Words were few and far in between while we loaded up with a plan in our heads and our minds set for total destruction if it came down to it. Arjen and my father were the two most powerful Vallin men in our family. They made several quick attempts to gather information on why the syndicate had an interest in helping us rescue a woman, who as recent as a month ago, was unknown to us all.
We also questioned the syndicate’s tactical team directly, but all it took was a good hard glimpse into the men’s eyes and a quick study of their body language to figure out that they were as much in the dark about our syndicate’s involvement as the rest of us were.
Our time for collecting information was up. Were our actions going to get us the results we had planned for? I sure as hell hoped so.
Patrena
A loud yell tore from my throat when another tiny piece of my flesh was plucked away from my back. The knowledge that it carried hundreds of data chips capable of bringing down the syndicate didn’t sit right with me.
Like Mecca and Desiree, members of the syndicate had protected and treated me like family. There had to be a way for me to stop them from decrypting what they had found?
Blan! Blan! Blan!
The sound of a distant alarm made me turn my head and my ear up to listen. The drug had started to wear off, and everyone was so busy trying to see what was on those chips that they weren’t worried about me anymore.
A silly smile crept across my face when the woman and the two men attempting to decrypt the chips began shutting down their computers and devices at a swift pace.
“What the hell is going on? Where are you going?” the mean bitch who I had labeled, a drug pusher, asked.
“There has been a breach. They are putting the building on lockdown. Everyone needs to report to their designated safe zones,” one of the computer techs called back while they were hauling ass to the door.
“What are we supposed to do with her? We didn’t know this would take so damn long,” the taller man stated more frustrated than afraid.
“We can wheel her into the safe room with us until security takes care of this potential breach. We can’t risk letting anything happen to her before we get what we need,” the woman said while bending to unlock the wheels on my bed.
“I hope you’re ready to die. It’s probably my mother,” I taunted, glancing back and casting a mean glare at the woman and the two men who had the nerve to be taken aback by my cruel teasing.
They worshipped my mother, so toying with their minds about her coming for them was messing with their heads. I released a wicked grin in response to their pinched faces. The shorter man had turned ghost-white. I knew who was coming. If these three knew what was good for them, they would abort their mission and find a way out of this building.
We had taken the elevator a level up to floor fifteen and entered a room no bigger than a small bedroom. Like the room they had assigned me, there were no windows and you immediately felt trapped, like standing inside a room sized sarcophagus.
The woman sat at a workstation and began typing. When she called up a screen, revealing access to the cameras in the building, the men gathered at her back, staring across her shoulder.
“Who are these people? How the hell did they get into the building?” the taller man asked.
“T-they… they… t-they are shooting at our guards!” he yelled, pointing at the monitor.
The crook in my neck and the strain on my eyes to focus on the screen were worth it. It had to have been Tywin and the Vallin clan storming the building. The workers were scattering like roaches and outside of security, it appeared they were being directed from the building.
When a masked man glanced up into the camera and declared, “I’m coming for you,” I was unable to stop myself from grinning.
“Did you see that? Did you see that? He said he’s coming for us,” the shorter of the men shrieked.
“He doesn’t know we’re looking. He was talking to anyone who may be watching. He’s trying to rattle us. They can’t even get past the first floor and if they manage to, they can’t get into this room. Besides, the moment they breached the building, security was alerted. All we have to do is sit tight,” the woman calmly briefed them, sounding confident in her reassurance attempt.
The stiff tension radiating through their bodies had one man’s neck veins protruding and the other’s foot tapping incessantly. The woman appeared as cool as a freezer burn on raw meat.
A silly smile that sat plastered on my face had never left. The lady glanced at me and frowned, the sight causing my smile to deepen.
“Are you willing to bet your life that they can’t get into this room?”