Peyton pulled Charlotte close and whispered, “We need to get out of here and warn the others.”

A shot rang out, then three more. The Navy SEALs who had accompanied Charlotte and Peyton spun. Blood spilled onto the white floor. They never even had a chance to draw their weapons.

The three men who advanced through the doorway wore security uniforms similar to the one worn by the man at the front desk. They swept the office, then walked over to Peyton and Charlotte and began patting them down.

The tall man reached under Peyton’s armpits and ran his hands down and over, across her chest. She pushed him back, but he grabbed her arms.

“Don’t touch her!”

The voice was like a lightning strike.

When Peyton saw the face of the person who had spoken, her jaw dropped. It was impossible.

Chapter 117

Chapter 117

Desmond stared at the tablet that showed the cameras they had placed throughout the data center. Thus far, there had been no movement except the technicians who walked between the rows and occasionally opened an enclosure to service the equipment inside. Lights blinked throughout the room, flashing green as data packets were exchanged on the network and hard drives served up data. There were blinks of yellow and red when packets collided or hardware failed.

Desmond leaned close to Avery. “How much longer?”

“Almost there.”

From his peripheral vision, Desmond saw movement on the screen, someone running fast. He stopped, studied the tablet. No—it was just another technician, rushing to a cabinet to work on a server.

Over the next sixty seconds, the server room filled with more technicians. Two or three entered at a time and broke off from each other, veering to different server enclosures and opening them. The scene bothered Desmond, but he didn’t know why. It was off somehow.

“Got it!”

Avery pulled a flash drive from the laptop and inserted it into her cell phone, which had a satellite sleeve attached.

Desmond continued to study the camera feeds.

What’s wrong here?

Were the men moving too quickly? No—that wasn’t it. It was their shoes. Boots—all the same. Soldiers’ boots.

“Hey, we’ve got a problem here.”

Avery squinted at the phone. “I know. It’s not connecting.”

William took Carl by the arm. “Why?”

The man shrugged. “Phones are banned in the entire building. I—”

“We need to get outside.”

Desmond nodded at the tablet. “That’s going to be a problem.”

They were surrounded.

The figure who had reprimanded the troops walked closer, never breaking eye contact with Peyton. There was no smile, only a hard stare that Peyton thought said: I’m sorry.

The person spoke to Charlotte first.

“It’s nice to see you again, Charlotte.”

The Australian doctor looked as surprised as Peyton felt. She merely nodded.