Page 46 of Stripe Theory (The Matchmaker’s Book Club #8)
FORTY-FIVE
“ N ow is not the time for Monty Python quotes.” But Alora’s hands trembled.
Her phone buzzed – her father’s familiar ringtone cutting through the chaos. She answered on speaker, dividing her attention between the call and watching for more threats.
“The cure component—we found it,” her father’s voice crackled through static. “But we’re under attack and the lab’s containment systems are failing. The molecular structure is destabilizing faster than we predicted. We need you here.”
Rehan , she sent through their link, part of Leeta’s team is attacking the lab .
I expected that. Security detail is prepared there.
“I’ll be there in a minute, Dad,” she replied and hung up.
Maya met her gaze, blood seeping between her fingers where she pressed against her wound. “Go. I’ll hold them here.”
“You can barely stand?—”
“Please.” Maya’s grin turned feral. “I’ve got a date with Hunter next week. You think I’m letting a little bullet wound stop me from seeing him in a suit?”
Speaking of the devil, Hunter and his men burst onto the rooftop. Gunfire erupted immediately between the two factions.
“You’re outnumbered,” Hunter yelled. “Lay down your weapons and we’ll let you live another day.”
Hunter’s here , she relayed.
Go. I’ll be at the lab soon , his thoughts reached her, warm with trust and fierce with pride, I’m with you .
“Don’t you dare die,” Alora called to Maya.
“Hunter’s here. Get the cure,” Maya ordered, deadly serious now. “Save Sierra. No arguments.”
Alora ran.
The maintenance shaft stretched before her like a metallic maze, emergency lights casting strange shadows. Each movement sent fresh waves of pain through her injured shoulder.
Stay alive , she thought fiercely, both to him and Maya. Just stay alive.
Her tablet mapped the shortest route to ground level, but Genesis Corp had been thorough. Every main exit would be watched. Which meant...
“Time for something crazy,” she muttered, pulling up the building’s original blueprints. Her father always said her best ideas came from questioning conventional wisdom. Right now, conventional wisdom said going down meant using stairs or elevators.
Conventional wisdom had never met Dr. Alora Sky.
The ventilation shaft access panel yielded to her override codes. It was tight – barely wide enough for her shoulders – but it ran straight to the loading dock level. As she wiggled into the confined space, Rehan’s alarm pulsed through their bond.
“I know what I’m doing,” she assured him out loud, though she wasn’t entirely convinced herself. “Mostly.”
Just thirty feet.
A burst of gunfire somewhere above made her freeze.
Twenty feet. Her shoulder screamed in protest as she reached for the next rung. Blood made her grip slippery, but she forced herself to maintain steady pressure. Maya was counting on her. Sierra was counting on her. Rehan...
The depth of emotion that thought triggered almost made her miss the next handhold.