Page 106 of The Honeymoon Hack

The gun dropped to its strap, and the knife appeared in his hand—the same one he’d used to kill his partner. He moved behind me, the blade hovering near my neck as I faced the terminal.

“Start the upload,” he said, his voice deadly calm. “One wrong move, and I’ll open your throat.”

“I need to install—” I hiccuped in tiny breaths. “Need to install?—”

“What?”

“You can’t just upload like normal to a dark web site. Please.” I stayed as still as possible while typing slowly into a web browser. This part was all true. With my life literally on the line, it wasn’t the time for more lies. “I need to install something first, and I honestly can’t do it while you’ve got a knife to my throat.”

He pressed the blade harder against my skin. Against my will, my eyes shut, and all I could see was his partner’s life flowing out of him.

“Please,” I whispered.Just please.

Chapter 40

Will

Every second crawlingthrough the corridors was another second Brie was out there. Alone, hopefully. Or worse—with the killer.

My hands clenched into fists as Rav and Percival moved methodically, clearing each corner and room off the hallway as though we were on some training exercise instead of racing to save the woman I loved.

Move faster. Christ, move faster.

I bit back the words. These men knew what they were doing. Charging in too fast could get us all killed—including Brie.

We reached the data center security checkpoint, and reality slammed into me. The red signs flashed through the open space, emphasizing the unoccupied guard post. The bloody footprints led through the full-body scanner and down the hall toward the server room.

Behind the desk, the break room door was closed, with a pool of dark liquid spreading out from underneath. Rav and Percival stalked in that direction, their weapons ready.

I started to follow, but Rav said without looking at me, “Will, wait by the X-ray machine.”

Wait? How was I supposed to wait? What if they’d been wrong and she was inside?

Don’t think that way. She’s alive. She’s safe in hiding somewhere.

The men stood on either side of the door, their silent communication making it clear they didn’t just know each other, but they’d worked together and rehearsed actions like this.

Before Rav pushed the door open, Percival put up a hand to stop him. “They’ve found them.”

“Is she safe?” I asked.

He paused, no doubt listening to his team through the headset attached to his helmet, then touched a button on his comms. “I’m at the data center checkpoint. We’ll wait for you here.”

“Where is she?”

Percival swiped his hand toward the break room door, and Rav opened it.

It was no different from the security office. No one was answering my questions. “Answer me!”

Percival went in first, rifle up, and Rav followed him. They vanished into the room while I waited. Useless and helpless.

What was I going to do? Run through security and chase after her? I had no idea where she was.

Unless… I followed the footprints?

But how far would they go? They’d eventually stop, and I’d be stuck trying to find them between a hundred clusters of data servers in five giant server rooms.

“We can use the displays at the desk,” Rav said, as he and Percival returned. “Will, what’s her employee number? It’ll help me find the right security feed.”