“Hi, Gerald. Long time no see.” Her voice is infused with charm. “Tom, how are you?”
Tom Aleksi?
That was the name of the hitman Derek had done the facial recognition on in the picture with Nicholas.
“Miss Warren,” Tom says. “What are you doing here?”
“You know how it is on the holidays. You start to get lonely and wish things were how they used to be. I just wish Nicholas and I were back together again. So I thought I’d come here and surprise him. I have a Christmas gift I want to give him.”
“Dr. Lawrence isn’t expecting you,” the first guy, Gerald, says.
“How did you even get here?” Tom asks.
“I’ve come here before with Nicholas.”
I can’t take it anymore. I have to see what’s happening. I peek around the corner. It’s the two muscle heads that tied me up. Lacee has both hands in the front pocket of her sweatshirt, and there’s a bright smile on her lips. She looks tiny next to Nicholas’s big bodyguards.
“You’ll have to wait,” Tom says.
Gerald turns to him. “Dr. Lawrence thinks she’s working with the man we detained.”
“What?” She acts innocent. “I’m here because I have this cool present I think Nicholas would like.” Lacee pulls her hands out of her sweatshirt and stabs the bigger guy, Tom, with a needle. He drops to the floor while she puts Gerald in a headlock, flipping him to the ground. She holds her forearm tight around his neck until he passes out. Then she looks up at me.
“I didn’t want to kill them,” she explains, dusting off her hands. “I thought this would be easiest.”
“Yeah, that seemed easy.” I walk toward her with the backpack, glancing at the electronic key card that opens the door.
Her eyes follow my stare. “Don’t worry. Derek gave me something we can use for the key card.”
My brows raise. “Oh, Derek’s been helping you?”
“Of course. How else do you think I got all of these gadgets on such short notice?”
I roll my eyes. I can’t believe Derek’s willing to help Sienna Prime when it was like pulling teeth to get him to help me.
Lacee unlocks the door but pauses before opening it. Her eyes shift to mine. “Park, can I take the lead in here? I have some unfinished business with Nicholas.”
“Sure.” I nod, keeping my expression even, but inside I feel sick when I think about Lacee with Nicholas Lawrence. I want nothing more than to punch him in the face, but I’ll let Lacee do that.
I’m sure she wants it more than I do.
FORTY-ONE
LACEE
Once inside Nicholas’s lab,I work quickly. I run to him, and just as he turns around, I jab him in the ribs with my fist. He doubles over in pain, his safety goggles falling to the ground.
“Merry Christmas,Nick.” I lean down, talking in his ear. “Did you miss me?”
“What do you want?” he grunts.
Park comes behind me, pulling over a wooden chair while his other hand points his gun at Nicholas. I shove him down so he’s sitting, and Park uses a cord from my backpack to tie his forearms to the arms of the chair. Then he fastens his calves to the legs of the chair.
“I want the computer chips,” I say.
Nicholas lifts his chin in defiance. “What do you think you’re going to do with those? Use the weapon formulas for yourself?” He spits out a mocking laugh. “No one will believe you were smart enough to come up with such complex equations and designs.”
From out of nowhere, Park punches Nicholas across the jaw. “Sorry.” He lowers his voice as he passes me so only I can hear. “I didn’t like how he was talking to you.”
