moment.
Before she spotted him, the ID scanner turned green.
Ava depressed the handle, slipping inside the server room as a rush of cold air hit her. The low hum of servers filled the space, but it wasn’t comforting—it was eerie, like a steady reminder of how much data and power was stored here.
Every sound, every step seemed to echo too loudly, threatening to give her away. She leaned against the door, the quiet suffocating as she tried to calm her racing heart. “I’m in,” she whispered, hoping it was enough.
“Okay, you should be looking for a single server that has no wires running to it outside of a power cord,” Sebastian said.
“Right,” she answered as she forced herself to move forward through the maze of servers filling the room. They hummed with energy, storing all the information the company had.
She continued deeper into the room. “So, I hope you are going to be able to get whatever we need from this server on your end because I don’t have any options.”
“Yeah, we’re going to have to get creative, but don’t worry, helps on the way.”
Ava’s forehead creased as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. Before she could piece it together, she rounded a corner, spotting a large black machine in a glass case.
“I hope the help gets here soon, because I think I found it. Massive server, no wires running to it.”
“That’s it,” Sebastian said.
“But I have no way of accessing it, no laptop, just my phone, and I’m not as good as Alex with using my phone to hack into a–“
A loud bang stopped her heart for a moment. She snapped her gaze over her shoulder, holding her breath. “Uh, Shadow? I think we have a big problem.”