Red Awakening (Red Zone 2)

“If we had a gun, we could blast it open.”

“You’d need to blast the cameras, too,” she reminded him.

“Let’s go.” Without warning, he grabbed her wrist and tugged her back into the room they’d just left.

Getting dragged behind him like a piece of luggage was beginning to wear thin.

Once in the room, he headed straight for the nearest wall panel and brought up the building plans, flicking through the screens at lightning speed.

“What are you looking for?”

“An alternative route.”

He cocked his head as though listening for something, and Keiko strained to hear what it might be. All she heard was silence, but from the look on his face, Mace heard something else entirely with his enhanced hearing.

“They’re coming,” he said.

Amazing. Who could have developed implants like that? She hadn’t heard even a whisper that they were in development. “I really need to get my hands on some of those implants.”

As usual, he ignored her comments, took her hand, and dragged her to where he wanted her to be.

“Do you think you could stop dragging me behind you? All you need to do is say, ‘Keiko, we’re going, move that way,’ and I’ll do it.”

“Yeah, right. Because you are so good at doing what you’re told.”

“Maybe if you added a please instead of ordering me around, you’d have better luck.”

“I’ll get right on that.”

She glared at his back. It was hard to believe she’d ever found that arrogant attitude of his attractive. It was one thing to dream about a grumpy, take-charge Viking. It was totally something else to deal with them in real life. In real life, the caveman attitude wasn’t sexy at all.

Mostly.

She hurried along behind him as he strode through the executive’s office to a room on the far side. It held a small dining and sitting area to relax and unwind. Mace headed straight for the window and pressed his nose against it, looking along the side of the building. A second later, he turned to her.

“We’re going outside.” His mouth firmed into a line, as though he expected an argument.

Hell yeah, he was getting an argument.

She put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. “Are you insane? We’re sixty-seven floors up. I’m not going outside. The sun has set, and it’s going to be dark soon—we won’t be able to see what we’re doing. Not to mention, the people hunting us will hear us break the glass. And, I’ll say it again in case you missed it, we’re sixty-seven floors up. Did you get it that time? Sixty. Seven.”

He folded his arms and looked down his nose at her. “It’s our only choice.”

How could he remain calm when she was freaking out? And what kind of person thought climbing out onto a ledge sixty-seven floors up was a good idea? An insane one, that’s what kind. She needed to go back to her original plan. He could take his death wish and carry on without her. She was done with him.

“I think we need to split up,” she said. “You go out the window. I’ll find a closet to hide in until this is over. Good luck. Do you have any last words? A message I should pass on to your criminal friends after you splatter all over the sidewalk?”

She didn’t expect a reply, and she didn’t wait for one. Instead, she turned toward the door. She was done dealing with insanity. As far as she was concerned, she’d fulfilled her part of the blackmail plan. It was time to move on and take her chances with the terrorists.

Hands clasped her waist, and she was lifted. Again. A few seconds later, she found herself standing beside the window he wanted to smash.

She smacked his chest. It was like hitting a tree. “Stop picking me up and moving me around to suit yourself.”

“Look.” He pointed out of the window. “There’s a ledge. It goes around the building to the stairwell, where we’ll find another window. All we have to do is knock out both windows and we can head up to the apartment, where we’ll be safe.”

His face didn’t change, but she knew he was lying about something. The lies hung in the air between them and felt so solid she was surprised she couldn’t see them.

“What aren’t you telling me?” she challenged.