ChapterTwenty-Eight
Davis shifted his stance, preparing to attack Zhang the instant he opened the door. Another harsh curse exploded from behind the thin wood. A fist pounded on the wall next to Davis’s ear before Zhang’s stomping continued down the hall. With the slam of a door in the distance, Davis relaxed.
“Holy moly.” Sunny’s voice shook as she sagged against the wall. “How many years did you put yourself through situations like this?”
“Too many.”
Davis leaned his forehead on the wall and took a calming breath to ease his shaking. For now, they were safe. They needed to move if they wanted to stay that way.
“You okay?” He clicked on the penlight, and Sunny’s ashen face and wide eyes stared at him.
“Right as rain.” Her smile was so forced even a child could call her bluff.
“Good.”
If she wanted to pretend everything was fine, he would too. She didn’t need to know he’d never been more afraid he’d fail and she’d get captured and killed than those last moments. Better for her to think he had all the confidence in the world. Under any other circumstance, this would be another day at work, but with her life at stake, the pressure not to screw up had him more on edge than ever.
He turned his light to the room, more relief rushing through his muscles at the bank of computers and desks up against a solid wall. Finally, a room they could use. Hopefully, what they needed would be here. He wrapped his hand around her wrist.
“Stay close to the door and listen for anyone approaching.” He didn’t want her that exposed, but he couldn’t be in two places at once. “Keep the spray in your hand.”
She nodded, her shoulders rolling as she pushed off from her slump against the wall.
He eyed a SAT phone on one desk and rushed to it. The device had a full battery, but no service, just like Sunny’s InReach.
He turned his attention to the computers, touching the mouse pads to see if any were still on. The second to last one’s screen flashed light into the room. Data ran in some kind of reporting program.
“The SAT phone isn’t working?” Sunny shuffled through binders stacked on a table.
“Nope.”
“Jinkies! It looks like we’ve got ourselves a mystery.” Sunny’s reference to Scooby-Doo made him smile.
“Ruh, Ruh.” Davis did his best Scooby-Doo impression, which wasn’t very good.
Sunny snickered and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Scooby fan?”
“More like lots of downtime in the military. There’s almost always re-runs of that show on.”
“So, how are we going to get help if communication is down here too?”
Davis slid into the seat in front of the computer and clicked around. “Hopefully, their computers are set up to a secure network or something.”
While she went back to flipping through the papers, he pulled up the internet browser. When a plain page with the mine’s logo opened, Davis sat back in surprise. He hadn’t expected it to work. He quickly recovered and typed the secure communications line Rafe had set up for Stryker Security Force.
“Please work. Please work. Please work.” He prayed as he clicked return.
The secure login page popped open.
“Yes. Finally.”
The air rushed from his lungs. They would get help.
He entered his login information, his eyes stinging when Rafe’s “Welcome to Rafe’s Super Secret and Totally Awesome Communication Center” filled the screen. Davis had never been so happy to see Rafe’s idiotic words before. As he clicked on the phone icon, his leg bounced in nervous anticipation. Would the call go through?
“Davis, where are you?” Rafe’s voice didn’t hold any of its usual joviality.
“Man, we’re in trouble.”