LOGINThe rooftop seemed to hold its breath.Damon stood several yards away with his weapon trained on Saood.Zach had positioned himself slightly to the side, watching both men carefully.Alex stood between them and she could feel the tension in every muscle of her body."You brought them exactly where I wanted." Saood said with a smile.Alex ignored him as her eyes moved toward Damon and Zach before towards the rooftop entrance. Something’s not right. She thought deeply. Why would Saood want us all together?Alex's mind raced before she finally remembered Cameron, Kathleen, Rebecca and Benedict.The hostages and Saood had left them behind or he hadn't left them behind.He had simply assumed they were no longer important.Alex suddenly turned toward Zach."Zach!"He immediately looked at her."What?""Get Cameron." She instructed loudly.Damon's expression changed."Alex—""Get Cameron and the others out of the building." She interrupted firmly.Zach lowered his weapon slightly."Where?""
The corridor was empty.Alex moved quickly, her footsteps echoing against the concrete.She didn't chase blindly.She watched, listened and calculated.Saood had planned everything.He had redesigned the building according to his needs.He knew the exits, the security systems.He knew her, which meant he would expect her to follow.Alex stopped as she looked at the hallway ahead, her mind immediately thinking that there are three possible directions that Saood will take.She closed her eyes.For a moment, she imagined what Saood would do. Think, Alex! Left, right or straight. She thought. Where will you go if you’re in his shoes?He wouldn't take the obvious route.He wouldn't use the emergency exit.He would choose something that gave him control.A hidden passage that is something connected to the upper levels.Alex opened her eyes."Got you." She muttered as she turned right.Back at the office chamber, Cameron stood guard while Rebecca remained beside Kathleen.Benedict sat agains
Alex waited, remembering that had learned long ago that the most dangerous moment will not be when the shooting will start.It was the second before it where someone still think he had control.Saood believed he had it.His men were positioned around the room. Cameron, Kathleen, and Rebecca were restrained. Benedict stood near the doorway, smugly watching everything unfold.And Saood had turned his back.Wrong move, Saood. Alex thought coldly because that was all she needed.Her eyes flicked toward the nearest guard.Then the second.Then the third.She counted silently.Three.Her gaze moved toward the security console.Four.The guard closest to Rebecca shifted his weight.Five.Alex saw the opening and she moved.Her first strike was fast.She caught the guard's wrist before he could react, twisted the weapon away from him, and drove him into the side of the desk.The gun came free.A second guard raised his weapon.Alex fired.The shot struck him cleanly in the shoulder, sending h
Saood did not give Alex time to recover. He seized her arm and pulled her through another reinforced door roughly.Alex stumbled forward, immediately fighting against his grip."Let go of me." She snarled.Saood didn't even look at her."You'll want to see this, Alex." He only said. Something in his voice made her stop struggling. “I’m sure you will like it.”Saood only sounded that calm when he had already won something.They entered another room.An office.Large.Luxurious.Completely out of place beneath the cold concrete structure surrounding it.A wall of dark glass overlooked the city.There was a massive desk at the center, several monitors along the walls and a collection of files arranged neatly on a side table.But Alex barely noticed any of it as her eyes immediately went to the people sitting against the far wall."Cameron." She stated, her heart stopping at the sight in front of her.Her estranged father looked up.His face was bruised, but he was conscious.Beside him s
For a few precious minutes, everything went according to plan.Too perfectly.Alex stood in the chamber with her back against one of the reinforced pillars, watching the screens around Saood flicker one after another.Elise had regained access and Zach's team had breached the western security network.Damon was already moving through the upper levels.The men surrounding Alex had been forced to retreat when the security systems they depended on suddenly turned against them.Doors slammed shut and weapons started malfunctioning.Communications went dead.For the first time since she had entered Gallagher Enterprise, Saood looked genuinely cornered.Alex allowed herself one small breath."Checkmate." She hissed.Saood stared at her for a while before he let out a laugh. Just a low, amused laugh that made the hairs on the back of Alex's neck rise."You really thought that was enough?" He asked calmly. “Really, Alexandra. I thought you know me well.”Alex's eyes narrowed."Elise." She cal
Alex moved through the service corridor without making a sound, her senses alert for any traps that Saood might have prepared.The walls were unfinished concrete and the lighting is dim. There was a faint smell of oil and dust in the air.Exactly what she expected.Except for one thing.There were no workers in the basement, no maintenance crew or any noise from the building above.Nothing.Alex stopped and looked behind her.Empty.She touched the earpiece."Elise." She called in a low voice.She frowned when no reply came."Elise, respond." She said again.Static.Alex's hand immediately went toward the weapon concealed beneath her jacket.Someone had cut the signal and she immediately looked at the ceiling and found a small red light blinked then disappeared."Interesting." A voice came from behind her. "You always were difficult to surprise."Alex froze before slowly turning towards the voice.A man stood at the far end of the corridor.It was not Saood.One of his men.Alex recog
Alex placed the tray of empty plates and glasses on top of the counter the following late Monday morning and smiled as the waitress manning the counter, took them immediately and brought it towards the kitchen. She then resumed arranging the vacated tables, arranging the chairs.She then gr
Alex lowered the binoculars that was given to her during preparation after thoroughly checking the crowd for any other suspicious persons that needs to be escorted out. So far, the team she had been assigned to had pointed out fifteen persons and more than half of them had been ushered out of the
Zach, with a splitting headache, groaned as he opened his eyes, holding his head rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how he ended there. All he could recall was that he went with Alex and Damon to Boulder Coast.“I want to sit at the front,” he insisted
Alex finally opened her eyes and stared at herself in the mirror, standing up.After taking off from the scene where she was ambushed by Saood’s men, she went to one place, which she only knows. A small house outside the city that she bought with cash from the money she had saved over her years of se







