Page 96 of Red Zone Awakened

Sandi scanned the sky and spotted the team’s helicopter on her right-hand side.So far, no one had taken a shot at them—they were too busy dealing with the fighting on the ground.

“If I can get close enough,” Sandi said to her teammate, “you can jump out and get Mace to the helipad.”

“Something’s wrong,” Ignacio snapped.“Mace’s stopped fighting.”

Sandi turned the craft to face her brother instead of searching the terrace for a way to land.He was clutching his side, swaying in place.As she watched, he staggered back until his legs were against the broken wall.He was injured, out of it.And all Mercer did was stand there watching, as though he couldn’t figure out what Mace was doing.

A flash of silver caught Sandi’s eye.Keiko was running toward Mace with a gun in her hand, firing wildly.A lucky shot to the shoulder took Mercer down.Keiko didn’t notice; she was completely focused on getting to Mace.And his eyes were on her as he teetered on the edge of the terrace.

“Let me down,” Ignacio said.“I’ll get him.”

“No time.”She swung the craft around and came up behind her brother.“Hunter,” she said through the comms, “I need you to patch me into the public communication network.I need to talk to Keiko.And I need it to happen now.”

Ignacio shot her a frown.It was dangerous for them to use the public network.It wasn’t secure.

Thankfully, Hunter didn’t question her—he just followed orders.“You’re through to Keiko,” he said.

Sandi took a deep breath and grasped at the last chance she had to keep her brother alive.