Operation: Midnight Tango Read Online Free PDF Page B

forget you ever saw us.”
    The wrench the kid was holding clattered to the floor. Backing away, he spun and sprinted through the door without looking back.
    Emily watched him disappear into the falling snow. She could hear voices and shouting coming through the open door. No doubt the prison SORT team and tower guards were assessing the situation. It was only a matter of minutes before they stormed the place.
    Somewhere in the distance an engine fired. She watched Zack pull a small bundle from the satchel and set it on the floor beneath one of the trucks.
    “Give me that gas can,” he ordered.
    Emily spotted the red can next to the workbench, picked it up and handed it to Zack. “What are you doing?”
    “Just taking out a little insurance.” He placed the can next to the bundle, then dashed to the snowmobile, picked up two helmets and slid onto the seat. “Come here.”
    She met him at the snowmobile. Her arm was burning and throbbing. Light-headed, she wondered if the wound was more than just a graze.
    “You okay?” Eyeing her intently, he lifted one of the helmets and slid it gently onto her head.
    “Oh, I’m just peachy. In the last half hour I’ve been taken hostage, shot at, lied to by people I thought were the good guys. No, I’m not okay! I want to know what the hell is going on.”
    His eyes met hers as he fastened the strap beneath her chin. “Look, I didn’t mean to involve you. ButI can’t leave you here. And there’s no time for me to explain right now, okay?”
    It wasn’t okay, but she didn’t think it would help the situation if she started demanding answers now. She looked down at the hole that had been torn in her coat. Her stomach clenched when she saw the blood seeping through the sleeve.
    As if reading her thoughts, Zack reached out and touched her arm. “As soon as we get out of here, I’ll find a place to stop and take care of your arm. I’m an EMT. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
    It was ridiculous, but looking into his eyes, she believed him. “I can’t believe they shot me.” Of all the things that had happened, that was the one that bothered her the most. She’d been a member of the Lockdown, Inc. corrections team for three years. Her teammates were her friends. Her family. Surely the prison marksman had been aiming for Zack.
    Hadn’t he?
    His eyes darkened as he slid his own helmet over his head and fastened the strap. “I’m going to drive this thing like a bat out of hell. Put your arms around my waist and don’t let go. You got that?”
    The motor purred like a big, wild cat as she slid onto the seat behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
    An instant later the snowmobile’s steel shoes dug into the concrete. Sparks flew as the machine shot out the open door like a cannonball.
    Once outside, Zack looked behind him toward the utility garage, holding what looked like a tiny television channel-changer in his hand. He depressed a button, then dropped the device into his coat pocket. “Hang on!”
    The snowmobile took off like a racehorse out of the gate. Emily tightened her arms around Zack’s waist. She heard gunshots and shouting over the roar of wind coming through her helmet. Zack veered sharply, barely missing a light pole. They were heading toward a line of trees that would take them to the foothills of Idaho’s Bitterroot Mountain range when the garage exploded.
    Even from a hundred yards away Emily felt the hot breath of the explosion. She glanced over her shoulder to see a ball of flames billow like a giant orange mushroom into the early-morning sky.
    “I take it that wasn’t a concussion grenade,” she shouted to be heard over the whine of the engine, the roar of wind around her helmet.
    “No,” he shouted over his shoulder. “But it might buy us some time if we’re lucky.”
    “If we’re lucky?”
    “Yeah.” He muttered a curse. “We’re about to run out of gas.”
    “HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?” Marcus Underwood furiously