Submission Impossible (Masters & Mercenaries Reloaded 1)

“Who’s Michael?” She picked up Hutch’s shirt and handed it to him.

The laptop had turned on and glowed, making his face a bit ghost-like against the darkness of the rest of the room. “He’s the man who’s watching the man who’s supposed to watch us.”

Ah, the one they had trailing Kyle because they were worried he was a spy. She still hadn’t completely processed that bit of information, but she couldn’t see it. Still, she was grateful they had someone on the outside. “So he called and said we have trouble and then the power went out. We’re in the middle of downtown Dallas. Who does he think is going to show up?”

Hutch handed her the cell that was working as a flashlight. “Where you live, Dallas is pretty vibrant. There are always people around. This is a warehouse district. No one lives here. Well, Kai and Kori live next door, but they’re in California right now, so we’re alone at this time of night. But if there’s trouble, Michael will already have called someone in. He’ll call Tag and Alex first, but Theo is closest. Still, even the cops are probably ten minutes out at this time of night. More if they’re working an accident or something.”

“How can he call if cell service is down?” She sat on the bed beside him, watching as he worked. She wasn’t worried. Power went out a lot, and how would anyone know where they were?

“We don’t know how far the outage goes. Maybe it’s all on our end. Michael will figure it out.” Hutch was always an optimist. And then his eyes went wide. “Oh, shit.”

She looked at the screen where Hutch was staring and saw an eerie site.

Jessica Layne was standing out in the parking lot in front of Sanctum, five big men around her all in black tactical gear. They were all holding guns, and they hadn’t come alone. They’d brought someone familiar with them.

“Is that MaeBe?” The question came out on a gasp because it was obvious MaeBe hadn’t wanted to be with them. She was on her knees, a gun to the back of her head and blood on her face. It looked like she’d been worked over, one of her eyes almost swollen closed. She had a gag in her mouth and her hands were in zip ties that were so tight, Noelle could see blood on her wrists.

“Yes. They probably tagged her when she went by your apartment. Then they followed her, caught her when she tried to go home, and waited until the middle of the night when no one would be here.” Hutch stood. “MaeBe isn’t a field operative. She’s never faced anything like this.”

There was a brief knock and then the door came open. Kyle stood there, wearing sweats and a T-shirt. He also had a gun in his hand. “I want you both in the bathroom. I don’t know what’s going on, but until I do, you two are going to lockdown. You barricade this door and then lock yourself in the bathroom. Hutch, you carrying?”

Hutch frowned. “No, I’m not. I’m in Sanctum. I’m supposed to be safe.”

Kyle didn’t know what was happening outside. Noelle’s heart was pounding as she heard a trill. Was that a cell? “I thought we didn’t have service.”

Hutch stood as Kyle pulled his cell out of his pocket. “Are you on Wi-Fi?”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah. I always move to Wi-Fi when I come in here. Service isn’t great inside the club. I think Tag likes it that way. Shit. We don’t have cell service because Jessica Layne’s blocking it. Is she outside?”

Hutch nodded. “Yes. I’m going to assume she’s taken over our Wi-Fi. She’s got some great hackers on her staff, and after tonight we can assume she’s got some we don’t even know about. We can’t call out, but she can call Kyle because she has his number and his phone is on Wi-Fi. Don’t answer it. She can’t be sure we’re in here.”

Noelle cried out when she saw Jessica nod to one of the men in all black who moved behind MaeBe.

He hauled her up by her hair and landed a wicked punch to MaeBe’s midsection, tossing her to the concrete when he was done.

How much pain had MaeBe already taken? She wasn’t a hardened operative. She was a goth girl who was good with computers and liked playing board games with her friends.

“I’m serious,” Kyle said. “Lock yourself in the bathroom.”

He hadn’t seen what was happening outside. He had no idea they had MaeBe and she was in immediate danger.

The cell trilled again. Hutch had a hand on her arm. He would do anything to save her. Even give up another young woman. He was desperate and he would buy time, but Noelle couldn’t buy it with MaeBe’s life.