Countdown

I looked at Rogan, and his expression was strained and bleak. I moved toward him and slid my arm around his waist.

'I'll hold them back for as long as I can,' he murmured into my hair after he kissed my forehead. 'And you escape. Maybe I can talk some sense into them.'

'I don't think they'll be too interested in talking. They'll just try to kill you.'

'Don't be so sure. I have a strange feeling that Gareth will want to see me personally. Find out how we beat the system. I'll be questioned before they kill me.'

'Rogan …' My throat constricted at the thought.

'Here it is!' Joe shouted, sounding very relieved. 'I found it! I just need to put it on a minidisk for you.'

He opened a drawer next to him and fumbled through a variety of objects that included a half-eaten banana. He closed his fingers around a small blue plastic disk about the size of a quarter, pushed it into the slot on the side of the computer, and clicked a few keys. After another moment he pulled it out and handed it to Rogan.

'Take this. If you can get into that room-and I don't have any goddamned idea how you're going to do that- put this into the AI server. If it's going to work, that should do it.'

Rogan studied the disk with a frown. 'How will I know if it worked?'

Joe hesitated. 'That's a good fucking question. I figure if it works you'll still be breathing.'

'Great,' Rogan said dryly. He eyed me, then looked at Joe again. 'Is there a back way out of here?'

Joe swallowed hard. 'Unfortunately, no. But now that I think of it, that would have been a really good idea. Escape routes, and all that.'

The pounding on the front door increased. We were cornered, with only one way out.

I heard the front door begin to splinter open and I held a hand out to Rogan. 'Give me the disk.'

'What are you going to do with it?'

'I'll hide it in my bra.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'I didn't even know you were still wearing a bra.'

'A lady has her secrets.'

With only another moment of hesitation he handed it to me. 'And you'll be giving that back to me when?'

'As soon as I can.'

He forced a smile. 'I just thought of something funny.'

'Oh, do share. I could use a laugh right about now.'

'I had no idea how I was going to break into Ellis Enterprises without getting caught. Security's pretty tight.'

'Yeah, I bet it is.' I blinked. 'You think that's where they're going to take us?'

'I'm thinking it's a definite possibility.'

I was hoping. I really was. I tucked the minidisk into my bra. Rogan took my hand in his, brought it to his mouth, and kissed it.

Then I heard several sets of feet pound down the staircase as Gareth's men came for us.

ENDGAME

CHAPTER TWENTY

Ellis Enterprises was a twenty-floor building made of silver and glass that sat in an otherwise empty section of the city like a cold, sparkling gem under the overcast skies. I saw it from the comer of my eye as the car carrying the four men in white coats that had captured Rogan and myself drove toward it.

I rested my head on Rogan's shoulder. Both of us had our hands bound behind our backs.

He was currently unconscious, but he'd put up a pretty good fight. Despite what I'd told Rogan earlier, I was actually surprised that they hadn't killed us on the spot.

I was sure it was only a matter of time.

I tried to imagine Rogan showing up to work every day at a building like this one and couldn't quite picture it. The Rogan Ellis I knew wasn't a high-powered businessman with billions of dollars to spend and power to wield. I wasn't sure if I would have liked the old Rogan when he was a rich, spoiled playboy.

In fact, I was quite sure I would have hated him.

Then again, the old Rogan probably wouldn't have looked twice at somebody like me. At the end of the day, I was just a street thief who happened to steal the wrong guy's wallet one day. I'd never even been inside a building like this one.

But that was exactly where they were taking us.

I tried to concentrate on the sound of my breathing. Anything to keep from thinking about how badly this could all go. As Rogan had said, he wasn't sure how we were going to get inside the building in the first place. The security was tight. Super tight. We had to go through three checkpoints and a manned security station before coming within fifty feet of the place.

The car rolled to a stop next to a black side door. A man in a white coat sprayed something in Rogan's face, and he woke up with a jerk. Every muscle in his body seemed to tense until he saw me and our gazes met.

'We're here,' I told him.

'Are you okay?' were his first gruff words.

'No, we're both royally screwed.'

He smirked at me. 'I think you're probably right.'

'Shut up,' a White Coat suggested firmly.

I glared at him but refrained from telling him to fuck off. We were in enough hot water as it was. Wouldn't want to speed up the execution.

God, even thinking about it made me feel sick.

Then the back door of the car opened and both of us were yanked out of our seats. All the White Coats, whom I had originally assumed were scientists of some sort, were carrying weapons. Scientists packing heat. Didn't make me feel any better.

'Move,' they instructed.

We moved. Through an open door and into the cool interior of the building.

'We're in,' Rogan said. 'Should we celebrate now or wait till later?'

I gave him a look. How could he joke at a time like this? But I saw that the mild levity of his words did not spread to his expression.

'Shut up.' One of the men jammed the butt of his gun into Rogan's back as we walked along a long, bare hallway. The white-tiled floor squeaked against my boots. 'Don't make me tell you again.'

Rogan said something under his breath, and it wasn't pleasant.

At the end of the hallway something was waiting for us, and I stopped walking quite as fast as we neared it.

Or rather, him.

It was Gareth. He stood there next to an open elevator with his feet spread, his arms folded across the front of his expensive, designer black business suit. His eyes were narrowed at our approach.

'Welcome back, brother,' he said as Rogan was shoved into the elevator before me so hard that he hit the back of it with his shoulder. His hands were still bound behind him.

'Brother?' Rogan repeated through clenched teeth. 'Is that what we are? Are you certain of that?'

'Sure I am.' Gareth's mouth twisted into a strange smile and he glanced at me. 'Why? Have you heard differently from someone?'

I felt a shove at my back and staggered into the elevator as well. Four men in white coats and then Gareth all pressed into the elevator and the doors closed. I felt very claustrophobic, which actually wasn't one of my typical