Page 28 of Red Zone Awakened

CHAPTER11

Red Zone Warriors surveillance vehicle

Four blocks from CommTECH’s research facility

Houston, Northern Territory

“I can’t believehe did that,” Hunter said, sounding as stunned as Striker felt.“And on camera too.With the whole world watching.He may as well have painted a target on his back.On all our backs.”

He wasn’t wrong.Mace had moved faster than humanly possible, falling to his stomach on the ledge, grabbing Keiko by the ankle, and swinging her up to catch her.There would be a whole lot of questions about how he’d managed to save her.

“Was he supposed to just let her fall?”Friday asked, frowning at the screens, where Mace saving Keiko replayed over and over again.

“No.”Hunter blushed at her reprimand.“But a normal person couldn’t do that.”

No.They couldn’t.To react with that kind of speed, you needed the genetic advantage of an animal that shared your DNA.One that excelled at moving fast and keeping its balance while doing it.An animal capable of reading wind currents and seeing things humans couldn’t.An animal like a bat.

“The news has slowed the footage down.”Hunter pointed to the screen.“They’re saying it was adrenaline.”He looked up at Striker.“That could work, right?I mean, normal people can move cars and stuff when they’re wired on adrenaline.Can we push that as an explanation?”

“Spread the rumor that he’s had training, maybe gymnastics or something like that, and, fueled by adrenaline, his training kicked in and made the rescue possible.”

“I’m on it.”Hunter’s fingers flew across the keyboard.

Friday looked up at him.“Will anyone believe it?”

“I don’ know,bébé.People look for ways to explain this kind of thing, and it’s as good an explanation as any.”

“He should have fallen off the ledge,” Friday mused as she watched the slow-motion footage.“He’s so wide, I don’t understand how he didn’t topple off when he caught her.It’s like one of those acrobat acts where they throw each other around.Maybe it was possible because of the difference in their sizes.When he returns to base, I need to run some tests on his skills.”She frowned at him.“You need to tell me what his animal is so I can figure out what’s going on.”

“That’s between you and Mace.I don’ have the right to tell you what his animal is.”

She huffed.“He’s so stubborn, and he loves to annoy me.He’ll never tell me.”

“You could probably guess, just from the stuff he can do,” Hunter pointed out.“Watch the footage real closely and see what comes to you.”

Striker narrowed his eyes at their tech, who feigned innocence.If Friday studied the footage and actually listened to the commentary, it wouldn’t take her long to figure out that the bat who distracted Keiko came from Mace.Hunter was already in Mace’s bad books.The boy must have a death wish siccing Friday on him.

“You’re right,” she said.“I get too distracted by his attitude to see the situation clearly.”

Striker wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist and kissed the top of her head.“I’ll talk to Mace.Tell him he needs to stop messing around and come clean.”

“You brought me on board to study your DNA.To give you answers.And I can’t do that if he won’t cooperate.”

“That wasn’t the only reason I brought you on board,bébé.”He gave her a wicked smile that made her cheeks flush pink.“But once this is over, I’ll talk to him.Okay?”

As she nodded, Sandi snapped her old-fashioned phone shut and turned to them.“Things just got a whole lot worse.I got word that the Mercer twins are on their way to Houston.They’re coming to deal with the situation personally.”

The air in the van thickened, making it harder to breathe.

“How long ’til they get here?”Striker asked.

“Couple of hours at most.”

The color drained from Friday’s face.“If they catch Mace, they’ll take DNA samples.It’s standard procedure.If CommTECH gets hold of him, all of your secrets will be revealed.We need to do something to help him get out of there, right now.”

“We could start with getting that camera off our guy,” Gray said from the front of the van, where he’d gone to put distance between himself and the rest of the team.He’d become far too good at isolating himself, which was one of the reasons Striker had brought him along on this op—he wanted to keep an eye on him.

“Sandi, Gray,” Striker said.“Deal with the helicopter.Let’s get that spotlight off Mace.”

With a nod, they were out the door and running for their hoverbikes.The door slammed behind them, echoing through the van’s interior.

“Hunter, where’s the rest of the team?”

“Still at least an hour away.”

Striker contacted one of the team members who’d already arrived and spoke to him through his comm.“Ignacio.The Mercers are on their way.Cover the front of the building and keep an eye out for them.Let me know as soon as they arrive.”

“On it,” came the reply.