Red Awakening (Red Zone 2)

He heard a huff in his head, but there was no more chitchat.

Mace crept up to the doors of the security hub and listened. He could hear the hum of high-frequency communication and the low murmur of voices. But he needed more. He needed to know exactly how many people were in that room and where they were positioned. Otherwise, going in there would be a death sentence.

He opened his mouth and let out a series of high-pitched echolocation pulses that were beyond the normal range of human hearing. The sounds spread out in front of him, bouncing off every object in their path. As he changed their frequency and duration, images began to form in his mind. Like a grainy black-and-white photo, the images didn’t show detail, but they gave him plenty of useful information. They told him there were five people in the room, two of them dead on the floor, as they weren’t moving enough to indicate breathing. Of the living, two sat in front of a wall—the security screens, he presumed. A fifth

person was pacing, carrying a large object. From the dimensions, Mace would say it was a rifle like the one he held in his hands.

He continued his echolocation until he’d mapped the entire security hub. He knew that to Keiko it must have looked as though he was just standing, staring at the doors. She, like the people inside the room, wouldn’t have heard the sounds he was making, and no doubt she’d grill him about it later, and he’d get to share more about his freaky life.

Don’t forget to look up. The bat had obviously been monitoring Mace’s efforts.

Although the flying rodent irritated him no end, he wasn’t so arrogant he’d dismiss the advice of a sonar expert. He sent sound waves up toward the ceiling of the room, too. And was glad he’d listened to the advice. There was some sort of mezzanine level in the room, and one more person was standing up there, armed, presumably looking out over the room. Another guard. One he would have missed if he hadn’t listened to the bat. And that was not something he was ever going to share with it.

I’m in your head, the bat helpfully reminded him. You’re welcome.

Gritting his teeth, Mace did one more sweep of the room. Once he was sure he had it mapped, he took a deep, steadying breath. This was what he was built for, trained for. This was who he was. Who he’d been destined to be from birth—a cold, calm killer, just like his father. But, unlike his father, Mace wasn’t evil, despite what his grandfather said. Armed with his gun, he exploded through the door with only one objective.

Four men.

Four shots.

Eliminate the threat.

It was over in seconds. And all four members of Freedom lay dead on the floor. He supposed he should have felt something at the loss of life. Mainly, he felt glad that it was them instead of him. He poked his head out of the door and summoned Keiko, who was standing, staring wide-eyed at the security hub.

To her credit, she didn’t hesitate—she just ran toward him. “Is it over? Are they gone? Is it safe?”

He nodded. “There are bodies. Be prepared.”

“How can I prepare myself, exactly?”

“I don’t know. Just don’t look.”

“Helpful,” she muttered.

“Always.” He flashed her a grin. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

His heart softened at her determination and courage. “I wouldn’t ask you to come in, but I need your fingernails to access the system.” He frowned. “At least, I think I do.”

Her lips twitched. “Friday’s right. You really are clueless when it comes to tech.”

“Friday is a pain in my ass, that’s what Friday is.” The last thing he wanted was for Keiko to side with his nemesis. The world wouldn’t be safe. “Stay beside me and try not to look at the bodies. But if you do see them, don’t vomit.”

“I’ll try.”

“Appreciated.” He held the door open for her.

She hesitated but stepped inside, keeping her head up and her eyes glued to him. He wanted to say good girl, but it would just earn him another lecture on being sexist. Instead, he assessed the room. It was a large space, with a wall of screens split to show views from cameras positioned throughout the building. One screen showed the terrorists on the sixty-sixth floor. There were more of them than he’d expected. It was a small army, jittery with nerves and the expectation of violence. Another of the screens showed the front entrance to the building—it was full of Enforcement and CommTECH security.

“That’s a lot of Enforcement agents.”

“That’s what’s left now that the rest of them are running all over the city, dealing with the diversions Striker arranged for them.”

“I don’t see how we’re going to get past them.”

“I have a plan for that. But first, I need you to stick your fingernail in the control panel and bring up every camera that’s still functioning. I want to see what’s going on before I blow the system.”