“We can’t get in,” the deputy said. “I’m trying to contact the security guard who called me, but I’m getting no response.”

Alex stalked forward to the glass doors, pulled out his gun, and aimed.

“Whoa, whoa!” Deputy Whitehall said, holding his own weapon. “Put your weapon away!”

“Their lives could be in danger, and we’re going in. Back me up.” Yep. Alex rushing in like a hero even though he’d been told to stand down if he wanted to keep his job.

Other agencies were on it. Yeah, where were they? He saw no one to help out the county. Bureaucracy was beyond frustrating.

Alex refrained from firing when he spotted movement in the lobby. Another security guard—not Tilden—unlocked the door and ran out. “There’s a bomb! Get away and take cover!”

Alex grabbed the guard’s arm, stopping him. “Mackenzie and Nora! Are they inside?”

He nodded. “You won’t make it, man!”

He gripped the guy. “Where are they?”

“In the lower level.”

Visions from Alex’s past came crashing back as he rushed forward. The security guard and deputy pulled him back and away. He wouldn’t be stopped this time and fought them off. He snagged the security guard’s keycard, which was clipped to his belt, and dashed through the door.

“Stop!” Shouts rang out behind him.

“Mackenzie!” He sprinted through the foyer and to the corridor that would take him to the lower level.

God, please let this work . . . He was rewarded when the lock unlatched. He pushed through and bounded down the stairwell, knowing these could be his last breaths, his last minutes of life. Maybe he was crazy, but he couldn’t live with himself if he stood by and let Mackenzie and Nora die.

An image of the Suburban exploding in front of him flashed through his mind over and over. Sweat beaded at his temples.

Lord, help me get to them in time.

He burst through the stairwell exit and into the lower level. Warning lights flashed on and off. He spotted a body on the floor. The man stirred. Carson. They’d gotten away from him.

Alex didn’t have handcuffs, but he needed to secure the guy—if Carson, in fact, was involved. If he was Nebulous 2.0. Mackenzie hadn’t given him enough information.

He pointed his gun at Carson. “Where are they? What did you do with them?”

The man groaned, frowning as if in pain. Alex had no time for mercy or compassion. He grabbed the man’s collar and pressed the gun next to his temple—completely against protocol. “Where. Are. Mackenzie and Nora?”

Turning pale, Carson shifted away as if he would be sick.

Alex spotted red lights flashing along the servers. Too many of them. He couldn’t defuse even one of the bombs. But he wasn’t going to leave her.