Red Awakening (Red Zone 2)

“No can do. Without me, you won’t make it out of this building alive. Whether you like it or not, I’m going to keep you safe. It’s a promise.”

“Like I’m supposed to believe your word.”

“I don’t break my promises.”

“Right, I forgot, you have high moral standards. That’s why you seduced me in order to blackmail me with the lives of my parents.”

He slammed through one of the office doors into a suite of rooms, decked out in luxury, with floor-to-ceiling views of the city. He strode across the thick carpet to a door on the opposite wall. It revealed a private bathroom, complete with marble shower. Mace dumped Keiko onto the closed toilet seat and then locked the door behind them.

“I didn’t seduce you. You seduced me. I was just trying to get you alone.”

“To blackmail me,” she added.

Arguing with her was pointless. One look at her face told him she wasn’t listening to a word he said, anyway. In fact, he’d bet she was busy trying to figure out how to escape him and go it alone. Good luck with that. He was the only thing standing between her and Freedom’s guns.

He reached for the comm panel on the wall. It was functioning, but it wasn’t transmitting. Signals were jammed for sure. He brought up the building map and studied it. What he found wasn’t reassuring. They were sixty-seven floors up, with gun-happy terrorists between them and the exits.

The two floors above them held one of the residences that the company CEO used when she was in town. It was empty right now and offered some hope, mainly due to the private elevator in the apartment that went straight to the lobby and parking area in the basement. Although, both locations were probably well guarded by Freedom.

“Okay,” Keiko said. “I believe you aren’t with Freedom.”

“I can’t express my relief.”

“Don’t you want to know why I’ve decided you aren’t with the terrorists?”

“Nope. Don’t care.”

He tapped the screen, scrolling through maps, looking for the security hub. It wouldn’t be marked—only an amateur team would point the way to their security base. If it was on the map at all, it would show as a dead space, central and easily accessible. If he made it to the hub, he’d have access to the building’s surveillance and would be able to see where Freedom was positioned. He’d also, hopefully, have access to weapons.

“I’ve decided you aren’t with Freedom because there’s no way my parents were in on any of this.”

“Again. The relief overwhelms me.”

Her eyes narrowed at him.

“Do you need to be so sarcastic?”

“No. It’s just an added bonus. You get it free with the rescue.”

“You’re rescuing me? I don’t think so. You’re just protecting your interests. It will be a helluva lot easier to get out of this building without Enforcement shooting at you if you have the company’s press secretary at your side.”

“Whatever.” Great, now he sounded like a teenager. She brought out all of his best qualities.

Of course, she called him on it. “Mature. I don’t need you protecting me, and I don’t want to have anything more to do with you. Just go. Save yourself.”

He’d had enough. He spun away from the panel and leaned into her. “You do not want me to go, princess. You wouldn’t last five minutes without me.”

Her dark eyes blazed as she stood to face off against him. “I can look after myself.” She paused, her eyes fluttering away from him in a sure tell that she was about to lie. “I know kung fu.”

“Sure you do.”

A look of rage swept over her face, and, in a furious move, she swung her leg hard to kick him. Only her dress was too tight, and the momentum swept her other leg out from under her. She landed on her back, on the floor, with a thud.

Mace looked down at her. “Yeah. You’re right. You can totally look after yourself.”

She blinked up at him for a few seconds. “I can’t think of anything to say that will make this seem less humiliating.”

He let out a sigh. “Neither can I.” He reached down and helped her to her feet. “Anything broken?”