Chapter 29

TWENTY-NINE

Iwatch Louis be led inside with a soft sigh. He’s crazy, but I understand why. It doesn’t stop me from wishing I were him, though, so I could be at her side, but I know my place. I’m the best bet for getting into their systems, and that’s how I help them. It’s what I intend to do even as I listen carefully to Nico’s conversations with the guards as they take a break. He’s prying for information without being obvious. He’s good; I’ll give him that.

Glancing back down at the laptop on the grass, I refocus on getting into their systems. I have the cameras and alarms so far, but there are firewalls around folders and files that I want to break. I want full access, and anything less than that is not acceptable. There is no room for error when it comes to my family.

We all have our roles. Louis’s phone rings then, and I purse my lips. I must groan out loud because the earpiece crackles with their voices.

“What is it?” Jonas mutters as I swear. “Are they okay? Is Nova?”

“Yeah, sorry, it’s the general again,” I mutter.

“Again?”

Nodding even though he can’t see, I work through the responses to him. “Yeah, Louis had me feeding him false leads so he didn’t get suspicious and try to stop us from going after Nova. He also didn’t want them following us and giving away our positions. This isn’t sanctioned.”

“But why?” Isaac asks, sounding confused. “He trusts them, doesn’t he?”

“As much as you can trust the government.” I cough, relaxing back into my computer once it’s done. They will eventually come looking, maybe even at the manor, but for now, we are safe. “How’s it going, Isaac?”

He’s taken the spare laptop to follow Louis’s orders while we wait for me to get into the systems and for Nico to report back on the opening for Jonas. We need to wait for the night to sneak in anyway, so we have time—time Isaac is utilising for Nova’s benefit. After all, he’s the doctor, so he knows best.

The long silence tells me all I need to know. It’s not good. “Without seeing the damage, I’m not sure, but . . . It is probably permanent.”

“Fuck,” I mutter.

I never asked her if she wanted kids. I never thought about it. I was always too focused on the mission, on the next invention, the next moment, but I won’t ever admit to her that the idea of a little Nova running around doesn’t appeal to me. What would our child be like after all we have gone through? Maybe it is for the best, but if it hurts her, I will find a way.

Come hell or high water, money would be no option. I will give her what she wants.

No matter how impossible it seems.

“And for the kids when we get them out?” I know he’s looking into that too. He’s locating the best safe places for them. It’s important to us and to her that they are safe and happy and that they never have to suffer again. Who knows what they are doing to them in there. I mean, look what they did to us. The cycle stops with us.

“I have some options. I don’t know if they are orphans, but I am assuming they are since either no one is looking for them or he paid to adopt them. Either way, I’m assuming they have no family, which makes it easier. Psychologically, he uses patterns to repeat his experiments. There are homes we can get them into, although it might be hard without revealing why they have no details or documents, but I’m still looking.”

“Okay,” I murmur. “I can always erase their pasts, but they might talk about it.”

“True, kids are kids. You remember what we were like?” He chuckles before going quiet. “Do you think they are okay?”

“Of course,” Jonas responds. “Dimitri can see them. He would tell us—”

“I mean mentally. Who knows what she has been through again, and coupled with the loss of her sister, I’m worried,” Isaac admits.

“We will get her out, and then we’ll have the rest of our lives to heal her hurt and help her,” I offer. “We will not lose her like Bas.”

“Want me to just storm in there and kill them?” Jonas mutters. I can hear him moving, no doubt changing to a better position to be near the base.

“Later maybe.” I grin as I scan the cameras. I can see Nico in the break room, and then I flip through and find Nova. The door opens, admitting Louis. The pure shock and happiness on her face lets me know she’s going to be okay. I want to stare, to memorise her face and reaction, but I turn that camera off for a moment to give them their privacy, not letting anyone else see. They won’t know, but I do.

I refocus on the alarms and reprogramming them to do what I want. They don’t even know I’m in their systems, destroying it all from the inside out while also trying to crack into their mainframe files. I’ll get there eventually. It will just take some time.

“I’m hitting the head,” Nico calls to his friends and moves away. Instead of the toilet, however, he moves down the corridor. “Okay, heading to the hole,” he mutters to me. “Is she okay? Is Louis safe?”

“They are both good, brother. Keep going forward, and I’ll call out any issues.” I track his movements on the camera and tilt the one away from the janitor’s door so they can’t see him coming and going. It’s not enough to draw attention, but enough to satisfy us.

“Yup, that level.” I watch him ride the elevator. “Okay, forward. If Nova was correct, two lefts, one right.”

Tracking him, I spot some guards ahead. “Slip into the next room.” Silently, he moves into the room and we wait. “Okay, go.” He’s back out. “Hurry. Rotation changes soon,” I say, and he speeds up without running. Finally, he reaches the door and steps inside. I scan the cameras for any issues while he works. “It’s a mess in here. Whatever she used, she did a good job. They tried to board it up. If I can get the boards off, I think I can get an opening, but I will need a noise to cover it.”

“Got you.” I trigger a fire alarm, covering the noise. I hear him grunting, snapping, and yanking as he removes the boards. I watch the guards run. “Almost disabling,” I tell him when I see the guards in the control room, trying to switch it off.

“One more,” he says, and just as the alarm cuts out, he speaks again. “Got it. Shit.”

“What?” I demand.

“Erm, nothing, nothing. I’ve got this.”

“Nico?” I ask, confused by the sudden tightness of his voice.

“Just keep checking on everyone else. Buy me time. I’ll be there soon.”

“Got you, man,” I say even as I frown, wondering what is wrong.