Page 30 of Protect Me

Shane pulls his gun just as Jonah speaks.“Problem.We’ve got penetration on the western quadrant of the property.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Men coming in on foot from the side.A lot of them.”

“What?No!”I glance at the screen.

Shane hauls the man to his feet and slowly marches him toward the house, gun trained on his back as they move.I don’t know where the other men will intercept him, and there is nothing I can do to prevent it.

Nausea and worry for Shane fills me, as does complete panic for my work if the team they sent in breaches the house.“They can’t get their hands on the formula.”

For the last half-dozen years, I’ve been singularly focused on this cure.To lose it now, have a big pharmaceutical company, if that is who really is behind this, bury my findings… I can’t let that happen.Although I am tempted to run into danger myself to warn Shane, my intellectual instincts win out.There is nothing I can do to help him.She had to trust in his ability to take care of himself.

“I need your piece of the formula and access to your computer,” I say to Jonah.One part is in Shane’s duffel bag, and the last part is recent enough that I can recreate it from memory.At least enough to upload.

“What’s your plan?”my mentor asks.

“I’m going to cut the enemy off at the knees by uploading the cure to MedFree, an open source software site.”A reputable site owned by a cadre of scientists who cannot be bought by big pharmaceuticals.Any reputable researcher knows the name.

Jonah doesn’t argue.He obviously sees the wisdom of my plan.Expose the formula so the company after me can’t profit and remove the need to come after the cure.

He swivels his chair toward yet another screen and types in a password.“Here you go.Do your worst.”He glances at the monitors.“But do it fast.”

I swallow hard as Shane finds himself surrounded.He drops his gun and raises his hands in the air, outnumbered by the incoming men.

“Oh my God,” I say, scrambling for the computer just as Jonah hands me two separate notebooks, each opened to the right set of information.

I pull up the site and log in.And then I frantically but carefully begin to type.

I am still inputting the information when the door bursts open wide, followed by a gust of wind.Just as I press the final entry and hit upload, Shane, wet and muddy, steps inside, hands in the air, followed by what looks like an army of men in black.

“Hands in the air,” one of the men says.

Fear pulses through me, but I comply, as does Jonah.

“I want the formula,” the first man through the door says, his voice deep and formidable.

“You’re too late,” I say, facing them.“I uploaded all the pertinent information necessary to recreate the cure onto freeware.The world has access to the formula.”I raise my chin.If I am going down, I am going down having done the right thing.

Before the man in charge can reply, the sound of windows shattering echoes through the room.

“Get down!”Shane shouts.

Everything happens in a blur.A large body slams me to the floor, knocking my breath out of my lungs.Shots ring out around me, and I hear screams—before realizing the sounds are coming from me.

***

Shane

“Clear!”

At the sound of Ian’s voice, I ease myself off Talia and help her to a sitting position.Her face is pale, her eyes wide, her teeth chattering.

Gunshots can do that to a civilian, and I pull her close as she recovers from the shock of Ian and the team coming in through the windows.They now have the men surrounded at gunpoint.

Jonah climbs out from beneath the desk.“Who’s going to pay for this mess?”he asks, grumbling.

Ian meets my gaze.“All good?”