Hacking Mr. CEO (Billionaire Heists #3) by Anna Hackett

Faint lights were still lit up on the floor. The emergency lighting.

“The backup power is gone.”

She lifted her chin and swallowed. “He’s here, isn’t he?”

“Maybe.” Mav looked at his phone. “No signal.”

She frowned. “You think he’s jamming us?”

“Yeah.”

“Does the emergency power run the computer system?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Only the emergency security terminal in the main security hub will be active.”

“So we go there.”

Or they could hide here, and hunker down. Mav hated the idea of doing nothing, but keeping her safe was his top priority.

Hell. But this asshole was hunting them.

“Wait.” He pulled his phone out again. “We have an internal comms system.” He checked. “It’s still operational.”

He touched a contact.

Ruben’s face came up on the small screen.

“Ruben, I think we have a dangerous assassin on site.”

“What?” His head of operations squeezed the bridge of his nose. “God, you throw some interesting curveballs at me, Mav. You aren’t joking?”

“No.”

“Are you safe?”

“We’re thinking about getting to the security hub. Get the power back on, and call for help.”

“Shit.” Ruben paused for a second. “Look, I’m closer to the hub. The damn security team is out chasing Tisdale.”

Mav paused. Hell, had The Shadow somehow arranged that?

“I’ll make my way there and contact you again,” Ruben said.

“Thanks, Ruben.”

“No problem, I—”

There was a flash of movement, followed by a grunt, and a shout. Ruben’s phone skidded across the floor.

“Oh, no,” Remi gasped.

They now had a view of the wall, and Mav heard the sounds of a fight, then nothing.

“Ruben? Ruben?”

Fuck. Dammit.

A black-gloved hand came into view. The call cut off.

Remi was breathing fast.

“Get your phone,” Mav bit out. “We have to go.”

Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. “Wouldn’t it be safer to stay here?”

Mav understood the urge to hide. To stay safe.

“He’s coming for us. We need to get to the hub.”

She pressed a shaky hand to her face.

“Trust me?” Mav asked.

She hugged him. “Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

Mav lifted the panel beside the door. The electronic lock was dead, but beneath it was a manual door control.

He heard the click, then the door opened.

He took her hand.

Out in the hallway, blue emergency lighting glowed, giving the place an eerie feel.

They moved quietly down the corridor, then turned a corner. Ahead was a wall of windows. The sun was setting, flooding the back in orange-gold light.

Remi’s fingers clenched on his.

“This way,” he whispered.

A noise echoed from somewhere deeper in the complex, and they froze.

Nothing moved.

Shit. Mav wished he had a weapon. He pulled Remi closer.

“Come on.” He tugged her out of the atrium and down the hall.

They needed to get to the security hub.





Remi


I was freaked.

My heart pounded and my mouth was dry.

An assassin was hunting us. It felt unreal. Like a horror movie, or bad dream.

Mav squeezed my fingers and I released a breath.

I wasn’t alone, and I knew he wouldn’t leave me.

My chest locked. He wouldn’t leave me. That certainty rocketed through me.

“Down here,” Mav whispered.

He towed me down another corridor. It was so dark, but thankfully empty. I swallowed. We had to get that call out.

There was a door at the end. Mav tried it, but it was locked, and he muttered a curse.

“Let me.” I connected my phone to the lock, and tapped.

Beep. The door opened.

Inside was a large kitchen and dining area. It was much larger than the one near Mav’s private lab.

We skirted the long rows of tables.

Then I heard a noise coming from the opposite side of the room.

“Down,” he whispered urgently.

I dropped to the floor, crouching by a table. My heartbeat echoed in my ears.

Mav pointed.

Through the legs of the chairs, I saw a dark shadow moving at the edge of the room. I soundlessly sucked in a breath.

It was him. The Shadow. The person who’d caused all this trouble.

And for what? Money? Greed?

The Shadow was a man who stole and killed, for his own benefit.

I looked at Mav in the gloom.

He was the opposite. A man who also made so much money, but by creating, allowing his employees to collaborate and invent needed tech.

The Shadow disappeared. God, where was he? My pulse was racing so fast that I was worried my chest would burst open.

After a long moment, Mav nodded. We rose and continued onward.

We slipped down another hall. That’s when I saw a dark form on the floor.

“Ruben,” Mav said.

We rushed to the man and dropped to our knees. I watched Mav feel for a pulse and I touched Ruben’s head. I felt something sticky.

Oh no. Blood.