Page 105 of Five Fingers of Death

“Twenty seconds,” Johnny said, timing the extraction.

I worked quickly, removing the screws and letting them fall to the ground as I moved on to the next step. As soon as the inner panel was removed, I entered the keycode, pressing my hand to the sensor.

“Five seconds.”

The light turned green and the door hissed open. I barely had time to grab my bag and step through, followed quickly by Johnny and Rae, before a metal wall slammed down from the ceiling, creating an impenetrable barrier.

Rae coughed as the room filled with dust, staring back at the thick wall. “Well, that would have been unpleasant to be crushed by. I hope we don’t have to break out through that, too.”

“There’s no going back the way we came,” I said, slinging my pack over my shoulder.

“So, we take the back exit like we did when we escaped with Eva?” she asked.

I grinned at her, finding it funny that she thought that was the only way out. “We have a few other routes that will work. We’ll see what Knight leaves available to us.”

“You know, the last time I had to hack out of here, I really expected the security to be a lot better. I would have thought with someone like Rafe that he would have made it a little more challenging.”

I glanced over my shoulder at her as we took the stairs to the underground levels. “Who says he didn’t let you escape?”

“And why would he do that? He wanted to keep Eva under his control.”

“Did he?” I asked, still not sure about that one. “I’ve never seen Rafe get beaten like that.”

“He’s not the best,” Rae snapped, then flinched, remembering he was dead. “He wasn’t the best.”

“Cash had his moments of surprise,” I admitted, “but he didn’t have that killer instinct Rafe had.”

“I’m beginning to think it was hiding inside him all along,” Rae muttered. “All it took was pulling the trigger on his brother for him to finally lose it and turn into Rafe.” Then she turned to Johnny. “What about you? Still think Rafe was someone to follow through anything?”

Johnny shook his head slightly. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

It took another five minutes to reach the IT room, where we figured Knight and Cash would be hiding out. If we were right, they would have the same idea as us, taking out all technology before anyone could track them here.

We stopped just down the hall, giving Rae the chance to check the building for any surprises. “All clear.”

I nodded, pulling my gun as I slipped along the wall. Johnny was right behind me, just to the left while Rae was hugging the other wall. As soon as she reached the door, she gave a nod and slowly turned the handle.

It flew open from the inside and Knight stood just inside the doorway, covering his ass as he pointed his weapon at us.

“Is Cash with you?”

“What do you think?”

“Right behind you.”

I didn’t take my eyes off Knight, but I heard Johnny adjust his stance, facing Cash, who was behind us.

“Hey, boss,” Rae said cheerily. “It’s good to see you. Though, I didn’t really think I’d be doing it like this.”

“You’re the one pointing a gun at me,” he bit out.

“Actually, I’m pointing my gun at Knight,” she quipped. “But since he’s your brother, I guess I can’t shoot him.”

“I would prefer not to lose two brothers,” he spit out.

The silence stretched for a tense minute before she dropped her arm and holstered her weapon. “Well, I’m glad you got my message.”

“Why the fuck did you come?” Cash asked, holstering his as well.

---