Forever Strong by Piper J. Drake

Author:Piper J. Drake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2020-01-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Zu woke and immediately stretched out his awareness, struggling to identify what brought him out of the deepest sleep he’d had in a long time. The alarm cut through the silence of the household a second time, low but more than enough to bring him fully awake and alert. At the side of the bed, Zu could make out the dark outline of Buck, standing at the ready.

Emergency.

Zu untangled himself as gently as he could from Ying Yue, but quickly, so he could reach over to the nightstand and grab his phone. The screen showed bright despite the night setting, and as soon as he read the alert message he threw aside the covers and got out of bed. As he moved, he dialed the secure line.

“Boss?” Pua’s voice was subdued and reduced to a whisper.

Ice shot through him. She shouldn’t be at the office. Raul and Arin were positioned elsewhere. There would be no one else there with Pua at this time of night.

“You’re inside?” He stood and put the phone on speaker so he could get into his closet. He flipped on the lights without warning Ying Yue. Gun. Harness. Backup weapon. And yeah, pants. He needed pants.

“Yes. I was here late, running a few more queries. Normal security measures kicked in when they broke in the front door, and I made sure to lock myself in my office. I followed procedure, just like the practice drills.” The drive to move, to do something, eased a fraction when he heard her confirm her position. Her office was as reinforced as the most state-of-the-art panic room. She could wait out almost anything inside her office.

Pua didn’t raise her voice. If anything, she got quieter. “They got to my door and shouted they were cops, and I gave them the answer we practiced. I said they had to wait for you. But, boss, I can see everything in our headquarters via the security feed. No way those are cops out there.”

Ying Yue appeared in the doorway to the closet. “What is it?”

If it’d been anyone else, he’d have ignored them, but because it was Ying Yue, he hit mute on his phone quickly. “There’s an attack on Search and Protect headquarters.”

“What?” Ying Yue darted back to the bedside and retrieved the shorts she’d worn the day before. She didn’t demand any additional explanations from him. She didn’t get in his way. She only came far enough into his closet to snag one of his fresh button-down shirts off a hanger. Then she was back out of the closet again.

He unmuted his phone. “What’s your status now?”

“I’m still inside my office.” Pua’s response was chipper, but the higher pitch and tremor in her voice told him more. Ah, Pua, fear wasn’t supposed to be part of the job description. It was a risk, yes, always when working with a private contract organization and especially recently, considering the kinds of operations Search and Protect had been shutting down in conjunction with the Honolulu Police Department.

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