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THIRTY-FOUR
Grayback county vehicles crowded the Hanstech parking lot. Alex didn’t know they had so many. But that couldn’t be good. As soon as he’d seen Mackenzie’s text, he tried contacting her to no avail, then Terra received a call from Jack that a 911 call had come in from Hanstech. Alex had hopped into the Mustang and raced here.
He swerved into the parking lot behind an ambulance, his heart thrashing against his rib cage. Of course, now was the moment the door of the old Mustang chose to be stubborn. Alex fought with it and couldn’t get it open fast enough.
Finally scrambling out, he pushed beyond the sudden weakness in his legs and rushed between the haphazardly parked vehicles and up to a deputy.
“Special Agent Alex Knight,” Alex said, flashing his credentials.
The man eyed Alex with curiosity, then said, “Deputy Whitehall.”
“What’s happening?”
“We can’t get in,” the deputy said. “I’m trying to contact the security guard who called me, but I’m getting no response.”
Alex stalked forward to the glass doors, pulled out his gun, and aimed.
“Whoa, whoa!” Deputy Whitehall said, holding his own weapon. “Put your weapon away!”
“Their lives could be in danger, and we’re going in. Back me up.” Yep. Alex rushing in like a hero even though he’d been told to stand down if he wanted to keep his job.
Other agencies were on it. Yeah, where were they? He saw no one to help out the county. Bureaucracy was beyond frustrating.
Alex refrained from firing when he spotted movement in the lobby. Another security guard—not Tilden—unlocked the door and ran out. “There’s a bomb! Get away and take cover!”
Alex grabbed the guard’s arm, stopping him. “Mackenzie and Nora! Are they inside?”
He nodded. “You won’t make it, man!”
He gripped the guy. “Where are they?”
“In the lower level.”
Visions from Alex’s past came crashing back as he rushed forward. The security guard and deputy pulled him back and away. He wouldn’t be stopped this time and fought them off. He snagged the security guard’s keycard, which was clipped to his belt, and dashed through the door.
“Stop!” Shouts rang out behind him.
“Mackenzie!” He sprinted through the foyer and to the corridor that would take him to the lower level.
God, please let this work... He was rewarded when the lock unlatched. He pushed through and bounded down the stairwell, knowing these could be his last breaths, his last minutes of life. Maybe he was crazy, but he couldn’t live with himself if he stood by and let Mackenzie and Nora die.
An image of the Suburban exploding in front of him flashed through his mind over and over. Sweat beaded at his temples.
Lord, help me get to them in time.
He burst through the stairwell exit and into the lower level. Warning lights flashed on and off. He spotted a body on the floor. The man stirred. Carson. They’d gotten away from him.
Alex didn’t have handcuffs, but he needed to secure the guy—if Carson, in fact, was involved. If he was Nebulous 2.0. Mackenzie hadn’t given him enough information.
He pointed his gun at Carson. “Where are they? What did you do with them?”
The man groaned, frowning as if in pain. Alex had no time for mercy or compassion. He grabbed the man’s collar and pressed the gun next to his temple—completely against protocol. “Where. Are. Mackenzie and Nora?”
Turning pale, Carson shifted away as if he would be sick.
Alex spotted red lights flashing along the servers. Too many of them. He couldn’t defuse even one of the bombs. But he wasn’t going to leave her.
“Your bombs are about to go off. If you want to live, I’ll get you out of here, but you need to tell me where they are.”
