“He wasn’t using empathy on thepumpkins—”
“Your dad is a good man, keeping your little project going on top of everything else.” Smith shook his head in amazement. “He must work so hard to do it all.”
Gretel’s lips pressed flat. Her gaze stole behind him. “Are those monitors supposed to be blank?”
Shit. “Did you need something, Ms. Macy?” Smith said, through gritted teeth.
“The empath police consultant, the one from the pumpkin story.” She lowered her voice. “I saw him tonight. He’s here.”
Smith scoffed. He didn’t have time for some entitled daddy’s girl desperate for attention. “I’m sure you think that would be very exciting,” he said, because she was probably too spoiled to keep danger and excitement straight. “But there are no empaths here. I promise everyone is safe. This is Stone Solutions; we have the best security in the city.”
“He’s wearing a disguise—a hat and glasses.”
Smith paused. That did describe the kid who’d started yelling at Margaret at the registration booth, the one Denton had escorted out.
Then he shook his head. “I’ve seen the news today. I would have seen that empath trying to sneak in.”
“Really?” She smiled thinly. “Because he wasn’t wearing his gloves.”
Smith froze. Then he grabbed the phone up off the desk. “Pierce,” he barked into the phone, “tell me you’ve fixed those cameras on twenty-one.”
Gretel gasped. “The security cameras are out in R&D?”
Pierce was babbling some excuse into the phone, but Smith wasn’t listening. “Then set off the alarms and lock down the whole lab! Most of AMI is here tonight—we can’t take any chances. I’ll take a team up to twenty-one. If anyone’s up there, they’re a rat in a cage.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Ignore Rule 1; no one understands why that’s in there. We’re here to defend people against empathy, not to care what happens to the empaths.
—note taped to a Stone Solutions security training manual
Reece sat frozen in Whitman’s chair, staring at the screen.
Trigger Points.
He planted his elbows on the desk and chewed on his thumb. Jamey was his trigger point? Trigger for what? And Cora’s fiancé, John Camden, was one of hers? As far as he knew, there was still no trace of Cora or Dr. Camden. What did that—
He hissed at a sudden sharp pain in his hand and yanked his thumb from his mouth. A flash of red caught his eye, and he realized that, without the protection of his glove, his teeth had drawn blood.
Shaking his hand out with another hiss, he glanced around to see if Whitman had tissues anywhere. Maybe in the purse on the desk...
A shrill siren rent the air, and Reece toppled off the chair, smacking the ground.
“Attention,”a recorded female voice said, far too calmly, as emergency lights began to flash.“Lockdown mode has been initiated for floors eighteen through twenty-one. There is a suspected security breach and no one is allowed to exit the floor at this time. You will be evacuated by security when it becomes possible. Repeat. Lockdown mode initiated for floors eighteen through twenty-one. There is a suspected security breach—”
Reece swore. Then he swore again, more vehemently, and scrambled up to his feet. He darted out of Whitman’s office, footfalls echoing as he ran to the short hall and the security elevator he’d ridden up in.
He stabbed the call button repeatedly but the elevator doors remained firmly shut. Swearing, he turned to the emergency stairs and yanked on the door. It wouldn’t budge. He grasped the handle, braced a foot on the wall and pulled with all his strength. It still wouldn’t move.
Reece buried his hands in his hair and began to back up. Maybe—maybe he could—
The security elevator began to whir. Relief coursed through him; he still had the guard’s card; he could ride the elevator down, maybe find a place to hide—
The doors opened and, too late, he realized the elevator wasn’t coming up to rescue him.
“Freeze!”
It was Smith the Gargoyle and two other security guards. All three of them had nightsticks in hand.
