Page 96 of Iron Willed Warrior

I dug into my purse for the guard’s keycard. When the man at the desk turned away again, I hurried forward.

He looked over as I entered. He saw my gun, and his hands shot up. “Holy shit, don’t kill me!”

“Get on the other side of the room.” I gestured with the rifle. “Now.”

He jumped up, his chair wheeling off to the side. He walked backward until he reached the wall. With a quick glance behind me, I shut the office door, still aiming the gun.

“Where is Donovan Ryker?” I asked.

“I…I don’t know,” he stammered. “Who are you?”

I snapped my fingers at him. “Focus. Are there cameras? Can you find out where Ryker is?”

“Uh, maybe. On the computer.”

“If you raise any alarms or warn anyone I’m here, you’re dead.”

“Yeah,” he muttered, “that’s only my fiftieth death threat this week. You’d think it would’ve lost its effect.”

“Has it?”

The guy swallowed. “Not really. No.” He had shaggy brown hair, wire-rimmed glasses. Taller than me, but his build was slight. His skin had the pale look of someone who didn’t get outside much.

He went back to the computer. Keeping one hand raised, he used the other to make a few quick taps on a keyboard. A window opened on the screen. It showed live feeds from several cameras. I recognized one of the views. This was the entrance to Building B of the solar plant, where Cole and I had been spying just last night. The building above me right now, I assumed.

But this time, nobody stood guard outside. No sign of Ryker either. A different camera feed showed the gatehouse. Two guards were inside, looking bored.

“Ryker was here,” I said. “If he’s still on the property, where could he have gone?”

“Could be upstairs. There’s a break room and a bathroom. Or maybe the front office, but it’s closed up since it’s after hours. Aside from that, I don’t know. Seriously, I stay away from Ryker. That guy is scary. Not that you aren’t scary. Anybody holding a gun on me is pretty dang scary.” Then he squinted at me. “Wait, are you wearing my clothes?”

I ignored that question for now. “How many other guards are on duty?”

He counted off on his fingers. “The two at the gate. One who drives the perimeter fence. And Emerson. Should be outside guarding the entrance to this building, but I don’t see him there. Don’t know where he is. Couple hours until the shift change, and they’re not supposed to leave their post unless they’re relieved. So…”

Emerson was probably the guard I’d killed. That left threeothers, plus Ryker. And what about Manning and O’Hanlon? Damn, that was a lot standing in my way.

I was going to need more ammo.

The skinny guy studied me. “Who are you? For real, if it’s Ryker you’re after, I’m the wrong person to ask. I try to have as little to do with that guy as possible.”

Whatever this man’s story, he didn’t seem like an immediate danger to me. That didn’t mean I could underestimate him. Entirely possible he was on board with the evil Stillwater philosophy. But if I wanted answers from him, I had to get him to relax a little. He looked ready to jump out of his skin.

“To answer your original question, Iamwearing your clothes. I’m pretty sure I just escaped from your room. Ryker and his boss kidnapped me. I’m guessing you didn’t have anything to do with that?”

“Me? No! Jeez, no. I’m just an IT guy.”

“What’s your name?”

“Josiah.”

“Josiah, I want to know about those servers. Why they’re here.” I kept my voice even, soothing, though it was hard to stay calm when every moment that I was stuck here meant another moment for a guard to investigate. I couldn’t leave without learning more about Stillwater’s activities here.

He swallowed, keeping his gaze on the gun. I pointed it at the floor instead of directly at him, and that seemed to reassure him. “The panels provide the energy to run the servers. And the routers, the ventilation, everything.”

“This place is owned by Stillwater,” I said in that same smooth tone. Not a question.

“Yeah. Who are you again?”

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