Page 174 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

He remembered Day calling Gen and telling him to get to the suite now, in a tone their family knew all too well.

Day went straight to Free’s setup but slammed his fist on the desk when he realized he didn’t have the access codes. Only one other man did as a fail-safe. “Steele, get me Fox on the line.”

“Calling,” Steele rumbled.

“Tell him we need him to get into Free’s system. Now.”

Steele put the phone to his ear. “He’s heading to his office.”

“Tech, do you copy?”

He answered after a few seconds.

“Yes. I copy.”

Tech’s voice was low. Too low. Controlled in a way God didn’t like. Calm was useful. Too much calm meant if he got out of line, he’d be killed.

God forced his own voice level. “First question. Are all of you together and is anyone hurt?”

A pause.

“We’re all here. We’re alive. No injuries.”

Cassidy braced both hands on the back of a chair.

God closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. “What happened?”

Tech’s answer came clipped, professional. “We were leaving a shop on West 3rd. It was a busy sidewalk. I moved in front of Xander, putting him between myself and Free. Curtis was on his right.”

God pictured it.

Too many civilians.

No clean shot or open lane.

Tech continued. “They were already in the crowd. They closed around us. One bumped Curtis and pushed him in. Another stepped up behind Free. Before I could move Xander out of the pocket, there was a gun at his back.”

Tech’s voice tightened until God strained to hear him. “The man spoke into his ear and told him to walk quietly. No sudden moves. No attention. If I reached for my sidearm, or if any of us shouted, he said Xander would be dead before he hit the ground.”

Cassidy started to pace.

Day stepped closer to him, not touching yet, just there.

“I couldn’t draw in that crowd. And I wasn’t gonna call the guy’s bluff.”

“You made the right call,” God said immediately.

Cassidy shook his head.

“He made the right call.” Steele glared.

Cassidy’s hands flexed, but he said nothing.

Tech paused a long moment and God waited, assuming he had to be quiet, or someone was watching.

“They moved us into a van staged like a delivery truck,” Tech murmured. “Two at our backs. One at the driver’s side. One passenger. Three more watching the crowd. They stripped our phones and Free’s messenger bag once we were inside. I assume Xander had already triggered his ring alarm. Free and I put the code in our watches when they closed the van doors.”

God went toward the table where Free’s system should have been waking up.