Page 78 of Rogue Hope
Perimeter breach in progress.
But the warnings never triggered. Whoever had entered the facility knew exactly how to bypass them.
The emergency lights blinked once, then bathed the room in steady crimson. Security protocols failing in precise sequence—the same sequence Reynolds had designed when consulting on Knight Tactical’s security architecture.
She lunged for her sidearm. The realization crystallized with devastating clarity—Harrison hadn’t called for extraction because he needed help. He’d orchestrated this entire scenario to draw her team away while he infiltrated their headquarters personally.
Not just coming. Already inside.
Heart hammering against her ribs, she bolted for the detention level. Finn might be her only ally against the enemy she’d trusted implicitly for years.
The detention center door stood ajar, the security panel dark. Zara pressed her back to the wall, breathing controlled despite the fear clawing at her throat. She pivoted smoothly into the doorway, weapon raised.
The cell door gaped open.
“No,” she whispered, sweeping the room with her gaze.
Kenji lay crumpled on the floor inside the cell, a bruise visible on his neck. No blood, but his breathing was shallow, pulse steady when she pressed trembling fingers to his throat.
“Kenji?” She gently shook his shoulder. “Kenji, wake up.”
He groaned, eyelids fluttering.
The implication was inescapable. Finn had escaped—overpowered Kenji and fled. Betrayed them. Betrayedher. Again.
She activated her comm device. “Ronan, come in.” Nothing but static responded. “Axel? Griffin? Anyone copy?”
Each channel yielded the same hollow silence. She recognized the pattern—an electromagnetic pulse targeted at their specific frequencies. Reynolds’ signature.
Hot anger flooded her veins. Had Finn been working with Harrison all along? Had she been played yet again, falling for his earnest declarations, his apparent concern for her wellbeing?
Kenji coughed, struggling to sit up. “Zara? What—” His hand went reflexively to his throat, wincing at the tenderness.
“Finn’s escaped.” She helped him lean against the cell wall. “Reynolds must be?—”
A soft scrape behind her cut the words short. She whirled, weapon up and aimed.
Finn stood in the doorway, Kenji’s sidearm gripped in his hand. His expression was grim, determined, but his eyes widened at the sight of her gun pointed directly at his chest.
“I should have known,” she spat, ice in her voice. “All that talk about redemption. About trust. You’re still the same lying manipulator you always were.”
Finn didn’t move, didn’t raise the weapon. “Zara, listen to me?—”
Her aim never wavered. “Drop the gun. Now.”
“Reynolds is here,” Finn said, his voice low and urgent. “Inside the facility. He’s sent the team into a trap and cut all communications.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you had nothing to do with that?” She gestured toward Kenji with a sharp jerk of her head. “After you attacked one of my team?”
Finn’s jaw tightened. “I needed to get out. To warn you. Kenji wouldn’t listen.”
“So you choked him out?” The betrayal cut deeper than she wanted to admit.
“He’ll be fine,” Finn said, an edge of impatience creeping into his tone. “Which is more than I can say for either of us if we waste time arguing.”
Kenji struggled to his feet, one hand braced against the wall, and glared at Finn.
“Sorry about the chokehold,” Finn muttered, never taking his eyes off Zara. “You can pay me back later, but now we need to jet.”
