Page 26 of What Remains

“I need help. Please.”

I close my eyes—not ideal for a hostage rescue—and somehow guide her off my lap to stand.

“You can look. I really don’t care,” she whispers, but I’d really prefer not to be the one to dress her.

“I’ll swap places with you,” Zoey offers, knowing I’m trying to gentleman my way through this, especially after what that animal tried to do to her. “I’m here.”

I hate letting go of Gwen, but I force myself to unhand her and swap the jumpsuit for Zoey’s M4.

The hall is still clear. Well, minus the new body Zoey must’ve dropped, along with the piece of shit I killed who was guarding the door.

A minute later, Zoey pats my shoulder, and I twist around to see Gwen standing there, trembling. I pass the rifle back to Zoey, and without a second thought, I lock my fingers with Gwen’s. Cupping her cheek with my free hand, I promise, “I won’t let you down ever again.”

CHAPTER 9

Gwen

FIVE MINUTES BEFORE

My life has never flashed before my eyes, complete with a soundtrack playing in the background along with my “greatest hits,” not even when Easton and I crashed. Yet here I am, preparing for my movie montage to begin. Because I gave her what she wanted, and the damage she can potentially do with any number of my programs is endless.

She’s smart enough not to connect to a network, and only powers on my rig for thirty seconds to confirm I gave her the right password, before killing it.

Where are you, Easton? I need him to stop this woman from getting away with my rig.

A tremor of finality shoots through me as she calls the guards back into the room and announces, “You’ll escort her to the final destination. Take Todd with you, too.”

“So, we’re letting her live?” the blue-eyed guy who had the audacity to touch my leg earlier asks, folding his arms. He peers at me, then back at her, an uneasy look crossing his face.

Yeah, you’re about to become a loose end. She’s going to blow us up on that plane. It’s the only thing that makes sense since she knows who Easton and Zoey really are, and she’s yet to kill them.

She must not know Easton won’t sit around and wait to rescue me. He’ll risk his life to get to me now.

“She’s valuable. Boss needs her alive. You don’t get paid enough to know more than that.”

“She’s lying.” I finally remember my voice works. “She plans to take down the plane. Kill all of us. You’ll be collateral damage.”

“Oh do I, hmm?” She comes back over, and if she holds me by the chin one more time, I’ll . . . what? Spit on her? “You don’t think I’d set the world on fire and let you miss out on the⁠—”

“You’ll never get away with this, because you know exactly who you’re up against.” Dad. Easton. Carter. All of them. They’ll come for me. I don’t need to spell that out for her. She knows. And yet, she’s still here and going through with this. Why? How can she be so confident?

“This isn’t a movie, sweetheart.” She takes my cheek this time, her nails digging into my skin. Her breath touches my ear as she rasps, “Or is it?”

I jerk in my chair side to side, trying to fight the restraints. “I’m going to kill you myself.”

A slow smile crosses her lips as she lets me go. “I’ll certainly enjoy watching you try.” She picks up her bag with my rig in it and pats the blue-eyed one on the shoulder twice on her way to the door. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”

“What do you think?” the other guy asks once it’s just the three of us.

“About what this bitch said?” the blue-eyed one asks. “Or about what the bitch in charge said?”

“Do you think that plane is going down or what?”

“No, Jezebel’s right. She’s too valuable. We know who her dad is. Who her stepmum’s father is—he’s running for president, for fuck’s sake.” Blue-Eyes walks around the table, thumbing the tail end of his belt.

“What about the pilot and his fake wife?”

Fake wife? You know about that, too?