Page 31 of Tango (Hunt Brothers Search & Rescue #4)

Tucker

T he back stairwell of Web Safe is quiet.

With cameras on every landing and a larger than normal distance between floors one and two, I take careful steps, ensuring that the device in my hand is discovering the camera’s unique digital signature before we move into view.

Alice remains right behind me, glued to my side, so by the time I drop the connection to the previous camera, she’s in the clear too.

It’s a painstakingly slow process when there’s no telling how soon a security guard will decide to take the stairs instead of an elevator.

So far, we’ve been in the clear.

Thank God it’s a Saturday. Otherwise, I doubt we would’ve made it up the first set of steps.

“We’re on the second floor,” Alice says, gesturing toward the number on the door. “It’s the entire server floor, and it should be empty since it’s a Saturday.”

“Security?”

“They didn’t use to monitor this floor since the server room is password protected. No one gets in without a code.”

I turn toward her. “Do you?—”

“I’ve got us covered,” she replies with a smile. “They won’t even know we’re here. There’s a camera that points through this door, then another at the end of the hall. You’ll need to take them both out at the same time.”

“Okay.” I breathe a sigh of relief. “Then let’s do this.

” I pause by the door, waiting for the device to read the two camera signatures.

As soon as those are down, I stick the device into my pocket then carefully withdraw my firearm.

Keeping it up before me, I move out into the hallway.

It’s darker than the stairwell, with only dim lights overhead.

Not unusual for a server room. Since it runs so hot, they’d want to keep as much temperature control as possible. The air is cooler here too—drier. Again, not unusual. A wall of glass separates us from the server towers, which are standing tall in a room about the size of my entire house.

Alice moves ahead of me now, stopping at the security panel. She types in a sequence of numbers; then the panel blinks green, and the door slides open. She flips her hair over her shoulder and beckons me to follow.

Adrenaline dances through my veins in anticipation should everything go wrong.

“Over here,” she instructs and rushes toward a tower right at the heart of the room. Withdrawing the thumb drive, she plugs it into the port then pulls out a keyboard and monitor from a cabinet beside the tower.

Keeping my weapon in hand, I watch for any sign of movement. As my gaze travels around the room, I note the newly replaced windows, and my understanding of what Alice went through grows.

I doubt she even knew the gun would work on those windows. Yet she trusted in God to get her out. Faith.

“How’s it going?” I ask her.

“I’m working on it. They’ve put up more walls since I was in here last.” Furiously typing on the keyboard, she’s the picture of focus, plugged into the task at hand. “I don’t—none of this makes sense.”

“What?”

“There are no holes,” she says. “Honestly, the security is even better than it was before. I?—”

The door opens. I rush over and plaster myself over Alice, pressing her between me and the server tower, my weapon in hand. She freezes in place, her body going rigid as more than one set of footsteps grows closer.

Frantically looking for any way out, I point to the right, and she nods. Slowly, we rotate as one unit, moving around the server tower until we’re just out of sight.

“I knew you’d come back.”

Alice’s eyes go wide, and her face pales.

“It was only a matter of time before you showed up. You shouldn’t have come back here, Alice.”

She pushes past me, but I remain out of view as she steps away from the protection of the tower. “You’re dead,” she whispers.

Now, I come out behind her, weapon raised. The man on the other side of the tower is one I never expected to see. Alive, that is. Ramiro Caine.

“Tucker Hunt,” he says. “Even given the circumstances, it’s quite an honor to meet you.

I’d ask you to kindly lower your weapon, though, as there’s a large-caliber rifle pointed directly at Alice.

Should you not lower it, I’ll give the signal, and she’ll take the hit.

” He raises his hand, and a red dot appears on Alice’s shoulder.

“Either of you will work for our current needs. Therefore, one of you is expendable.”

I don’t even hesitate. Slowly, I lower my weapon onto the ground.

“The vest too,” he orders.

I peel the Velcro free and set it on the ground then keep both hands up. They tremble as fiery rage burns through my body. Alice grieved him. Her friend—or so she thought.

“You died. I watched you die,” Alice growls, her tone strained.

“You watched me get shot,” Ramiro corrects then tugs the neck of his shirt down to reveal an angry red scar right below his clavicle.

“Why? What are you doing? Why are you doing this?”

“I’m doing what I have to do,” he replies, expression sharp.

“We were friends. Best friends.” Her broken tone infuriates me further.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve put her through?” I demand.

“It should have ended that night. I tried to make things right, but I’m in too far.” Ramiro looks from her to me, then back to her again. “I am sorry for dragging you into this. But now, there’s no choice.”

“What do you mean, it should have ended?” Alice questions. She takes a step closer, and I move in right behind her, ready to yank her to safety should things escalate any more than they already have.

“Your patch was supposed to fill the holes I left. If they had, then the hackers wouldn’t have gotten into the systems. But they did, and since the test worked, now we have to follow through. If I don’t, they’ll kill my family. Don’t you see?” He takes a step closer. “I don’t have a choice.”

“There is always a choice,” Alice says. “You chose wrong. Did you kill—” She trails off. “Did you kill Logan?”

Ramiro’s expression shifts. He goes from being almost remorseful to hard. Unfeeling. “Logan got what was coming to him.”

“You killed him.” She takes a step back, right into my chest. I steady her with hands on her shoulders.

“How do you think your uncle is going to take this?” I snap, fury igniting my normally controlled temper. “He’s been searching for you.”

“Uncle Frank will never know. They’ll never find my body, and neither of you will walk out of here. So there’s no chance he’ll ever find out.”

“You’re wrong,” I reply. “And it’s going to break his heart to see what you’ve become.”

The door opens again, and an entire team of security guards dressed head to toe in tactical gear descends upon us.

I’d say this is a substantial escalation.

“Logan did put up a fight—if that helps. Took three bullets to put him down. And he still managed to send out whatever it is he sent you. We certainly couldn’t figure it out.”

“You murderer!” Alice lunges forward, furious tears streaming down her face.

I pull her back, holding her against me. Her entire body trembles in my hold. “Think it through,” I whisper in her ear. “We’ve got guns on us. Don’t let your anger get you shot.”

Alice stills. “Fine.”

I release her.

“What’s the plan then, Ramiro? Are you going to kill me too?” she asks. “You said we weren’t going to walk out of here. So are you going to face me down—after everything we’ve been through—and put a bullet in me too?”

Ramiro doesn’t respond, but I can see that her words affected him—at least a little bit.

“First, we have something better planned for you.” Another man steps into view. Darren Wade. Huck’s second-in-command of the security department. He grins at me. “Tucker Hunt. He’s not quite as intimidating as you said he’d be,” he says to Ramiro, who locks eyes with me.

“Don’t be fooled. He’s deadly,” Ramiro warns.

“You should listen to him,” I tell Darren.

“I’m not worried. I’m holding all the cards,” he says with an arrogant grin.

“What do you want from me?” Alice asks.

“I’m going to provide you with a list of accounts, and you’re going to drop the firewalls so my clients can get what they need. Then you’re going to plug it up so no one can tell that anything happened at all. In and out with no possible chance that anyone can trace the leak back to Web Safe.”

He grins as though he’s already won.

“Why me? You have plenty of people here who can do this.”

“Ramiro says you’re the best.” He clasps a hand on Ramiro’s shoulder. “He couldn’t do it alone.”

“But you asked me to patch the system,” Alice says to Ramiro.

“He had a momentary lapse of judgment,” Darren replies. “Just needed some motivation to get back on the right track.”

“You won’t get away with this.” Alice clenches both hands into fists at her sides.

“Actually, I will.”

“I won’t do it.”

“Oh, you will, Otherwise, I’ll put so many holes in lover boy here that he’ll look like Swiss cheese.” He aims his handgun at me. “Do we have a deal?”

“Not a chance,” I growl.

“Yes. Fine.” Alice turns to me. “I won’t let them kill you.”

“Alice, you can’t do this.”

“I have to,” she says. There’s defeat in her eyes, and it kills me to see it.

“Great. Now, you can come with us until it’s time. Come on, don’t be shy,” Darren says as he gestures toward the aisle they’re currently standing in.

A security guard lifts my weapon and vest then steps back. Together, Alice and I start walking. Every step we take, I’m looking for a chance. An opportunity to get us both to safety, but as the guards fall into step behind us, I realize with horrible certainty—we’re trapped.

And backup won’t come for at least another twenty-four hours.

The only joy I have right now is in knowing that, when I miss my check-in, Dylan, Bradyn, Elliot, and Riley will level this place. And even if I’m not alive to see it? The sheer knowledge of what they’ll do brings me more joy than it probably should.