Page 50 of France Face-Off
Striker stood back as Griff molded the C-4 around the lock and door handle.
“Lucie, if you’re listening, now would be a good time to set off the alarms,” Striker said.
“On it. Just need another—” Lucie paused. “There. I found it.”
An alarm screeched inside and outside the massive building. Red strobing lights lit up the corners of the building.
“Perfect timing.” Striker mashed the detonator into the clay-like explosives and nodded. “Let’s do this.”
Griff nodded, and the two men stepped around the corner.
Striker rested his finger on the switch, ready to set the plan in motion. Depending on where the majority of people were congregating, a small explosion might not alert all inside to an attack. The added noise of the alarm would help mask the detonation. At least, that’s what he hoped for. If all else failed and every damned person inside decided to take up arms and fight, so be it. Striker wasn’t leaving without Alex.
* * *
Alex lifted her chin and turned to Baranovsky. “If she shoots me in the face, you won’t have access to the software on that flash drive. It’s encrypted with biometric software. I’m the only one who has access.”
Baranovsky lunged for Natalya’s arm, knocking the barrel to the side just as Natalya pulled the trigger.
The bullet hit the man on Alex’s left. He jerked backward, releasing his hold on her arm.
Apparently shocked by the fact that Natalya had fired the weapon inside the control room, the other man holding her arm also loosened his grip.
Alex jerked free and ran for the nearest door. As she reached it, she looked back to find Baranovsky struggling to free the gun from Natalya’s hands.
The weapon went off. Baranovsky fell to his knees and toppled forward, the flash drive flying from his hand.
Natalya crossed to where it landed and stepped on it with her high-heeled shoe, crushing it beneath her.
Alex’s chest tightened. Her parents had given their lives for what was contained on that flash drive.
Natalya turned toward Alex and aimed the gun.
An alarm erupted in a deafening screeching wail, followed by a muffled boom coming from somewhere above. At first, Alex thought it was Natalya firing at her. And then a loud bang behind her sent her diving through the door as pieces of the wall above her fell into her hair. Okay, that was Natalya firing at her. She passed the elevator, knowing it would take too long for that door to open and close again. Natalya would be within firing range too soon.
Alex ran toward a sign that indicated stairs. She heard footsteps behind her. As she pushed through the door to a stairwell, she shot a glance over her shoulder. The man who hadn’t been shot was running toward her. Natalya emerged into the hallway behind him, aimed her weapon and fired over the man’s shoulder.
Alex ducked.
The bullet hit the wall above her head. Alex let the door swing closed behind her as she raced up the stairs. Since she’d been brought in with a bag over her head, she had no idea how to get out of the building or where exactly she was. Her primary focus was getting away from Natalya and the men working for her. She couldn’t avenge her parents if the other woman put a bullet through her first.
The stairs led to another level of the facility, opening up into an area with a metal catwalk that crossed over huge pipes and machines below. Across the maze of catwalks, Alex spotted the elevator shaft and the car rising up from the floor below. Men ran past on the lower level, not aware of or interested in Alex. They seemed to be moving with purpose, possibly to evacuate the building or rush to the scene of whatever had made the loud booming sound. Considering they were in the transfer station for a natural gas line, could one explosion trigger an even larger explosion, compromising the massive pipeline?
Alex’s heart pounded in her chest. Being chased by Natalya and her henchman could be the least of her worries if she didn’t get out of the building and as far away as possible before the pipeline exploded and took out the transfer station, and who knew how much more of the surrounding area.
Footsteps pounded on the wire mesh of the catwalk behind her.
First, Alex had to lose the guy on her tail. She ran to a set of stairs and climbed up another level of metal steps. The man behind her followed. Out of the corner of her eye, Alex could see the elevator door open. Natalya exited on the level below and stood waiting for a clear shot.
Alex refused to give it to her. She hid behind a massive column that stretched from the bottom of the facility up to the roof. She couldn’t keep running, or Natalya would eventually get the drop on her. Alex waited on the other side of the column. She had to deal with the man following her before she could find her way out of the building. If it meant going through Natalya, so be it. After all, the woman was the one she’d been searching for. She’d freely admitted she’d had Alex’s parents killed.
Anger burned deep in Alex’s chest, but she wouldn’t let it control her. Instead, she channeled the adrenaline rushing through her body into action.
When the man following her ran around the column, Alex was ready. She bent low and rammed into him, driving him backward. He slammed into the catwalk railing and tipped backward. He reached for Alex, snagging her arm.
With her other arm, she knocked the man’s grasp loose. Instead of turning and running away, she rushed toward him and gave him a hard shove that sent him flying over the rail. He screamed as he fell and crashed to the concrete floor below. The man lay still, his limbs at odd angles. He wasn’t going anywhere.
Which left Alex with one woman carrying a gun between her and getting the hell out of whatever building they’d brought her to.
