Page 30 of Red Zone Awakened

CHAPTER13

The spotlight suddenly blinked out,leaving Mace to adjust to the darkness again.He would have given his right arm for five minutes alone with the assholes who’d thought it a good idea to blind them.Not that they gave a crap about putting his or Keiko’s life in danger.To the media, they were nothing more than fodder for ever-hungry audiences.

At a speed that would have made Keiko scream, he ran along the ledge, heading back to the office.His heartbeat was loud and erratic, his palms tingled, and his breathing was labored—a leftover from watching Keiko slip from the building.Her fall replayed in his mind, producing a fresh wave of cold sweat.He could kill his other half for breaking free and heading straight for her.He hoped the little sucker got eaten by a hawk while out scouring for food.

A voice sounded in his mind:I die, you die.

It’s a risk I’m willing to take,he told it.You put us all in danger.

There was no reply.His other half only cared about its stomach.

Although the bat was to blame for Keiko’s fall, the agility and speed gained from sharing his genes with the animal were the reasons he’d managed to catch her.His reaction had been pure instinct as he fell to his stomach and reached for her ankle.In his mind, he’d seen the whole thing a split second before it happened—he’d read the air currents, knew how much time he had and exactly where to grab her.He’d moved like a bat, using the same skills it used to snatch insects from the air.

And it had all been caught on camera.

Striker was going to kill him.

With a low grunt of disgust, Mace slowed his pace as he reached the broken window, his ears straining for the slightest sound.Over the pounding of his heartbeat, he heard them: two men moving about inside the office.

“The newsfeed’s been cut,” one of them said.“Looks like Enforcement took out the light.”

“You think he’s still out there on the ledge?”The second guy’s voice trembled.

“Only one way to find out.”He sounded cocky.

“I don’t hear anything outside.I reckon he’s gone through the stairwell window with the press secretary.If I were him, that’s what I’d have done.I hope to hell he isn’t still out there and coming our way.Did you see the size of him?I didn’t sign up to confront a guy like that.I signed up to free our people.We should just go back to the terrace and tell them he got away.”

“And have Susan execute us as an example for the hostages?I don’t think so,” the cocky guy mocked.

“Come on, Gérard, this isn’t why we’re here.We were supposed to deal with security so we could get the message out.Not chase reporters all over the building.”

Gérard barked out a nasty laugh.“Are you afraid the big bad reporter’s going to hurt you?He’s a desk jockey.Like you used to be before you joined the movement.You’ll be fine.Just point your weapon at him, and he’ll pee his pants.”

“If that’s what you think, you can stick your head out to see if he’s still there.Any guy who can run along that ledge without breaking a sweat sure as hell isn’t only a desk jockey.And did you see the way he caught her?That wasn’t normal.”

“I’m telling the crew you chickened out,” Gérard said.“Watch how it’s done and learn.”

There were footsteps as Gérard drew closer to the window.Every muscle in Mace’s body tensed, and his heart rate slowed.As it always did before combat.A thin smile curved his lips—he was back to normal.His physical reaction to almost losing Keiko had been nothing more than a blip.

Silently, carefully, he positioned his left hand at the edge of the frame, ready to grip it.He kept his right hand at chest height, exactly where the idiot’s head would be when he stuck it through the window.Time slowed as his focus narrowed.He took in the details of his situation at lightning speed, processing them just as fast, ready to strike.

“You sure you did the Freedom training?”Gérard said.“Because they used to teach recruits how to fight, not hide.”

With a harsh laugh at his own brilliance, he stuck his head through the window.Mace didn’t hesitate.He grabbed him by the hair, yanked him through the hole, and sent him flying into the night.The terrorist’s scream ripped through the silence, but Mace didn’t take the time to watch him fall.He grasped the frame, ignoring a jab that told him he’d cut his hand on a shard of glass still clinging to it, and jumped through the window.

Shock kept the other Freedom fighter immobilized, as Mace knew it would.Amateurs.The guy didn’t have time to react before Mace grasped either side of his head and twisted.With an audible crack, the terrorist’s neck snapped, and he crumpled to the floor.Mace bent over to take the rifle from the dead man’s hands, feeling no remorse at ending his life.There was no doubt in Mace’s mind that the man would have continued to come after him and Keiko.And there was no way he’d allow that to happen.He’d had no choice but to eliminate the threat.

As he checked the clip on the weapon, he muttered, “Now I have a machine gun, ho-ho-ho.”

That had always been his favorite line fromDie Hard.And now here he was, wisecracking like John McClane in his very own skyscraper full of terrorists.If he wasn’t careful, this experience was going to put him off his favorite movie for life.

Without sparing the man on the floor a second glance, he jogged toward the corridor and the stairs leading to the penthouse above.There was no time to lose because if Freedom knew where he was, they also knew Keiko was in the stairwell.Unprotected.Vulnerable.A sitting duck.

Coming to a halt just around the corner from the corridor with the cameras, he let his senses reach out, the way he’d learned from watching his other half over the past three years, and felt the emptiness of the space.No other Freedom soldiers stood between him and Keiko, but he still needed to deal with the cameras, and he had to be fast about it.Because as soon as one went black, whoever was monitoring them would want to know why, and they’d send someone to investigate.

Mace took a deep breath and found the place within him that allowed him the focus he needed in combat.It was a reserve he’d first discovered as a child, when he had to remain silent and in control when all he’d wanted to do was rage at life’s injustice.

With steady hands, he swung the weapon in the direction of the first camera and shot.The sound reverberated around the corridor, but he wasn’t concerned about the noise.They were too far from the security hub for anyone to hear, and the people on the terrace were making enough noise to cover any he made above them.Three more quick shots and the cameras were disabled.