The laptop screen shook because her hands were trembling. Why? The question pierced through Noelle. Why had she shot Kyle? He’d told her he had what she wanted. Why had she shot Kyle without even giving him a chance to explain?
Because the information wasn’t what Jessica wanted. She wanted Noelle.
Tears blurred the shadowy world around her as she watched Jessica walk past the cameras. She snapped her fingers and one of her guards fisted his hand in MaeBe’s hair and started to drag her away from Kyle, her feet kicking as she fought.
Jessica was in the building and Hutch was out there. Hutch didn’t know she’d breached the building because he was likely still trying to get to the ground floor. He might walk right into her trap, and Jessica wouldn’t hesitate to kill him, too.
She bit back a sob at the thought of Hutch’s body on the ground.
Then she saw it, saw Kyle’s chest move.
He was alive. She might be able to save him.
“Noelle?”
Noelle stopped at the sound. Jessica was using the megaphone app she loved to use whenever she wanted to get someone’s attention. It was an app she claimed she’d developed herself, and it turned a cell phone into a microphone that could blast her voice through the tiny speaker she carried in that designer bag of hers.
“Noelle, I’ve got your friend and I’m going to kill her. I already took care of that wannabe spy of yours. So you can show yourself or I’ll have my guys blow this whore’s purple head off. No one’s coming, by the way. I’ve taken over all the systems. There’s no alarm going out.”
She hated Jessica, hated her and everything she stood for.
And Noelle was going to give her what she wanted because she had no other option.
She clutched her cane and forced herself to move because she couldn’t let her friends die.
* * * *
Hutch followed Kyle down the stairs, lighting the path for them both. “I think this is a mistake. You need to know that Michael was watching the club tonight. He knows we’re in trouble.”
Kyle didn’t stop moving. “Michael was outside? I didn’t know we had… Shit. Michael’s here to watch me. I’m not spying on my uncle. I can’t talk about what I did for the Agency, but it’s over. Mostly.”
“It’s about to all be over if you aren’t careful.” Hutch needed time. “Michael isn’t going to leave us here. I doubt Jessica has any idea we had someone watching the club. MaeBe didn’t know, so they couldn’t have gotten it from her.”
Couldn’t have beaten it out of her. Couldn’t have terrorized her until she couldn’t take it anymore.
There was a humming sound, and a set of lights came on, the secondary lights that were powered by a small generator in case of outage. Sanctum could be dangerous in the dark, and Dallas often experienced storms that could cut power. The secondary lights were low but enough to allow him to pocket his cell.
“I can’t leave her out there alone,” Kyle said. “I’ll buy us some time. If Jessica thinks the police are on their way, she’ll kill MaeBe and run. I’m certain she’s got a way out of the country, and she’s probably got plenty of money in offshore accounts. She won’t hesitate to dump MaeBe. I have to stop that.”
He wasn’t sure Kyle could stop anything. “Let me try to get in touch with Michael.”
“There’s no time.”
“She won’t kill MaeBe until she’s absolutely sure she’s got that information. I don’t know what Madison left her, but I would bet it’s at least her research. We know Jessica sold that research, and there would be a whole lot of angry pharma people if it still got out. I think Jessica believes Noelle knows more than she does.”
“I’m not going to give up Noelle. I’m not giving up anyone.” Kyle jogged down the rest of the stairs and started for the door. “Hurry and get where you need to be. I don’t want to risk them seeing you or they’ll try to get inside. I’m going to try to get her to take me to Genedyne. Contact Tag and get there as soon as possible.”
Hutch didn’t want to let Kyle go out there alone, but he knew what he would do if Noelle was the one being held. He would move heaven and earth to get to her. “I’ll get everything back online and we’ll come after you. I won’t leave you alone.”
Kyle glanced back, a sad smile on his face. “I kind of wish we could have had that beer now.”
“We will. And I’ll help you. I’ll help you get through all of it. No matter what it is,” Hutch promised.
“I almost believe you,” Kyle said quietly. “Go. Save your girl. I’ll try to save…well, the one who could have been mine if I hadn’t fucked everything up. Bye, Hutch.”