She was silent but entwined their fingers and turned his way. “I hope everything is okay.”
He smoothed back her hair and stared down at her. “I’m going to make sure it is. Trust me, baby. I’m going to take care of things no matter what. I’m going to put you first.”
She took a long breath and then tilted her head up. “Okay.”
He kissed her, needing to be close to her. It had been a rough hour, and he wanted nothing more than to get her somewhere safe, wrap his arms around her and tell her everything.
He could also tell her he’d gotten all of her research because if he was right, it would be gone soon, and if she fought Genedyne, she might find herself in the same position as Madison Wallace.
He wasn’t going to let that happen.
The doors opened and he stepped out. She let go of his hand and started around the corner.
“Hutch, something’s happening. I need you to go out the back of the building. I can get you out,” MaeBe said, her voice urgent in his ear.
He stopped, letting Noelle go slightly ahead of him. She rounded the corner. “What is it?”
“It’s the cops. They’re here and they have Kyle,” MaeBe said. “Damn it. Why is Noelle walking out there? They’ve seen her, Hutch. The guard is taking her into custody.”
Oh, that wasn’t going to happen. “Call Tag.”
He started toward Noelle. They wouldn’t be able to see him until he fully entered the lobby.
“Hutch, stop. Think for a second,” MaeBe pleaded. “They’ll arrest you, too. They’ll take the drive. We don’t know who will get their hands on it. We don’t know if you can get it back.”
His feet felt planted to the marble floor. From his vantage, he could see the lobby guard gently leading Noelle out the front doors where blue and red lights made the whole place look eerie.
Kyle was on the ground, his hands cuffed behind his back and a burly officer standing over him.
“I need you to run to the back stairwell,” MaeBe said. “I’m shutting the cams down and I’ve got Michael ready to pick you up. He’s on his way. You’re going to leave out the freight entrance and immediately take a right. Keep your head down and I’ll get you to Michael and he’ll take you to Sanctum.”
Hutch hesitated.
“If she talks about you, they’ll find you,” MaeBe pointed out. “You can’t help her right now. All you can do is save her research and get the feds the data they need. They can get her out. We don’t even know if they’re arresting her. This could be about Kyle.”
He didn’t think so. The mystery woman had said she’d put her plan in motion, and this felt like a plan.
He couldn’t let Noelle’s research fall into the trap.
With a pain in his heart, he turned and made his way to the back of the building. “All right. Get me out of here.”
Walking away was the hardest thing he’d ever done.
* * * *
Noelle’s hands were still shaking two hours later. She’d been arrested, put through the booking process, and then shown to this cold, quiet room. On the wall across from her hung the classic mirror through which someone would watch her.
But she’d been left in here alone for what felt like forever.
The moment when she’d realized something had gone terribly wrong played through her head. She’d walked out and seen the red and blue lights, realized it was Kyle on the ground, and then the kindly security guard had explained that they were here for her.
She’d glanced behind her and Hutch had been gone.
He’d left her. Left her alone to be arrested, to know her career was in ruins because she was being accused of stealing something from the company. She still didn’t understand that part.
She definitely didn’t understand where Hutch had gone and why he’d left her alone.
The door came open and a man entered. He wore a button-down shirt and slacks. His badge was in a lanyard around his neck. He was tall and older than the men who’d arrested her. There were threads of gray in his short, well-kept hair. He pulled out the chair across from her and settled in, a notepad in front of him.
“Noelle LaVigne, I am Detective Grady. Do you want to explain to me why you broke into the Genedyne server rooms this evening?”
“I would like to make a phone call.” Her first thought