Page 90 of Critical Alliance (Rocky Mountain Courage 3)

She quickly rushed down the long set of lockers, found hers, opened the combination padlock, and grabbed her iPad.

“You really did forget it?”

“I left it for just such an occasion.” Then louder, she said, “Okay, I’m ready to go.”

Tablet in hand, she slammed the locker door, then locked it.

Tilden stepped into view. “I was getting worried about you. The alarm went off.”

“I didn’t hear an alarm,” Mackenzie said. “What’s going on?”

“It’s a silent alarm. Nothing showed on the cameras, though.”

Tilden gave her a curious look. What did the man know about her skills and her reason for being here at Hanstech? Alex didn’t like concealing their actions from the guard, but then again, the less Tilden knew, the safer he would be. And he had the feeling Tilden didn’t miss anything.

“You should follow the protocol. Did you call for security backup?” Alex asked. Listen to me. Telling the guy how to do his job.

“They’re on the way.” Tilden studied Alex. Measuring him. Had he looked into Alex’s background?

“Maybe we somehow set something off.” Mackenzie handed Tilden the keycard.

Tilden glanced between them, his expression unreadable.

Alex wanted—no, needed—for his actions to be sanctioned. He couldn’t wait the full thirty-six hours. This had gone too far, and he had let it. Too many questions grappled for space in his brain. Guilt suffused him. He didn’t want the man to come to harm because of their actions.

“I have a law enforcement background. Do you need assistance?”

The man’s cell buzzed, and he glanced at it. “My backup is here. Nothing’s been breached that I can see on the cameras. Thanks for your offer, but it isn’t safe at the moment. I’ll escort you to your vehicle.”

“Thanks, Tilden,” Mackenzie said. “I can let Nora know about the alarm.”

“I’ll let her know.” Tilden escorted them out of the locker room, down the elevators, then through the front door as two additional guards entered. Tilden stopped to brief them as he watched Alex and Mackenzie climb into the car.

“That was weird,” she said.

“Obviously we set off an alarm.” At least they were out now and had completed the mission.

“I don’t know that it was us. I’ll look into everything once I get into the system. We don’t have much time. I only gave myself twelve hours to see what I need to see.”

Alex started his vehicle and got on the road to Stone Wolf Ranch, then he sucked in a long breath. “Whatever happened back there, that was close, Mackenzie. Much too close.”

“You need to pull over.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I need to access the network and restore that keycard as well as remove any trace of the loop on the cameras.”

Alex pulled off onto a side road and into the trees. He turned off the headlights.

Another vehicle whizzed past. Nora’s Lexus. “There goes your sister. Are you sure the guard didn’t know what we were up to?”

“I don’t know, and right now, I don’t care. I’ll talk to Nora in the morning.” Mackenzie had opened her iPad case, which included a keyboard.

He remained quiet and listened to the tapping keys and her breathing—pinched breaths and long exhales. A gasp or two, reflecting success. He smiled to himself—he never could have imagined this scenario.

She closed her iPad. “Okay, that’s taken care of. Now, unless you want to sit here all night, get me back to the ranch—and fast. I need to find out what’s going on and take down the cyberthreat before I’m shut out.”

“I’m good with that.” Alex steered them toward Stone Wolf Ranch, thinking about the huge risk they’d taken tonight. God, please let us find the answers we need before it’s too late.