Hacking Mr. CEO by Anna Hackett
Jump and Live
Mav
Mav kept a tight grip on Remi’s hand as they exited the security hub.
Help was coming. They just had to hold on until it arrived.
“Where to?” Remi whispered.
“Outside. We’ll find a place to hide.”
Cautiously, they navigated the corridors and crept out into the main atrium. Night had well and truly fallen.
It was dark outside, but at least the lights were on inside. He paused and scanned. There was no sound.
He pulled her forward. He needed to get her safe. The refrain was a drumbeat in his head.
Get out of the building. That was the goal.
He turned, moving past a huge glass wall that cordoned off a hall and an open area filled with plants.
“Mav.”
At her whisper, his head jerked up and he followed the direction of her gaze.
A tall man strode across the space, a gun aimed at them.
“Run!” Mav roared.
He and Remi sprinted.
Gunfire echoed loudly in the atrium. Remi screamed.
The glass wall shattered.
“Faster.” He shoved her ahead.
More bullets slammed into the wall behind them.
Mav leaped over a table. He saw Remi drop to the floor, crawling. The assassin was advancing on them.
Mav grabbed a chair and lifted it off the ground.
“Our deaths achieve nothing,” Mav said. “We’ve already shared everything we know about you with the authorities.”
The Shadow shrugged. “I’m The Shadow, and I don’t leave loose ends.” He glanced Remi’s way. “And I don’t let anyone play me.”
He had dark eyes, but the mask covered the rest of his face. There was no discernible accent in his voice. Mav suspected he wouldn’t recognize him in a crowd.
Mav swung the chair and tossed it at the assassin.
Next, Mav spun and yanked Remi up, shielding her.
They sprinted across the atrium, running toward a closed door. Mav hit the crash bar hard with his arm.
It didn’t open.
“Mav—”
More gunfire behind them.
Fuck. He grabbed her arm and ran into the kitchen.
They ducked down behind a long bench. They needed another exit.
“There’s a back way,” he said, kissing her quickly. “We need to get out the door. Run as fast as you can. There’s a short hall, run past the fridges. Then you’ll see the outside exit.”
“You’re coming too,” she said.
“I’ll distract him first. Go!”
She took two steps. The assassin charged in, firing wildly.
Mav ducked back down, and prayed that Remi stayed down and got out. That was all that mattered.
Ahead of him, Mav spotted frying pans stacked on shelves under the counter. He grabbed two heavy cast-iron ones.
He leaped up and threw one of the frying pans.
It hit the assassin in the shoulder and the man cursed. Mav leaped onto the counter, slid over, then swung the second frying pan at the man.
It hit the man’s arm and gun, sending the weapon flying. It disappeared under the kitchen counters.
But The Shadow yanked out a second one.
Fuck.
“Ahh!”
Mav turned his head and his chest filled with concrete. Remi ran along the counter, and jumped.
She held a spray can of cooking oil in her hand. She aimed the aerosol at the assassin’s face.
The man grunted and threw his arms up for protection.
“Come on!” She grabbed Mav’s hand, and they sprinted back into the dining room.
“I told you to get out,” he growled.
“I know. I didn’t listen.” Her golden-brown gaze met his—fierce, defiant. “I like you, big guy. That asshole doesn’t get to hurt you.”
Fuck. Fuck. Emotion stormed through Mav.
They ran and turned down another corridor. Behind them, he heard running footsteps.
“He’s coming,” she said.
Damn.
Ahead was a wall covered in greenery. One part was draped in vines.
“Here.” He dived into a tight space behind the plants, and pulled Remi in against him. He let the vines fall back into place.
Her wide eyes met his and he saw her fear. He stroked her jaw.
Footsteps.
They both tensed.
The Shadow stopped, just a few feet away from their hiding place.
Shit. Did he know they were there?
Then the assassin walked down the hall and his footsteps faded.
Remi sagged against Mav. They waited. They waited some more. He was tempted to stay there. How far away were the damn police?
But he and Remi couldn’t stay here. The fucker was smart, and he’d eventually double back and work out where they were hiding.
Mav peered out, then pulled Remi into the empty hallway.
They hurried back the way they’d come, and then up some stairs to the mezzanine level. There were lots of doors.
One was labeled Testing Lab.
“I hear him,” she whispered.
Sure enough, footsteps sounded below. Heading up the stairs.
Fuck.
“Hack the lock,” Mav said.
She lifted her phone and set to work.
Come on. Come on.
The door lock flashed, and they slipped inside.
“Now jam it.”
Nodding, she tapped on her phone. “Got it,” she whispered.
Seconds later, someone tried the handle from the outside, jiggling it.
Remi gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth.
Mav scanned the darkened lab. There were benches covered in various pieces of equipment, and he spied a computer. He pulled the keyboard out and logged on. He tapped.
There. He’d accessed the security system.
The assassin was in the hall, trying to hack the door lock.
Damn, they were sitting ducks.
“I have an idea.” Remi shouldered him aside.
Her fingers flew in a complicated dance. With a smile, she tapped the screens, and outside in the hall, the fire sprinklers erupted, dousing The Shadow with water.
On-screen, Mav saw the man cursing. His dark hair was plastered to his head, his clothes soaking.
Mav laughed and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Damn, I love you.”
She went still, like a woodland creature who’d spotted a predator.
“You look more scared of me than the assassin chasing us,” he said dryly.
“Mav—” A taut whisper filled with so much emotion.
He loved this woman. This smart, spunky, loyal woman.
He’d convince her of that after they got out alive.
The door shuddered.
He looked up.
The assassin had abandoned subtlety, and was now just trying to smash his way in.
* * *
Remi
There was nowhere to go.
My heart was doing a rapid dance against my ribs.
It was partly because of the assassin. And partly because Mav had just said he loved me.
I shook my head and scanned the room.
“Hey, over there.” There was a door.
We raced over. It had a tiny glass window embedded in it. I peered into it and my stomach dropped. “It is a storage room. Mav, there’s no way out of here.”
Maybe the assassin wouldn’t get in. I looked at the security feed again.
I frowned. “What’s he doing?”
Mav cursed, staring at the small objects in The Shadow’s hand. “Those are small, localized explosives.”
My heart leaped up, trying to choke me. “He’s going to blow the door down?”
Mav scanned the room again, his face hard. He looked back at the storage room.
“I need you to fry that lock.”
I frowned. “What? Why?”
“We’re going to let him think we’re in the storage room.”
“Okay,” I said slowly.
“It has a secondary lockdown door. They store dangerous chemicals in there. The secondary door slams closed if there’s a breach.”
My mind raced, then I grinned. “We can trap him in there.”
He nodded. “Do it, angel.”
I raced to the computer and accessed the storage room doors. I glanced at the feed. Crap. He was almost done.
“I’ve got control of the secondary door, and…”
Poof. The lights on the door lock died.
I spun around to see Mav on a chair. He was pushing a ceiling tile upward.
“Come on. Hurry.” He held his hand out to me.
Mouth dry, I ran over. He gripped my waist and lifted me like I weighed nothing. I grabbed the edge of the hole in the ceiling and climbed inside.
“Stay on the beams or you’ll fall through,” he warned.
Oh, great.
Mav climbed up behind me, just as I heard a muffled thump down below. Mav set the ceiling tile back in place.
I held my breath and leaned against Mav. His big presence steadied me.
I heard more sounds below, then a muttered curse and more movements. What was he doing? Was he trying to get into the store room?
Mav tapped on his phone and held it out to me.
It was a bad view, but the camera just caught the shoulder of the assassin.
He was pressing something to the storage room door.
I tried to keep my breathing calm.
God. What if he had even more of those explosives? The room wouldn’t trap him for long.
I heard the thumps of the next explosions. On the small screen, the door fell down.
The assassin spun and strode into the storage room.
“Now!” Mav ordered.
I thumbed my phone.
The secondary door clanged shut.
I sucked in a breath. “We did it!”
Mav shoved the ceiling tile across, then leaped down.
He motioned for me to follow. With no hesitation, I jumped right into his arms.
We turned.
The furious eyes of The Shadow were right in the glass window in the storage room door. I felt a skitter of dread.
This was a man who’d never stop.
I got a sense that it wasn’t just about the money. This man liked his work.
“Come on.” Mav yanked me out of the room. “He might have more of those explosives.”
God, I hoped not.
We raced out the door. The sprinklers were still on, drenching us. I almost slipped on the slick floor.
Mav’s hand tightened on mine, holding me up. He kept moving across the mezzanine and finally we reached the edge of the sprinklers. I’d only activated the ones outside the lab.
I pushed my wet hair out of my face. A huge net draped down from the ceiling, covered in green climbing plants, all the way to the floor below.
It looked like a green waterfall.
“You will die here.”
The shout made my adrenaline spike and I glanced back.
The assassin was striding toward us, his lean body moving fast. His black hair was plastered to his head.
He held a massive knife with a jagged blade in his hand.
Oh.God. We’d never make it to the stairs in time.
Mav stopped and looked at the green net.
“Jump,” he said.
I shook my head, my brain not computing.
He lifted me onto the railing.
“Mav, no—”
“Jump and live! Stay and he’ll get us.”
Dammit.
I didn’t let myself think. “You’re jumping too.”
“Right behind you, angel. I promise.”
The Shadow was almost on us.
I dragged in a deep breath. I wanted to live. I wanted Mav.
I’d been protecting myself, holding back.
Not anymore.
I lifted my chin and leaped.
There was a moment of weightlessness, then I slammed into the net and grabbed onto the leaves. Greenery hit my face and the net swung a little.
A second later, Mav hit it. This time, it swung wildly under his larger weight.
Oh, shit. I almost slipped, and tightened my grip.
“Down,” Mav yelled.
I started downward. He moved quicker than me.
Suddenly, the entire net swayed and I looked up.
My gut clenched. The assassin had followed us.
“Keep moving, Remi,” Mav ordered.
I hustled. Below me, Mav reached the bottom.
Only a few more feet.
The net swung. The assassin tried to kick me.
I let go, and I fell the last few feet.
Oh, God.
I landed on my butt with a hard jolt. Mav yanked me up.
A dark shape fell from above. Unlike me, the assassin landed gracefully in an elegant crouch, one long leg outstretched to the side.
Mav and I backed up.
The Shadow rose. His mask was gone.
He had a fairly ordinary face, but with sharp cheekbones.
“I don’t like to kill,” he said. “I take no pleasure in it.”
Bullshit. “So go,” I said.
“No, it’s my one rule. I finish what I start.”
He walked toward us. The knife was so big.
Mav shoved me back.
God, he’d protect me. He’d get stabbed, he’d die for me.
I bit my lip. Pain and panic churned inside me.
The assassin darted forward, and then Mav moved.
My mouth dropped open.
He slammed a hard kick into The Shadow’s mid-section, sending him staggering backward.
Mav could fight.
The men circled, attacking and blocking each other. Mav dodged the knife, and landed a punch.
I saw The Shadow’s mouth tighten.
Mav attacked in a flurry of hits and kicks. One kick caught the assassin, and sent him crashing into a table.
“Not so easy when your prey fights back, is it?” Mav said.
“I always win, Mr. Rivera.”
“So do I.”
The men charged at each other. God, where were the police?
I had to help Mav. I scanned around and all I saw were empty tables.
No, wait.
One table had two laptops resting on it—one open, one closed. A coffee mug sat beside them. Someone had abandoned them, probably when the power went out.
The Shadow and Mav clashed again.
Mav grunted and jerked back.
I saw the cut on his bicep, the gash in his shirt.
And then I saw the blood.
