voicemail, and the recorded voice invited him to leave a message. Dread congealed inside him.
He closed the call after six rings, still paranoid about exposing them to Kimball’s wrath, and then they both heard it. He and Fiona looked at each other as they heard the creak of a floorboard, and instantly shifted back into defensive positions. Crouched behind the doorways. Guns at the ready.
In the back of the room, there was metal spiral staircase. The metal groaned under the weight of a person climbing the steps.
“Mace.” Nate’s low voice from inside the stairwell made Mace’s body sag with relief. “It’s me. We’re coming up the stairs right now, so don’t shoot us, okay?”
“Oh, Jesus. Nate.” Mace let the gun drop. His hands shook.
Fuck. Too soon. He could not crash while he was still right here, in this slaughterhouse. He had to stay sharp. Anything could happen here. Still.
Nate’s head emerged from the stairwell. His arm was soaked with blood, and his face was colorless, but his eyes were clear. He scanned the room before looking back at Mace. “You didn’t see Kimball’s crew leave?”
Mace shook his head. “They’re gone. We waited, as per your direction. We heard some police chatter on the radio. They’re on their way right now.”
“Yeah, Kimball must have heard that, too,” Nate said. “That’s why he left.”
“We missed the party,” Mace said.
“Thank God,” Nate said emphatically. “We couldn’t have taken him. Not without the others. Maybe not even then. He would have flattened us with those armed drones. How the fuck is a person supposed to fight those things?”
“Never mind that. We’ll worry about it later,” Mace told him, as Elisa’s head emerged from the stairwell. Her hair hung loose and wild around the pale oval of her face, and her eyes looked enormous and shadowy. Her crimson sweater was the only spot of color in the place. Other than all the blood, of course.
“You shot?” Mace asked, focusing on Nate’s blood-soaked arm.
“Just a flesh wound,” Nate said. “I’ll be fine until we get to a doctor.”
Elisa was moving toward the body of her ex, and Mace stepped in front of her, holding up his hands. “You don’t want to look at him,” he told her. “Trust me.”
Elisa shook her head and pushed past him. “I have to,” she said, looking down at what was left of her former husband. Her face was a mask of self-control.
She crouched down, and Mace was startled to see her reach into the pocket of his trousers, fishing until she pulled out a small flash drive. It was sticky with blood.
She stood up and held it out. “This was the cause,” she said. “Nate said Eric could probably decrypt it. We need to do that as soon as possible, and get what’s on this all over the press before Sinclair sends another army to get it back. Josh could help. He’s great at that kind of stuff.”
Mace took the flash drive gingerly. “We’re on it,” he said, with renewed respect. “And yeah, we’ll use Josh. That kid is a serious bad-ass. Tough as rawhide.”
That earned him a wan smile. It vanished as she looked back at Gil’s body.
Nate joined her. He took her hand, and met Mace’s eyes. “I’m sorry I burned the counter-surveillance plan,” he said. “I didn’t even think it would work. I figured that any kind of disruption at all might give me my opening. I had to try.”
“I understand,” Mace said. “So do the others. It was crazy, but you’re still alive, so what the fuck. It’s all good.” He pounded Nate on the back, stopping short when he saw the look on his friend’s face. “Took some rounds to the vest, did you?”
“A few,” Nate said, wincing. “Ribs probably cracked.”
“Shit. I hate it when that happens. Come on. Let’s get you guys out of this hellhole and get you taped up.”
“Sounds great to me,” Nate said fervently.
Mace walked over to Elisa, who was staring out the opening of the window. “Be aware,” he said. “I wish I could tell you it’s all over and you can relax, but I’d be lying.” He glanced at Nate. “If you weren’t on Kimball’s shit list before, you are now. Your troubles aren’t over. They’ve just done a lateral shift. You now have a new homicidal asshole to worry about. Welcome to the exclusive club, the members of which Redd Kimball would do anything to kill and maim. Congratulations.”
A ghost of a smile flitted across Elisa’s face. “At