“I think we’re standing on what used to be an airport.” Rhett climbed on top of a yellow car with the word “taxi” written on the side to get a better look. “Careful. Watch out for potholes.”

  Billboards, large freeway destination signs, and collapsed trees littered the ground. Rhett spotted drifters, but moved on ahead with his hand on his Taser.

  “Hey, there’s a motel sign.” Brooke cackled. “We can check in and take a rest.”

  Laughter rang softly in the thick, dusty air. Brooke had a great sense of humor and often lightened the oppressive mood.

  The wrecked city and trash continued to pave their path. Brooke ran ahead and halted at fifty feet. She grabbed a handful of dried dirt and tossed it outward toward empty space.

  “She’s gone mental.” Nina snorted.

  “No.” Mia pointed. “Look.”

  Rhett’s heart slammed up his throat. “Behind me!”

  Brooke had revealed a section of a cloaked glider that belonged to ISAN. Although there was much to fear, Rhett felt relieved they were finally at the destination.

  Ava was here. He could feel her in his marrow. It had only taken him a half a day, but he would have walked forever to find her.

  “The entrance is on the other side,” Tamara said.

  Rhett raised a fist, opened it, and swept the hand forward to let his team know they were on the move. Stealthily, he guided them around several aircraft, then behind an entrance shaped like an igloo.

  Nobody was there. Not a single guard. His instincts screamed this was a trap. Novak would not be so careless to leave the entrance unguarded, and he bet on his own life the door was unlocked.

  With his Taser ready, Rhett stormed through the door. Unlocked, as he suspected.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight — A Message

  Mitch

  Mitch marched into Russ’s office the next morning and found him at his desk, his head in his arms. He lifted his head, revealing baggy eyes and messy hair, looking like he’d just woken up.

  “That bad? What’s going on?” Mitch plopped on the chair across from him.

  “I couldn’t sleep. I reached out to a few agents and they had no idea what I was talking about regarding a secret base or Ava being captured.”

  “I couldn’t find anything either. So you came here instead. Why didn’t you come get me? We could have gone out to get a drink.”

  “You would’ve come?”

  Mitch shrugged. “Depends on the time.”

  “Around two.”

  “Then no,” Mitch said tightly.

  “Figures.” Russ stretched his arms to the ceiling and yawned. “What time is it?”

  “Six. I woke up and then I couldn’t go back to sleep.” Mitched leaned his elbows on Russ’s desk. “I was going to go work out, but then I got a message from Novak. He wants me to go to his lab tomorrow. He sent me the coordinates and it’s the same place I gave Rhett. Do you think something is up?”

  Russ’s eyes flashed wider and he straightened his spine. “Gene isn’t at his home base so he must be there as well. You think Novak suspects our involvement?”

  Mitch pressed his head on the cold table. “Do me a favor. If something happens to me, keep an eye on Lydia, will ya?”

  A long pause.

  Mitch peered up.

  Russ glared at him. “You better not do anything stupid.”

  “It’s too late for that, don’t you think?”

  Russ leaned back. “Yup. For all of us. Whatever happens to me, I don’t care. Novak is wrong. I’d rather die trying to stop him than live with guilt. Guilt is worse than death.”

  Mitch pushed up his long-sleeve black training shirt. “Nothing is going to happen to you. Novak has nothing on you. Rhett is my half brother. If he has Rhett too, I’m thinking Novak might use me to get to him. I have no idea. This is so messed up.” He lowered his forehead on the table again and banged it lightly. “Wait. What am I thinking? This is good. This will give me a perfect opportunity to snoop around the facility.”

  “Just be careful. Maybe I should go with you.”

  Mitch appreciated the offer, but Novak hadn’t requested him.

  “And say what?” Mitch leaned back in his chair. “That you wanted to come with me? ’Cause we’re best buddies?”

  Russ’s face reddened. “Now I know why Ava thought you were a prick.”

  “Well, she’s not the only one. There’s a line of people. I just tell how it is. I don’t paint a pretty picture.”

  “No, you don’t. You’re kind of famous for that.”

  Mitch snorted. “I wish I was famous for far better things. Are you hungry? Let’s grab breakfast.”

  After Mitch and Russ finished their meal, they went their separate ways. The teams worked on mental missions with Russ, then they went to Mitch in the afternoon. Mitch grilled them through physical training.

  With Justine gone, Mitch’s days had been less draining and frustrating. He had to admit, though, he missed her. She had been tolerable and unexpectedly pleasant the last week. Something had changed in her—or perhaps something had changed in him.

  Mitch wiped the sweat from his forehead with the small towel that had been draped over his shoulder, He had just sent the last team back to its rooms when Russ and Lydia walked in briskly, looking alarmed.

  Mitch snaked the towel around his neck and prepared for the worst. “What happened?”

  Russ glanced around to make sure no one else was in the room. “Have you checked your messages?”

  “No. I haven’t had time,” Mitch said. Lydia’s grave expression gave him chills. “Want to tell me or are you both going to continue to stare?”

  “Novak requested that the three of us join him at the secret facility.” The fear in Lydia’s voice was palpable.

  Mitch hadn’t told Lydia that Novak had ordered him to go already. He made no comment and drew up his message from his chip. Not that he didn’t believe Lydia, but he wanted to see how Novak’s message was worded.

  As usual, it was straight and to the point with hardly any explanation.

  Mitch swiped his message off and faced his friends. “Let’s not worry without cause. I’m sure it’s nothing. He probably wants to include us in his new plan as senior members of the training staff. This is good. We could snoop around and find more dirt on Novak. Maybe we can finally get some answers. Did you reply yet?”

  “No. I wanted to tell you first,” Russ said.

  “I didn’t either,” was Lydia’s response.

  Mitch pulled his towel and wiped the sweat off his temples. “Well, let’s not be weird about this. Don’t give Novak any reason for suspicion, if he even has any. Let’s all respond, but not all at once. We’ll leave together. Everything will be fine.”

  He said it more for himself. He wanted to believe.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine— Room 128

  Rhett

  Rhett’s boots padded softly on the smooth floor. Holding his Taser in front, he stealthily led his team down the hall with gray walls. Too many doors on either side of him. Rhett assumed Novak wouldn’t throw Ava into a tiny cell—she might even have a whole room to herself—but he’d rather check, just in case.

  Rhett raised a fist to halt his team and pointed to a metal door emblazoned with the number 124. Ozzie tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. Ozzie tried the next one with the same result.

  When footsteps approached, Rhett raised a hand again and guided his team to the closest hallway. It was the ISAN corridors all over again. The similarities gave him the creeps. Rhett’s pulse thundered in his ears when footfalls came closer ... closer. The closer they came, the faster his heart pounded. He backed against the wall and waited.

  Entering the facility had been too easy. Knowing he was leading his team into a trap put him on edge and tugged on his conscience. Rhett had to take every precaution and ensure they made it out. So even when he heard Gene’s voice in the hallway, he let it go.

  Rhett could force Gene to take him to Ava, but there was no way to be sure he’d tell the truth. Rhett didn’t know the blueprint of this place, so he made a judgment call.

  Ozzie patted Rhett’s back and lifted an eyebrow. He was probably thinking the same thing— capture Gene. Brooke, on the other hand, went rigid. Rhett didn’t blame her. The sound of Gene’s voice turned Rhett’s blood to ice. But for Brooke, it must be a thousand times worse. Ozzie also had another motive to kidnap Gene—revenge for what had been done to Brooke. Rhett wished he could give Ozzie that chance, but it was not the time.

  “Make sure to give Ava an extra dose,” Gene said.

  He must be talking to Ava’s caretaker. It confirmed Ava was here, and more importantly, she was alive.

  “I hear voices toward the end of the hall. Should we go?” Brooke whispered.

  Rhett didn’t hear anything, just quiet now that Gene had left. But Brooke could hear what others couldn’t, so he trusted her. He held up a fist and tiptoed onward. Brooke stopped Rhett when they reached the last door.

  “Do you think it’s wise to go in?” Mia asked, taking in slow breaths.

  Rhett felt as anxious as Mia, but before he had a chance to answer, Cleo opened the door, reckless with the need to find her father.

  Whoever had been in here had left. But where? There was only one door.

  Several sets of dark leather reclining chairs lined the walls on both sides. Syringes, scalpels, surgery tools, and medical supplies were arranged on metal trays.

  Ozzie dashed for the TAB at the center table and did his magic while the others surveyed the space.

  “Look at this.” Ozzie’s fingers flew over the hologram keyboard.

  “What is that?” Brooke looked over Ozzie’s shoulder.

  Numbers appeared on the hologram screen to the left of the chart. Then more grids appeared, revealing information about the assigned number.

  Data: Number. Gender. Age. Birthdate. Sector. Occupation. Children.

  “What are you looking at?” Tamara squeezed between Brooke and Rhett.

  Cleo pointed. “Some of these messages were sent to Korea, Japan, China, Italy, France, and so many others. ISAN is spread out that wide?”

  “It’s possible,” Rhett said. “But let’s focus on the data. Number: X412. Gender: Female. Age: 47. Sector: North. Occupation: Programmer. Children: two females ages thirteen and fourteen.”

  “This is crazy.” Nina’s voice shook. “It’s a long list. There are mostly females, but some males. Ages range from forty to sixty. Various occupations and different sectors. And even the children category has something in common. The ages range from thirteen to twenty.”

  Rhett was sure his father was on that list. “Ozzie, can you narrow the results to males over fifty years?”

  “Ava didn’t call me Einstein for no reason.” Ozzie focused on the task, his fingers swiping away on the screen.

  Brooke closed her eyes like she was concentrating, then opened them. “Hurry. I hear footsteps. Many of them.”

  Ozzie scrolled down the list, which shrank to males only. One of the contenders was exactly what Rhett had been looking for. XYM76. Age 55. West sector. Occupation: Council guard. Children: Mitch and Rhett.

  Rhett stared at the screen. He didn’t know whether to feel angry, happy, or terrified. His father was here, had been all this time. What did they want from him?

  “Rhett.” Ozzie placed a hand on Rhett’s shoulder.

  Rhett followed the line to the last section column. “120. 122. 124. 126 ... These are the numbers to the rooms we passed earlier with no doorknobs. It has to be their holding space. That’s just a guess, but what else would they use that many rooms for?”

  “Come, on. We have to go.” Reyna tugged on Rhett’s arm.

  Rhett clutched Ozzie’s shirt, pulling him out of his seat. “Room 128,” Rhett said. “Remember that room. My father is in there.”

  “We’re too late. Hide.” Brooke positioned herself flat against the wall and aimed her Taser at the entrance.

  Reyna and Tamara overturned a gurney and hid behind it. Rhett flipped a table tray, all the contents clanking on the ground, and grabbed Cleo to get down with him.

  The door slid open and a metal ball rolled to the middle of the room as it slid closed again. Smoke hissed out of the gadget. Tamara, who was closest, rubbed her eyes, and Rhett knew it was a sleeping bomb.

  “Mia,” Rhett shouted over the fog fizzing faster.

  “I’m on it.” She peeked out of the first leather chair and sucked in her breath to seize the smoke into her mouth and tunneled it straight up out to the vents.

  Behind the second chair, Nina extended her arms toward the metal ball. Tendrils of blue and silver from her fingertips shoved the gadget back where it came from. Then something metal was thrown in the room, about the size of Rhett’s fist. As it spun, it fired bullets in machine gun-like fashion.

  “Watch out!” Ozzie hollered, protecting Brooke with his body.

  Bullets pelted them, pinging every which way.

  Mia blew air and produced a shield with her breath.

  Reyna crouched low and wrapped her power around the spinner, creating an invisible barrier. The bullets bounced within the tight small bubble, ricocheting like mad.

  “I can’t hold it much longer. Do something,” Reyna hollered.

  “I can help.” Mia somersaulted and tucked herself behind the gurney with Reyna. “On the count of three, let go. One. Two. Three.”

  When Reyna dropped her shield, Mia blew the bullets back toward the door. Metal pinged against metal as the bullets created crater-like dents along the wall.

  “Stop. I’m coming in,” said a voice. Not just any voice—Ava’s.

  Ava walked in, her hands up in surrender. Rhett rose halfway, only to be yanked down by Cleo.

  “That’s not her,” Cleo said. “Can’t you tell it’s a hologram?”

  Cleo was right. Rhett wanted her to be Ava so much that he’d just stood without caution.

  “Ava.” Tamara ran toward the hologram, not seeing the lie.

  “No, Tamara.” Brooke dove for her and brought her down to just before the smoke exploded in Tamara’s face.

  No, not smoke. The detonator spat out acid, sizzling the tile. Mia had blown air out of her lungs to protect the girls and to keep the mist from reaching them.

  Ava’s hologram vanished, and it crushed Rhett. To his horror, the doors slid open and Zen walked in bound and gagged with Novak at his side.

  “What a lovely reunion.” Novak gave a fake grin.

  Rhett stepped in front and fired his gun, aiming straight at the center of Novak’s forehead. He never missed. They didn’t call him Sniper for no reason. But this one ... went through.

  “Dad,” Cleo said.

  Cleo had recognized her father wasn’t a hologram, but Rhett shoved her back to her crouched position. Something wasn’t right. Rhett had spotted a figure in the shadows from his vantage point.

  “Look.” Rhett shook Cleo a bit to get her attention.

  The true Novak materialized behind Zen with a gun pressed to his skull. Novak’s appearance, always in a suit and tie, had not changed; however, his hair was lighter and his eyes ... gray. Was he wearing contact lenses now? Or was that the true color? And he looked different somehow.

  Zen’s eyes grew wide when they halted on his daughter. His muffled words held no meaning, but his terrified expression said it all.

  “Like I said, what a lovely reunion,” Novak said. “If you don’t want any harm done to Zen, I suggest you cooperate. First, place all your weapons down and raise your arms high. That includes Tamara’s daggers, even the tiny ones she has inside her back pockets.”

  How did he know that? Rhett didn’t want to surrender, but he had no choice. Perhaps getting caught was a good thing. Novak might lead them to Ava faster.

  “Do as he said,” Rhett gritted through his teeth.

  Weapons clanked and hands raised.

  “Come in and get them,” Novak ordered.

  Soldiers rushed in, clad in dark, high-tech uniforms. Where had they been when Rhett and his team had come in? Waiting to spring the trap, of course. Luring them in without exchanging gunfire was the safest and fastest way.

  Ava was alive.

  Rhett’s father was here. Room 128.

  But what fate awaited them ... he didn’t know.

  Chapter Thirty — A New Ally

  Ava

  I hadn’t felt sick after dinner last night or the breakfast this morning—no tingles down my arms or my palms. My body had gotten used to the suppressant, I supposed. Either that, or it was doing its job and then I would be ultimately at Novak’s mercy. Terrifying thought.

  Save the baby. Why would mother take interest in a baby? How did she even know about it? Novak wouldn’t have taken her to visit the lab. What reason would he have to do so?

  Had Janine been trying to tell me the same? And if so—why?

  As I lay on my bed, I thought of Rhett, my friends, and especially Brooke. Though Gene told me the rebel base had been destroyed and everyone was dead, I refused to believe it. Gene could be lying to get me riled up. I didn’t trust anything that came out of his mouth.

  When the door slid open, I didn’t bother looking up and kept my gaze on the ceiling. I already knew who it was.

  “What do you want?” I didn’t hold back my annoyance.

  “I’m here to take you to the washroom,” Payton said, always the same neutral tone.

  I pushed off the bed and advanced toward the exit. Payton dismissed my glower and ushered me forward. My footpads resonated down the empty gray hallway, the only sound until he spoke.

  “Keep your head straight but tilt your chin down when you speak to me. Justine is on her way here.”

  I reminded myself to focus on the polished white floor. “Justine is coming already? Do you know if she’s coming alone or with a team?”

  “She’s not coming with a team unless you count Mitch, Russ, and Lydia as a team.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I don’t know.”

 

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