Red Awakening (Red Zone 2)

“Still can’t get used to flying cars. The wings seem too small to work properly,” Ignacio said. “Makes me feel like I’m stuck in The Jetsons.”

“Mace gets freaked out when an elevator goes sideways.” Her heart clenched at the mention of her brother.

“We’ll get him,” Ignacio said.

“Damn straight, we will.” There was no other option. He was the only family she had left. The only real family she’d ever had, and she wasn’t going to lose him.

The comm unit buzzed to life in her ear. “Five minutes behind you,” Striker said. “I’ll provide cover when you come in to land on the terrace. What’s your ETA?”

“Coming up on it now.” And it didn’t look good. There was smoke billowing from the sixty-sixth floor of the CommTECH research facility, part of the terrace wall had been blown to hell, and there were bodies scattered everywhere.

“Swoop in,” Ignacio said. “I’ll keep an eye out for Mace.”

Sandi tilted the craft, diving down to skim over the broken anti-missile grid that sat several feet above the terrace. It was easy to make out the black-clad Enforcement figures in the chaos. They fired systematically at what was left of the terrorists while reporters hid or ran for their lives.

“There,” Ignacio called. “South side, beside the broken wall. He’s fighting with someone…damn it, he’s fighting one of the Mercers.”

“Coming in on the east side,” Striker said.

“I’m going around again. See if we can find a place to land this thing.” Sandi brought the shuttle into a tight turn, and just as she leveled out, she saw her brother.

“If he isn’t careful, Mercer’s going to back him right off the building,” Ignacio said.

“He’s smarter than that.” Sandi shot over the terrace, looking for a place to land. There was nowhere. She clenched her teeth tight for a second before addressing their team leader. “Do we still have contact with Mace? Can we tell him to get to the helipad on the penthouse level? I can’t find anywhere to set this down.”

“Negative,” Striker said. “W

e lost contact. Hunter is trying to reestablish it, but he isn’t having any luck.”

“Is it the signal jammer?” Sandi said, wondering if it was possible to get a shot at it and finish the job of taking it out.

“No, the signal jammer is down. It’s more likely Mace’s comm unit has been disabled.”

“With the way he’s fighting,” Ignacio said, “I’m not surprised.”

Sandi scanned the sky and spotted the team’s helicopter on her right-hand side. So far, no one had thought to take a shot at them—they were too busy dealing with the fighting on the ground.

“If I can get close enough,” Sandi said to her teammate, “you can jump out and get Mace to the helipad.”

“Something’s wrong,” Ignacio snapped. “Mace stopped fighting.”

Sandi turned the craft so she was facing her brother instead of searching the terrace for a way to land. He was clutching his side, swaying in place. As she watched, he staggered back until his legs were against the broken wall. He was injured. Out of it. And all Mercer did was stand there watching, as though he couldn’t figure out what Mace was doing.

A flash of silver caught Sandi’s eye. Keiko was running toward Mace, a gun in her hand, firing wildly. A lucky shot to the shoulder took Mercer down. Keiko didn’t notice; she was completely focused on getting to Mace. And his eyes were on her. He staggered back a step, his legs catching on the wall.

“Let me down,” Ignacio said. “I’ll get him.”

“No time.” She swung the craft around, coming up behind her brother. “Hunter,” she said through the comm. “I need you to patch me into the general communication network. I need to talk to Keiko. And I need it to happen now.”

Ignacio shot her a look. It was dangerous for them to use the general network. It wasn’t secure.

Thankfully, Hunter didn’t question her—he just followed orders. “You’re through to Keiko,” he said.

And Sandi took a deep breath and grasped at the last chance she had to keep her brother alive.

Chapter Forty-Three

“Keiko, can you hear me?” A voice she didn’t recognize sounded in her ear as she ran across the terrace. She ignored it. There was no room for distraction. She had to get to Mace.