She glanced at him, saw the agony in his eyes, and her breath hitched. He was trying to spare her, but she turned her attention back to the screens. Abigail was there. Alone. Frightened. And Keiko couldn’t look away.
“Mace,” she whispered, reaching for his hand.
With a growl, he took it and held it tight.
“Another hour has passed, and still CommTECH’s CEO has not responded to our demands,” the woman said into the camera.
The camera zoomed out, and Keiko gasped. “No, no, no…”
On the stage, in a row beside Abigail, were three dead scientists. There was blood on their faces, and their bodies lay in awkward heaps, as though they were nothing more than someone’s discarded garbage. But they weren’t garbage. They were people. Keiko had smiled at them. She’d said hello. She’d led them out onto the stage for a madwoman to murder them in front of the world.
“Keiko, baby, please help me turn it off,” Mace said as he reached out and brushed gentle fingers over her cheek. “Nothing good’s gonna happen here.”
She couldn’t answer. She couldn’t move. All she could do was stare at the horror in front of her.
“How many more people have to die for our cause before Miriam Shepherd realizes her reign has come to an end?” The woman motioned behind her. “This is why Freedom fights. CommTECH—or any big business—does not care about the people they rule. Our lives mean nothing to them. The lives of our loved ones mean nothing to them. I should know. My brother was one of CommTECH’s valued scientists.” She scoffed. “He told them his research was dangerous and couldn’t be rushed or the consequences would be deadly for CommTECH’s customers. But they didn’t listen.”
She pointed at the camera. “You didn’t listen, Miriam. Instead, he was told to speed up. He was implanted with a monitoring chip, against his will, in order for his superiors to see what was slowing his work down. He was pushed and pushed and pushed—until he rushed the research just to get some peace. He wept when he told me that his research was compromised. He begged me to get the word out. To tell people that CommTECH was taking shortcuts with his work. Shortcuts that would endanger people. By the time I could get the word out, it was too late for my brother.”
The screen was suddenly filled with footage of CommTECH personnel running from a burning building.
“Portland,” Keiko whispered. “There was an accident, an explosion in the research facility. Three people died.”
The woman’s face filled the screen once again. “This accident could have been avoided. But CommTECH was more interested in profit than people. Because of CommTECH, my brother is dead, and there’s no justice for him. Who’s going to take Miriam to court? Who could find a court she doesn’t own?” She motioned to the bound scientists behind her. “This is what you’ve driven us to. This is our only recourse. CommTECH’s rule must end. And we will do what we must to ensure that it does.”
She turned to the scientists, a small black box in her hand. “You have one more hour, Miriam. How many people have to die before you act?” She held the box out so that the camera could see it and pressed her thumb down.
A flash of light made Keiko
’s eyes snap to the stage.
The light came from the band around Abigail’s head.
An ear-piercing scream rent the air.
It could have been from her or her friend. Maybe both. She threw herself at the screens, as though she could somehow get to Abigail and stop the horror unfolding in front of her. Stop the needless violence. Stop her friend from being sacrificed to a cause that meant nothing to her.
“No!” Keiko raged, clawed, fought. “No!”
The camera zoomed in, focusing on the blood running down Abigail’s face. From her eyes. Her ears. Her nose. Her mouth.
“No!” Keiko screamed. “No!”
Her friend’s body spasmed and then crumpled.
“Abigail!” Keiko roared, as though she could wake her with the noise.
Strong arms held her tight as she struggled to be free. To get to Abigail. Somehow.
“Baby, princess, please…” The words barely registered.
Because her friend lay in a bloody heap on the sixty-sixth-floor stage.
And it should have been Keiko.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Red Zone Warriors surveillance van