Intrusion (24 page)

So tired. She wanted to lay her head down—just for a moment—but urgency warned her to keep going. But which way? The room was situated between Russ’s office and accounting. The floor hadn’t changed much in the years since she’d worked here. She closed her eyes bringing a visual blueprint into her mind. If she crawled forward until the vent curved to the right she might make it to the accounting offices without running into a dead end.

It was her only hope.

She crept through the vent, pushing the briefcase in front of her. Her breath turned harsh, her chest throbbed, muscles ached. Sweat soaked her clothes, blood still dripped from the gash above her eye. Nausea swept through her, followed by waves of dizziness.

Don’t stop. A little further. You’re going to make it.

What if she didn’t? What if she collapsed right here and—wait a minute…was that light? She blinked. Yes, up ahead weak beams of light filtered up through the bottom of the vent. A fizz of laughter bubbled on her lips. She’d done it. She’d reached another vent.

The blue glow of emergency LED light poked through the slats. She peeked between them. Desks. A computer. Her hands shook, she pushed at the grate, but it didn’t budge.

Too weak. Too tired. She’d have to kick it in.

She shifted her body until she gained a sitting position, her legs out in front of her. Gathering every last drop of strength, she shoved her feet against the vent as hard as she could and it popped loose. She scrambled to her knees and pushed the grate away from the ceiling. It crashed into the desk below and then flipped onto the floor with a muffled thud.

Cool air drifted into the vent and she took a minute to let it wash over her. She tugged the briefcase back over to the opening and let it fall through the hole where it slapped onto the desk.

Her turn. She swung her legs over the edge and slid out of the vent. Her legs buckled when they hit the desk, her knees striking the metal and sending zingers of pain through her.

Who cared? She’d done it.

Energized by her success, she snatched the briefcase from the desk and ran for the door that would take her from the accounting office into the third floor hall. She gripped the handle and pushed. The door gave, whooshing open.
Thank God.
She hurried to the stairwell, and flew down the concrete steps until she opened another door, this one heavy metal, that led onto the first floor.

No night watchmen were on duty—another one of Russ’s privacy quirks. He insisted his security was more than adequate and didn’t want guards poking in his building in the middle of the night. She maneuvered down a series of empty hallways until the lobby came into view.

Her footsteps slowed to a stop when she reached the glass doors. She turned and gave the foyer one last look.

Her fingers curled tighter around the briefcase, she lifted her chin and stepped outside. The night air swirled around her, stars twinkling in the clear sky overhead. She sank to her knees in the small patch of manicured grass and took her first clear breath in days.

Chapter Seventeen

Cam wouldn’t look at her. It was a little unsettling for Audra. Far more unsettling than all the times he wouldn’t
stop
looking at her.

She adjusted her Neoprene suit to cover her arms to the wrist, and shot him a glance. A wireless headset cut across his tight jaw, and when he looked up, his gray eyes gleamed feral in the small sliver of moonlight overhead.

“You ready to do this?” His sharp voice squawked directly in her ear through her own headset.

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Cam—”

“Not now.”

“I—I’m sorry.”

He turned his back on her, slung his pack over his shoulder. “Let’s just get this done. You know what to do.”

So that’s the way this was going to play out. “Yeah, I know what to do.”

“Good.”

He started down the hill in a crouch, heading toward the rear entrance in full mission mode. She had no choice but to follow, even though her mind was still full of their confrontation

I love you.

God, why did he have to say it? What did those three words mean, anyway? Everyone who’d ever told her that had walked out on her, and though she trusted Cam, there was a part of her that worried once this was over they’d go back to their normal lives and he’d come to realize he really didn’t love her after all.

They reached the door and Cam withdrew a thin silver tool, using it to slowly work open the lock. It clicked and he slipped the door open just far enough for them to slide through. She squeezed inside, him at her back. The blue glow of emergency lights played tricks on her eyes and forced her to stand still to let them adjust.

Cam came up behind her. “I need to disable the security cameras in the control room. It’s got to be done in a cycle, one at a time. They’ll be out for thirty seconds, tops. We don’t want anyone to know we’ve been here.”

She rolled her shoulders. “I know. We’ve been over this.”

“Wait for my command.”

He melted into the darkness, leaving her in the shadowed hallway. Butterflies attacked her stomach. She pushed her hair under the cap covering her head and then adjusted the small wireless video camera attached to her suit just above her right breast. Her palms were already sweating inside her gloves. She closed her eyes, drew in a steady breath.

Focus. You can do this.

Cam knew what he was doing. He wouldn’t let her down.

The conviction struck her in the heart. If she could count on him with something as dangerous as this why couldn’t she trust him with her heart? Hadn’t he proved himself already?

He was the kind of man who meant what he said—honorable and worthy. His actions underscored his words. And right now, more than anything, she wanted to hear his voice speak to her with its usual weighty affection.

She tipped the mic toward her mouth. “How are we doing over there?”

“Give me five.”

Curt. Cold. Impersonal. All the things he wasn’t.

She took another deep breath, sweat breaking out on her forehead. God, she was not cut out for this. Give her equations and chemical formulas any day of the week.

See? She preferred the cool and remote. How could Cam even think he could love someone like her?

“First camera out in three…two…one.”

She flinched at his command. Not yet. She didn’t want to—

“Go.” His voice rang in her ear. “You’re clear to the stairwell.”

She hurried down the hall, flattening herself against the steel door. “I’m here.”

“Good. Disabling stairwell monitor in five…four…three…two…one. Clear.”

She slipped into the stairwell and scrambled up the concrete steps. The musty smell of the unventilated chamber filled her nostrils, clawing at her throat as she hurried to the third floor.

“I’m at the third floor access door.”

Okay, that was the easy part. Her heart bumped against her ribs.

Don’t panic.

All she had to do was get past the biometric scan to gain access to the floor, bypass the lab’s scan, try not to set off the infrared sensor and break into the vault.

No problem. None at all.

Yeah, right.

“You’re good to go to the security panel.”

She pressed her lips together and pushed open the door. The temperature difference made its presence known as soon as she crept into the third floor hall. A bead of perspiration seeped out from underneath her hair and trickled down her temple. She pulled off one of her gloves, scrunched it into her fist.

The emergency lights filtered only a weak beam down from the ceiling, barely illuminating the control panel. She unclipped the pen light from her belt and shone it on the fingerprint pad.

“Wait for my signal.”

She rubbed her fingers together, the latex feeling strange across her thumb. “On your signal.”

“And…you’re good to go.”

She snagged the cloned ID card out of the pouch on her belt and waved it across the infrared square. The panel let out a soft beep and the biometric pad lit up.
The moment of truth.
Her heart kicked her in the ribs.

What if it didn’t work? No, don’t think that way. She thrust her thumb on the pad and held her breath. Seconds passed. With each blink of the little red light her chest tightened further.

“Damn it, authenticate already.”

But the light continued to blink red.

“It’s not working.” Her mouth went dry. She could barely eek out the words. “Oh, my God, Cam. It’s not working.”

Now what? Would an alarm sound, cops swarm the place?

“Try the other one.”

She pressed on the earpiece. “What?”

“Try the other print.”

Other print. On her left hand. She sucked in a deep breath, tugged the glove back on then removed the opposite one. This time she didn’t hesitate to press her left thumb to the pad. It scanned and then—

Blink. Blink.

No. Please, God, no. It had to work.

“Audra, talk to me.”

“It’s not working. I don’t know—”

The panel beeped, the light changing from red to green, the lock releasing with a buzz. She yanked the door open.

“I’ve got it.”

One down, one more to go.

“Good. You’re clear all the way to the lab. Let me know when you’re at the panel. I need to loop the feed on his camera until you’re out of there.”

She moved swiftly down the long hallway, the vinyl tile squeaking beneath her tennis shoes. Coburn’s lab was at the end of the corridor and with each step closer, tremors ratcheted up her body.

“This sucks, you know.”

“You’re not having any fun?” Finally, she heard a smile in Cam’s voice.

Her throat squeezed. This was the Cam she knew.

“I wish you were doing this instead of me.”

“I’m right here with you. In a few minutes it’ll all be over. By this time tomorrow you’ll be celebrating your freedom.”

The thought should’ve made her happy. As soon as they were done here they’d have documented evidence of Coburn’s guilt. Cam assured her his contacts in the military would help make things right.

She’d be a free woman, and Charlie would willingly take her back at Nanodyne. But although she’d have her life back, it wouldn’t be the same.
She
wouldn’t be the same.

“I’m at the lab.” She mashed her lips together. Get in, get the armor, get out. That’s all she had to do.

“Feed’s all set. Remember, take your time. Let the room adjust to your presence.”

She nodded. “Slow, even steps. Got it.”

This time when she pressed her thumb against the pad the panel authenticated without a hitch. She inched open the door, and slunk inside. Lab equipment cast eerie shadows on the wall. A single emergency light shed its weak beam from the corner. Below it, the PIR sensor was mounted to the wall.

The sole of her sneaker slid across the tile. One. Step. At. A. Time. Sweat trickled down her temples, into her ears. The sticky air enveloped her, robbing her of a clear breath. She kept her focus on the prize—the hermetically sealed vault inset into the wall. Impatience sparked in her veins, quickening her steps.

She froze.
Slow!
She cringed, her heart skipping a beat. Her gaze jerked to the sensor and her already tight lungs constricted further. She waited for the shriek of an alarm, but several seconds later it still hadn’t come.

Audra forced herself to move with methodical steps. Come on, just a few more feet. Her hand trailed along the wall until she felt metal under her fingertips. Maneuvering herself into a sluggish crouch, she peered at the vault.

Here goes. Moment of truth.

She waved the ID card in front of the sensor, pressed her thumb to the scanner, and held her breath. The clock overhead ticked off the seconds, the sound explosive in the silence. A bead of sweat dripped into her eye. She blinked against the sting, but didn’t move to wipe it away.

The vault clicked open with a quiet snick. She nudged the door, flicked on her pen light and peered inside. The beam bounced off the black interior, shooting a bolt of dread straight to her stomach.

***

“It’s not here. The armor’s not in the vault.”

Audra’s voice crackled in Cam’s ear. He pressed against his earpiece.

“Say again?”

Movement on one of the cameras caught his eye and he swiveled to check it out. Two unmarked cars slammed to a stop in the parking lot, four bulky men in dark uniforms spilling from its doors.

Oh, shit.

“Audra!” His pulse spiked. Perspiration slicked across his palms. “Get out of the there! I repeat, get out of there.”

Static filtered in his ear for a few seconds. “Cam? Did you read me? The armor’s not in the vault.”

“Forget the fucking armor. Get the hell out of the lab. Do you hear me?”

Static was his only response.

Where was she? His fingers flew over the security controls trying to reset the cameras so he could locate her on the screen. Suddenly they all went dark. He’d lost feed.

Damn it! He snatched up his laptop, shoved it into his backpack. Slinging the pack over his shoulders, he raced from the room.

“Audra? Do you read me? Get out of the lab. Now!”

Nothing.

Shit, they’d lost communications. He had to get to her. His heart stuttered in his chest, painfully tightening his lungs. If she got caught…

No, he couldn’t go there.

He slipped into the hallway. Footsteps echoed against the floor, the noise fading away from him. Not Audra’s. Too heavy. He peered around the corner catching a glimpse of two of the men before they disappeared into the stairwell.

His jaw clenched. He needed to find a different path to the third floor.
Think.
He closed his eyes calling up a mental blueprint of the building’s layout. A second stairwell was located on the opposite end of the hall.

He changed directions, charging into a run. He’d never make it in time. Would Audra recognize something was wrong and make a break for it? God, he hoped so.

“Audra? Do you read?”

Come on, sweetheart. His heart thumped like the marching cadence of an army battalion. Perspiration soaked his neoprene suit. If that wasn’t enough, sweat dripped from his hair and ran down his spine. He skidded around the corner and his knee seized up.