Page 13 of What Remains

I let my bag hang loose and set my back against the wall. The doors begin to close, but an arm shoots through. I assume it’ll be one of our alleged tails, but it’s our server.

He presses seventeen and faces us. “Heading to work in your room? You’ve been married to your laptop all day.”

I discreetly glance at the camera. They’ll be watching. I can’t decide whether that’s comforting or not.

Before I can answer, the lift lurches and begins to descend much faster than it’s supposed to. I set one hand on the wall, the other finding Juliette’s wrist.

“Brace, brace!” Easton’s voice from the helo crash cuts through the static in my mind.

We fall hard enough to take the air out of me. The lights hiccup. Then the lift abruptly stops with a mechanical groan.

At least we didn’t plummet into the ground, so that’s something.

“You okay?” I ask Juliette, trying to catch my breath as a sharp crack echoes before the doors open.

Flashlights wash the interior. Three masked men fill the threshold, pistols drawn.

The server steps back, and it’s Juliette who reacts first—a clean throat punch that staggers one man and even takes me by surprise.

Everything crystallizes for a second before I drive a knee up, hitting one where it’ll hurt the most. He curses and doubles over. When another comes at me, I start to swing, but freeze.

The server has a 9mm pressed to Juliette’s temple.

Son of a bitch. I surrender as one of the men wrestles my bag away.

Juliette snarls, “You have no idea who you just pissed⁠—”

One of the masked men steps forward, and he hits her in the side of the head with his gun so hard that she falls to the floor.

I cry out in terror as rage flares white-hot. I twist around, prepared to fight, but a gloved hand fists my hair and wrenches me away from her and into the service corridor.

“If you don’t want me putting two in her head,” the man hisses, his blue eyes sharp on me as he points his gun at her, “you’ll stop fighting. We only want you. Understand?”

“Okay,” I finally give in. “Just don’t hurt her again.”

Gun away from Juliette now, he demands, “Bracelet. Off.”

How the hell do you know about my tracker? I fumble the clasp, eyes on Juliette moaning on the floor. My world narrows to the weight of the charm bracelet in my palm before it’s ripped away from me and tossed into the lift.

The blue-eyed one shoots out the camera, then double taps the server. His body slumps, and his pistol skitters by Juliette as she tries to get to all fours.

I can’t believe this is happening. How in the world did they get by security and not set off any alarms?

“It’ll be okay,” I promise Juliette. “Dad will save me,” I tack on with confidence before the men drag me down the hall.

The blue-eyed bastard at my left doesn’t lose his fast pace as he draws his mouth to my ear and rasps, “You so sure about that?”

No way will these men make it off the island before they’re stopped by my dad and the others. I’ve never been more grateful for Dad’s paranoia, and his five-minute-away rule. “Yes,” I shoot back.

He ignores me, and I’m flung outside through a side door by the dumpsters.

The glaring sunlight smacks me in the face. There’s a black SUV idling just beyond the curb. I’m carelessly shoved inside, hooded, and handcuffed. The metal scrapes against the scar at the base of my right palm, reminding me of the helo crash. Reminding me of Easton.

“Their QRF will hit the grid soon,” a voice says near my ear. “Exfil point’s three mikes out. Make it in two and a half.”

Another door opens before someone orders, “Knock the bitch out.”

“She’s a wild one,” another arsehole says before something pokes my neck, and my world goes black.