Page 117 of Till Death Do Us Part

“So they’re expecting us,” I said, and Caitlyn laughed quietly.

“Not if I have it my way. I’m going to try grabbing their security routes and zeroing in on one clear path. They’ll pick up on me and think we’re escaping the city.”

“They’ll be quick to adjust,” Rail said. “We’ll have Yulia search for the counter-hacker and shut them down. Without Caitlyn shutting down the fire monitoring and defense systems, destroying the archive won’t go far.”

“Agreed,” I said, turning back away from the building outside the window. “I know our entry protocol. The third-floor meeting room has the window cracked like Alexander always puts it, so we’ll go in via his office, which is right above the water lines. Break through, divert the water line, and we make busy work for them while the sprinkler system is getting drained. We’ll move out of view and let Yulia lead the assault while they’re distracted, and then we head for the archives.”

Rail chuckled. “You’re even faster than you used to be. Guess that’s what happens when the wolf finds her pack.”

I took Elaine’s hand without thinking about it, squeezing. “Tactics are on you, Rail. Elaine and I are going in.”

“You can count on me.”

I could.

I’d never counted on someone before.

Chapter 59

elaine

I should have been panicked and terrified, but I didn’t know how to be when I was next to Vera. I knew nothing in the world could hurt me as long as I was next to her, and I went alongside her without so much as a flinch.

The entry point was clear, just as she’d planned, and I kept watch while she set up the small explosives parcel. We slipped downstairs and pressed into a utility room together as she drew the detonator, and she hit the button to a muffled blast from upstairs. The pipes rattled around us as water started gushing on the next floor, and she hit a button on the radio, sending out silent signals, and we moved carefully as Vera led me through the complex and deeper towards the basement.

She was a force of nature once we were in action. When we encountered a guarded door, she cut open the wall in the next room and sliced a knot of wires, making the electronics in the next room shut down and sending them out of the room to investigate. We got down to the basement and got jumped by an armed guard who didn’t even get time to point his gun before Vera swept his feet out from under him, wrenched the gun from his hands, and she had his arms tied behind his back and a muffle over his mouth before he could say a word. She handed me the gun.

“Don’t try to shoot anything unless I’ve given you a signal. Just use it to scare people.”

“That, I can do.”

A heavy door locked with a key stopped us before long, but I kept on sentry duty while Vera picked the lock, and we got through into a musty hallway that smelled like old documents, the room needlessly ornate with thick red carpet and decorative columns. Above us, a muffled explosion sound rang through the air, and Vera stopped, leaning against the wall and activating her radio. Rail’s voice came through as soon as she turned it on.

“Yulia’s inside the building. We have eighty percent of the Blackbird force accounted for and occupied at least twenty minutes away from headquarters, and the assault has started.”

“Petra?” Vera said. “How’s Caitlyn faring?”

Petra’s voice crackled through. “She’s looking grouchy.”

The rustling said Caitlyn had just grabbed the radio from her. “They took the bait. Sent the key operatives to intercept the north route out of the city for the times I was looking up. But I’m trying to get in now and… they’re good. It doesn’t help that this system is ancient. Nothing’s working the way it should.”

“Glenn doesn’t like updating devices. Try the old administrator key, AJK12749B116.”

“Jesus—you’re going to have to repeat that. How old is that?”

“Six years ago. August 12th. Administrator credentials for it were Adam Rand, system code 23643266.”

“Hold onto that. That’s going to help.” I heard her tapping from the other side. “Okay… okay. That worked. Just a little bit, but enough to compromise the system. I’m shutting down the automatic response system, but this thing is getting unplugged as soon as I do, so don’t miss the moment.”

Vera looked at me. I nodded, and she turned back to the radio. “We’re in position. Pull the plug.”

I heard her hit a key with finality. “Systems offline. Overloaded with enough junk they should be… fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes to burn this thing to the ground,” Vera said, drawing her gun and approaching the door at the end of the hall. “That should be plenty.”

My heart hammered as we kept on down the hall, a sick sensation of worry pressing hard into my chest.

We were this close. Just one thing…