“Thanks, Tilden,” Mackenzie said. “I can let Nora know about the alarm.”

“I’ll let her know.” Tilden escorted them out of the locker room, down the elevators, then through the front door as two additional guards entered. Tilden stopped to brief them as he watched Alex and Mackenzie climb into the car.

“That was weird,” she said.

“Obviously we set off an alarm.” At least they were out now and had completed the mission.

“I don’t know that it was us. I’ll look into everything once I get into the system. We don’t have much time. I only gave myself twelve hours to see what I need to see.”

Alex started his vehicle and got on the road to Stone Wolf Ranch, then he sucked in a long breath. “Whatever happened back there, that was close, Mackenzie. Much too close.”

“You need to pull over.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I need to access the network and restore that keycard as well as remove any trace of the loop on the cameras.”

Alex pulled off onto a side road and into the trees. He turned off the headlights.

Another vehicle whizzed past. Nora’s Lexus. “There goes your sister. Are you sure the guard didn’t know what we were up to?”

“I don’t know, and right now, I don’t care. I’ll talk to Nora in the morning.” Mackenzie had opened her iPad case, which included a keyboard.

He remained quiet and listened to the tapping keys and her breathing—pinched breaths and long exhales. A gasp or two, reflecting success. He smiled to himself—he never could have imagined this scenario.

She closed her iPad. “Okay, that’s taken care of. Now, unless you want to sit here all night, get me back to the ranch—and fast. I need to find out what’s going on and take down the cyberthreat before I’m shut out.”

“I’m good with that.” Alex steered them toward Stone Wolf Ranch, thinking about the huge risk they’d taken tonight. God, please let us find the answers we need before it’s too late.

He drove the car right up to the cabin and insisted that he clear the place first, ignoring Mackenzie’s obvious impatience. Back in the cabin she sat at the small table and focused on her laptop. He didn’t think she was going to have enough time to find anything because it could take days, weeks, or months without a whole team—according to her. Except in her case, she thought she knew the potential cybercriminal suspect.

He itched to call his superior or Keenan.

“Quit pacing,” she said. “You’re nervous, and you’re making me nervous.”

She was on to him. He eyed his cell and looked at his boss’s number.