Page 58 of Red Zone Awakened

He liked how she saidtheir sideand notthe good side.“You know what happened when they sent their last head of security after us in Bolivia.The Mercers turning up isn’t good news.It means that CommTECH’s in damage-control mode.”

“You told her about Bolivia?”Friday’s voice was a high-pitched screech.“Do you even understand the meaning of the word secret?”

“Stop it,” Keiko ordered.“No more put-downs.I won’t tell you again.”She turned from Friday, whose mouth now hung open, to ask Mace her question: “What do you mean, ‘damage control’?”

Never in his life had he wanted to kiss a woman as much as he wanted to kiss Keiko right then.

“He means,” Striker said, “that the Mercer twins are going to lead an assault to take back the building and protect the data stored in the underground vault.They won’t care who gets hurt as long as they meet their objectives, and, according to our sources, they’ve been told the research takes precedence over the staff.”He paused, casting a glance at Mace, who nodded to let Striker know that whatever he had to say, he’d best just get it out.“Including you,” Striker added at last.“Word is that you’re not to be sacrificed in front of the cameras.Enforcement’s instructions are to capture or eliminate you before that can happen.”

“Eliminate?You mean, kill me.”She let out a mirthless laugh.“I can’t believe I ever thought CommTECH was the good guy.How could I have missed the clues?”

Mace reached over and took her hand.“You missed them because there weren’t any to see from where you were standing.Stop beating yourself up.You know the truth now, and that’s all that matters.”

“If I’d known earlier, I could have tried to get Abigail away from CommTECH.I could have saved her life.”

“We’ve already been over this.”He tucked her hair behind her ear.“Hindsight screws with your mind.There’s no point in wondering what could have been done differently.Instead, put the blame where it belongs—firmly on the shoulders of those who killed her.”

Her small, sad smile almost broke his heart.

Beside them, Striker cleared his throat, and Mace turned to find both him and his wife studying them intently.

“We have a plan,” Striker said.“We’re gonna create a diversion, see if we can thin out Enforcement some and make it easier for you to sneak out of there.”

Now that was the best news he’d heard all day.“How long until your plan comes into play?We need to get to the security hub and take out the central control system and make sure all the cameras are down.”

Striker glanced to the side, no doubt checking with Hunter, who’d be keeping an overview of the whole operation.“An hour tops until go.”

Mace nodded.“Okay.We can work with that.”

“I have a question,” Keiko said.“Explain the walking-out-of-here part.That seems a little vague.We can’t exactly walk out the front door.No matter what you do to disperse Enforcement, there will still be a whole lot of them.Not to mention news coverage too.Someone will see us.Mace will get arrested.”

“We’ve been thinking about that,” Striker answered.“We’ll have a team on standby in the crowd.They’ll stage another diversion, then sneak you out of there.”

“It still sounds kinda vague,” Keiko said.

“Don’t worry,” Mace told her.“This ain’t our first rodeo.”

“I know what that means,” Friday exclaimed as she beamed at them.“I do.Striker explained it.”

Striker smiled lovingly at his wife while they both stared at her.

“We’re still working on her understanding of common idioms,” Striker said.

“That isn’t common,” Keiko said.

“Exactly.”Friday pointed at her, clearly pleased to have it confirmed.

Mace spoke to Striker.“Want to fill me in on the planned diversions?”

Striker shrugged.“A few small explosions at other CommTECH buildings.Just enough to thin out the Enforcement crowd around the research facility.”

“You’re going to kill people?”Keiko was on her feet.A picture of outrage.

“No,” Striker said.“We’re going to damage buildings.We don’t kill people.”He paused.“Usually.”

“Usually?My head is beginning to hurt.”She glanced at Mace as she headed across the room.“I’m going to use the restroom and see if I can find some shoes.”

“Don’t be long,” Mace said.Once she was gone, he turned back to his teammates.“How much trouble are we in, really?”