“Wait. It’s a dead end. I don’t understand. He’s trapped. Why would he go in there?”
She stood and watched as Cole and Robbie did the same. Then Flint and Zach appeared from behind the desks across the room.
Cole growled in frustration. “It’s gotta be a suicide mission. He’s just trying to destroy as much as he can.”
Joey shook her head. “No… I don’t think so. He’s got a way out. We just need to figure out what it is.”
Ben ducked back out and ran across the office, firing wildly and forcing them all to take cover.
“I’m going for the server room!” If her estimate was correct, she only had a few minutes to stop the program that would wipe every file from the Zia mainframe. That’s what he’d been doing in there.
“You guys go. I’ll get him,” came Flint’s reply.
“We’re on our way,” she heard Ryder’s update through her earpiece, a surge of victory rushing through her to accompany his words.
Ducking low, she crouched behind the row of desks closest to the wall and beelined it for the server room door. Cole followed closely behind.
With one final glance at the exchange of gunfire behind her between Flint and Ben, she ran to the server door and hurried inside.
“I wondered when you’d get here, Alantara.”
* * *
Cole’s heart froze as he recognized the man holding a gun on Joey.
“Patrick?”
“Cole. Nice of you to join us in this little reunion. Even if you weren’t invited.” Patrick’s smile was twisted and mocking.
He shook his head, his mind refusing to accept the image in front of him. “I don’t understand. You’re my friend.”
Patrick scoffed. “You don’t know what friendship is, Cole.”
“Are you… StormHunter?” Joey’s voice was full of trepidation. He couldn’t tell if it was fear from the gun currently pointed at her face or because of the history between them. What had Patrick called her? Alantara?
“StormHunter, Ibycus, Neo. They’re all me.”
Cole gaped at the man he thought he knew. Five years, and Patrick had him entirely convinced that he knew his way around a computer just enough to manage a team of tech staff. Apparently, that was all a sham.
In his earpiece came the comforting chatter of the rest of the team.
“Did we know there were two of them?”
“We’re on the fourth floor. What’s the situation, Raven?”
“I’m under fire, pinned down on the East wing.”
“Roger. We’re exiting the elevator in three, two, one.”
Joey was still talking to Patrick, that same sad reflection in her voice. “I… I trusted you.”
Patrick laughed. “And that was foolish, wasn’t it? I always said you shouldn’t trust anyone, Alantara.”
“Her name is Joey!” Cole didn’t like this. Any of it. Joey looked so vulnerable and broken right now. “Don’t listen to him, Joey. You can trust the right people.”
“Listen to him, talking about trust as though he sees people as anything more than pawns in his quest for greatness. You and I, Alantara, we were truly great together. We could have changed the world.” He spoke with an affection that made Cole queasy. Patrick took a step toward Joey, and Cole lunged.
Patrick swung the gun around and the shot exploded. In the small space, the sound was everywhere, deafening and disorienting. Cole reached for his side as the sharp burning pain registered.