Chapter 40

CHAPTER

FORTY

"Let me get this straight." Stephen narrowed his eyes, not bothering to hide his skepticism. "You think the people in charge of this program have the power to kill us off by simply hitting a button?"

Kai could understand his hesitancy to believe them. The story did sound outlandish.

"We know how it sounds," Kai said. "But yes. Gage and I both had X-rays done. We both have some type of metal devices implanted near our hearts. We also had chips in our shoulders that were most likely used for tracking."

Stephen stared at him a moment before shaking his head and taking a step back. "That sounds crazy."

"We thought so too until we saw it with our own eyes," Gage said.

Stephen touched his shoulder, rubbing it.

Realization slammed into Kai.

Kai and Gage had their GPS chips removed.

But Stephen had not.

And that meant . . .

Kai quickly glanced around.

Had anyone followed Stephen here?

As if to answer, gunfire split the air.

"Get down!" Kai yelled.

Stephen grunted as he grabbed his shoulder.

He'd been hit, hadn't he? Pain stretched across his face.

Kai drew his gun as he searched for the shooter.

More gunshots rang out.

They needed to get out of here. There was no place to take cover.

Kai looked up in time to see headlights headed toward them.

He prepared himself to shoot.

That was when he realized it was Gage's SUV.

Had someone done something to Tori?

Or was she driving straight toward them?

He needed to be certain what was going on.

Tori threw on the brakes and rolled down the window as she got closer to Kai and Gage.

"Get in!" she shouted.

Gage and Kai quickly climbed inside.

Then Kai grabbed Stephen and pulled him in also.

As she turned the SUV away from the shooters, the back window shattered.

These people—he was certain more than one was here—were still shooting.

Why did Tori have to be the one in the driver's seat? But there was no time for anyone to take her place.

"That way!" Gage shouted beside her as he pointed toward an alley.

She tugged on the wheel and turned between two more warehouses.

But she slammed on brakes when another vehicle appeared in front of her.

Instead, she threw the vehicle into Reverse. Then she jammed on the accelerator.

They began to rapidly back through the alley.

"Don't hit the wall!" Kai yelled, craning his neck back so he could see. "You're too close."

Tori gritted her teeth. She was doing her best here.

Yet she didn't dare breathe.

Not until she cleared the alley.

Once the buildings disappeared from either side of her, she finally released a sigh.

She'd gotten through that.

But there were more challenges to come.

She jerked the wheel again. There was nowhere to go on her right side. So she headed back left.

Toward the first shooter.

Not ideal, but she didn't have very much choice right now.

"Get down!" Gage yelled.

She ducked as low as possible in order not to be hit.

Despite that, the front glass shattered.

A scream escaped, but she continued gripping the wheel. Continued pressing the accelerator.

She had to get away from these guys. It was their only chance at survival.

When she sat up higher in her seat, she saw a gunman directly in front of them.

Her heart pounded in her ears.

If she didn't stop, she would hit him.

But if she did stop, then he would shoot them.