The Maze (ATCOM) by Jennifer Lowery Read Free Book Online Page B

for so long it refused to be silenced. And now
it stood between them like a stone wall. She had always believed honesty was
the best policy, but she hadn’t been ready to be forthright with Noah. Wasn’t
prepared for him to know the truth. The truth in this case had led to something
much more dangerous.
    She
sighed again and rolled over to face the mouth of the cave. Noah had moved into
the entryway. He knew her well. Better than she cared to admit. If she didn’t
try and get some rest she’d be useless when they met up with Carlos tomorrow.
Willing herself to relax and forget the heated kiss they had shared, she let
herself drift.
    And
prayed for tonight she’d only have one nightmare.
    * * * *
    Noah
came awake with the hairs on the back of his neck bristling. He laid perfectly
still, listening and looking out the mouth of the cave for signs of movement.
His thoughts jumped to Attie. Was she having another nightmare? Rain still fell
in a fine mist but the storm had passed.
    He
didn’t hear anything from inside the cave, but his senses were on alert, a
feeling he never ignored. Something was out there. Noticing Attie had slept
with the light on, he moved stealthily down the cave to douse it.
    His
hand was on the knob when Attie asked, “What is it?”
    Noah
glanced down to find her watching him, wide awake, yet she still looked tired.
Did she ever truly sleep or did the nightmares keep her up every night?
    He
turned out the light and heard her sharp, indrawn breath.
    “What
the hell are you doing?” she hissed. She moved in the darkness, the zipper of
her sleeping bag going down.
    “There’s
something out there.”
    Her
movements stopped.
    “Santiago?”
    “Maybe.
Can you pack quickly?” He knew she could pack in the dark. They had been
trained to function in all elements against all odds. Often on a mission
circumstances were less than perfect and they were forced to improvise.
    Silence.
Was she okay? She had maneuvered in the dark in the past and never seemed to
mind.
    “I
have a small penlight, I’ll keep it hidden. You go find out what’s out there.”
    She
sounded breathless, but an unmistakable warning in her voice prevented him from
pressing her. Lack of confidence didn’t prevent her from doing what he knew she
could; something else did. Attie had always had an abundance of confidence.
This hesitation he didn’t understand, but he let it go. Other matters needed
his attention.
    “Move
fast,” he said before disappearing into the entryway to resume his position.
They needed to be prepared for anything. Santiago could be closer than they
thought. Noah had no proof Santiago would be waiting at the predestined
coordinates. They could walk into a trap at any minute and they needed to be
ready. Underestimating Santiago would be a lethal mistake.
    Sig
in hand, Noah lowered himself onto his stomach and searched the early morning
light for signs of movement. The rain had stopped, but there was still an
uncomfortable chill in the air.
    It
didn’t take him long to figure out what lingered in the shadows. By the time
Attie joined him, fully dressed and weapon in hand, he had counted four men
coming toward them through the trees. They didn’t try to conceal themselves and
were armed to the teeth.
    Attie
saw them too, because she muttered something about armed escort as she
raised her gun and took aim.
    “Put
your gun down, Attie, we both know who these men are.”
    She
didn’t take her eyes off them. “That’s exactly the reason I’m not putting it
down,” she said. “Shouldn’t you be leaving? We don’t want Carlos to know you’re
here. The armed escort is for me now that he knows what I am—was.” Brendan’s
call had alerted them that Santiago had managed to find out who Attie worked
for—not an easy task with ATCOM’s security, but obviously not impossible. It
proved how connected he was.
    Rogan
was working on the security breach, since he’d designed the security system
that kept ATCOM