Page 91 of Red Zone Awakened

As he fell mercifully quiet, Keiko took a deep breath and reached for the dead man.She gagged as her fingers skimmed the back of his hand.He was still warm.Shaking, she ordered herself to take hold of him, but her body refused to comply.She blinked back tears—from the smoke or the horror, she didn’t know which—and tried again.

A strong hand grasped her wrist, making her jump.

“I’ll do it,” a voice said.

Her eyes shot up, but she didn’t quite trust what they showed her.“Mace?”

“Hey, princess.”His small smile was devastating.“Miss me?”

“Mace!”She launched herself into his arms, expecting him to catch her.Which he did.His strength wrapped around her like armor, protecting her from all the violence surrounding them.

“I was so worried about you.”She clasped his cheeks in her hands and stared into his eyes.

They warmed for her.“About me?That’s insulting.”They turned cold as he frowned.“Anyway, I wasn’t the one who chose to wrap an EMP band around my head.”

“Freaking tattletale,” Keiko muttered.“I’ll deal with him later.”

“Funny, I was going to say the same about you,” Mace said, and Keiko knew there was an epic lecture in her future.

There was a thumping, and she looked down to find Rueben kicking the podium to get their attention.“It’s so tempting to leave him here,” Keiko said in disgust.

“I’ll deal with him.”Mace grabbed the dead man’s hand and pressed his thumb to Rueben’s cuffs.They snapped apart.“Let me help you up.”

He reached into the pocket of his jeans, and Keiko caught a glimpse of the silver datapad.Her heart jumped when she realized what he planned to do, and she looked around, checking that no one was watching.With the injector in his hand, Mace grasped Rueben under his arm and hauled him to his feet.Once he was steady, Mace removed the silencer.

“Did you have to be so rough?”Rueben said by way of thanks, rubbing the spot where Mace had held—and injected—him.

Mace slid the injector back into his pocket.This was it.The reason he’d come on this mission—inject the scientist and get access to the data to stop the faulty data chip from being sold.His mission was complete.Strangely, rather than feeling used, Keiko felt proud.

“You need to get me out of here,” Rueben said.“Sato will tell you how important I am.My brain makes this company billions.I need to be saved for the sake of all mankind.”

Keiko’s jaw dropped.

As usual, Mace didn’t waste time with words.Instead, he punched the scientist and lowered him to the ground before storing him in the space beneath the podium.

“That should keep his big brain safe,” he said.

“Is he alive?”

“It’d defeat the purpose if he died.Trust me, he’s safer unconscious.It’ll keep him out of trouble until this is over.Come on, princess.It’s time to go.”

After casting one last glance at Rueben, she shrugged and followed Mace.The fighting had calmed now, as most of the combatants were already dead.The smell of blood mingled with smoke, forming a stench that Keiko would breathe in her nightmares.

They hugged the sides of the pergolas scattered randomly throughout the terrace.Mace crouched low behind a cluster of outdoor furniture and handed her a gun.“Take this.The safety’s off.Point and squeeze.Fire at anything that isn’t me.”

Keiko looked past him to the last of the fighting.“Enforcement’s winning.We need to get out of here.”

He pointed to the wall at the edge of the terrace.“We’re going that way.Stick close behind me.Stay down.”

They moved out, keeping low.The screaming, crying and wailing faded to background noise beneath the pounding of Keiko’s heart.A blast hit the wooden structure beside them, and they threw themselves flat on the terrace floor.Mace signaled for her to wait and cocked his head as though listening.Was he talking to his bat?She scanned the early morning sky but couldn’t see it.He motioned for her to come closer, and she crawled to his side.

“My team’s coming for us.”His voice was so soft that she read the message on his lips more than heard it.

“We can communicate again?The signal jammer’s gone?”

“Yeah.”Mace stared at her, waiting.

It took Keiko a second to realize what he was waiting for—her decision.Would she call out to Enforcement?Would she sell him out?If he’d been anyone else, she’d have been insulted.But this was Mace, and he knew only too well what betrayal felt like.