She hesitated only a moment, steeling her nerves. Then she rapidly input the kill commands, initiating the shutdown sequence. Lines of code streamed by as she watched, tense and unblinking.
A notification flashed—the surveillance system was offline.
She had done it.
Adrenaline still pumping through her veins, Penny began wiping her digital tracks, removing any trace of her presence in Victor’s system.
Penny let out a shaky breath, relief washing over her. She looked up at Hawke. “Done.”
Hawke gave a curt nod.
The van doors were thrown open and the team mobilized, weapons in hand. She followed them out, the password-cracking tool and the flash drive tucked away in a pocket in her pants.
Hawke’s dark gaze flicked to hers, holding for a breathless moment. She saw emotion she’d never seen from a man.
Something she suddenly wanted to hold on to.
The team assembled behind her, coiled tight as springs.
“Go,” Hawke ordered.
She followed, as Hawke hoisted her up and over a tall stone fence. She landed on all fours, Hawke helped her up by the arm, settling her behind Archer, while he followed behind her.
Archer led them through the shadows, using back routes and blind spots they’d found to avoid detection. Her body moved on instinct, following closely behind, all her senses hyperalert.
They approached the garden door—one armed guard blocked the entrance. Archer signaled Jett. He neutralized the guard with brutal efficiency, dragging him inside the door, and jabbing him with an autoinjector in the neck. The man’s eyes rolled back into his head.
With swift movement, they were inside, and not a second later, a groan sounded when Ronan took down another guard at the top of the staircase with lethal speed. They were the only two guards that were in their way to the office. Penny glanced back, finding Ronan and Jett dragging the guards toward a closet.
Hawke took her elbow, urging her forward. They approached the final corridor leading to Victor’s office. Penny’s heart hammered against her ribs. They were so close.
Four steps later, they were in Victor’s immaculate office, full of cherrywood, expensive art, and sculptures. She immediately rushed to the computer on the desk, while Archer remained at the door, and Hawke came to stand behind her, a strength she held on to.
Minutes ticked by like hours as she connected her password cracker. She shut out the pressure, drawing on her years of experience.
With fast keystrokes, she cracked the password, breaching the network. Data spilled across her screen. She was in.
She remained fixed on the screen as the progress bar crept forward. She was acutely aware that time was slipping away. At any moment, Victor’s team could regain control of the surveillance system.
Seconds felt like minutes.
Until a ding had her gasping, “Download complete.”
“Let’s move,” Hawke ordered as she handed him the flash drive.
She settled between Hawke and Archer again. Her heart pounded as they made their way back to the stairwell. She tried to exude calm confidence, though her mind raced with everything that could go wrong.
When they nearly reached the staircase at the garden’s doorway without incident, she sighed in relief.
But suddenly, a door burst open and two armed guards appeared, firing deafening shots. Adrenaline surged through her veins.
Hawke shoved her toward the staircase. “Run,” he yelled.
Doing as she had promised to do, she pelted down the stairs, the sounds of fighting echoing behind her. Jett and Ronan were nowhere in sight, but she knew the plan was they would hold the perimeter for the way out.
Sprinting down the stairs, she spotted the door ahead. Freedom was so close, she could taste it.
As she flung the door open, her gaze landed not just on the vast expanse of the night sky, but also on the glinting metal of a gun pointed directly at her head.
