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Back Critical Alliance
Chapters (53)
  1. Cover
  2. Endorsements
  3. Half Title Page
  4. Books by Elizabeth Goddard
  5. Title Page
  6. Copyright Page
  7. Dedication
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. TEN
  18. ELEVEN
  19. TWELVE
  20. THIRTEEN
  21. FOURTEEN
  22. FIFTEEN
  23. SIXTEEN
  24. SEVENTEEN
  25. EIGHTEEN
  26. NINETEEN
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. TWENTY-NINE
  37. THIRTY
  38. THIRTY-ONE
  39. THIRTY-TWO
  40. THIRTY-THREE
  41. THIRTY-FOUR
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. THIRTY-NINE
  47. Author’s Note
  48. Acknowledgments
  49. Another Thrilling Story from the Author
  50. ONE
  51. About the Author
  52. Back Ads
  53. Back Cover

She had to find out if it was him. And if it was Nebulous 2.0, he had to know she was here. Alex had brought up the idea at the start—she was a threat to his plans. That’s why she had been attacked.

They raced to the elevator and took it down to the first floor. Mackenzie hoped Tilden wasn’t waiting for them. The door whooshed open, and she peeked out. She didn’t see him. She and Alex hurried through the office doors to the second set of elevators. She pressed the button to open the door, and they stepped inside. Though the keycard should work, she held her breath as she thrust it in, then pressed the lower-level button.

The doors closed and the box started moving.

Down.

She hadn’t wanted to get on a Hanstech elevator again. Maybe she should have used the stairwell instead, in case the cybercriminal was watching and wanted to mess with her again. Prevent her from getting into the servers below deck.

She had to work quickly, gather what intel she could.

To save government secrets. To save Nora.

She mentally prepared herself to commit a crime.

Forgive me . . .

TWENTY-FIVE

Alex braced himself for what came next.

He woulda, coulda, shoulda called his superior before heading into the bowels of Hanstech to reveal—no, wait, protect—secrets requiring security clearance. They were the good guys here. Everything was moving forward much too fast, and he couldn’t stop the momentum. He just hoped his agency saw it that way too, and he and Mackenzie didn’t lose everything.

Maybe that’s what Nebulous 2.0 wanted. Destroying her reputation and career and landing her in prison could all be part of his plan. Except Alex knew that the cybercriminal at play here—Nebulous 2.0 or someone else, a country-sponsored network even—didn’t want Mackenzie to disrupt their plans, and so they attacked her.

As the elevator took them to the lower level, the slowness of the ride left him too much time to second-guess his decision to go forward in this unsanctioned op. He reminded himself that he had no choice, really. He was in a position to find out more, to help stop this before things went too far. To that end, he would go forward and risk everything.

Lord, what have I gotten myself into?

Trouble found him everywhere he went.

Alex palmed the gun in his holster hidden under his jacket. He was sure Tilden had noticed, but the guard hadn’t stopped him from entering the building, and he appreciated that the man had common sense enough to allow Alex to protect Mackenzie.

His muscles tensed as the elevator stopped. It only had to go one floor, but that seemed to take an eternity—maybe the lower level was deeper than the elevator indicated.

“What can we expect on the lower level? Please tell me no one is working down there.”