“This one can run pretty damn fast,” I said, and we jogged to the elevators, waving a worried encouragement to the occasional face that peeped out from an office or lab, wanting to know what was going on. Soon as Quen showed up, it would be over. God, what I would give for my splat gun. Good thing I didn’t have it.

The sight of the elevator sent a surge of excitement through me. Almost there. If we could just get inside the workings, we’d be all but home free. Feeling like actors in a sci-fi film, we slid to a stop. As Jax kept the camera on a loop, Nick and Ivy both reached to wedge the doors apart, Ivy using her hand not in a cast.

“Come on. Come on!” I encouraged, but then the little ding of an approaching car iced through me, and the doors slid open. Six security guys were in it. All of them were looking at us in surprise. Not my day. So not my day.

“That way,” Nick said, doing a credible imitation of Trent on a bad day. “They gained the vault. Check every room from here to there. Now!”

“Mr. Kalamack,” one said as the others jumped to obey. “Allow me to escort you to the upper floors. I understand your interest in the vaults, and you, too, ma’am,” he added, looking nervous as he shot me a glance, “but Quen would have me on grocery detail if anything happened to either of you.”

I breathed easier when Ivy subtly shifted out of an attack position. Down the hall, I could hear doors opening and shouts of a negative nature. Jaw tight, I silently walked into the elevator. Riding would be easier, but frankly, I didn’t think it would be stopping on our floor. We’d have to get out another way, not through the stables.

As I stood pensively next to the security officer who had accompanied me in, I motioned with my eyes for Nick and Ivy to join me. See you up top, Jenks, I thought, wishing him luck. I knew he and Jax would make it okay, but my gut still tightened. How were we going to ditch these guys without knocking them out and giving it away that we were the ones they were after?

“I want an office-by-office search,” Nick said as he joined me, and Ivy gave him a nudge to keep his mouth shut.

The officer seemed to be waiting for something, and Nick started patting his pockets as if for a key card. “Allow me,” the man finally said, running his card and hitting the R button.

R? I thought. R for residence? Not good.

My stomach churned as the lift rose. Silence grew heavy, and I started to sweat as I noticed the officer looking at my slightly too-large middle, then the card and wire thing still in Nick’s grip. Oh God. I smelled.