Screams and yelling were right outside the room. Chet reached the door, but hesitated.

  “Chet, lock that. Now!”

  My shout spurred him into action, but the door burst open. He caught it in the face and chest and staggered back, falling to the floor. The team dropped for cover when a woman and two men with guns raised entered.

  “Winger?” Several people called my name at once.

  “It’s okay,” I said quietly as much to the team around me as to those on comm. “We stay calm and find out what’s going on.”

  “We’re here for your teammate.” It was the woman who’d been with Douglas. Her accent sounded British, or maybe Irish. I wasn’t sure. “Get on your feet. All of you!”

  We stood slowly and the team huddled together.

  “Him.” She looked as stern as ever pointing with her gun. The other two, who were obviously in the role of henchmen, came for Dean.

  My teammates grabbed on to each other. Dean’s hand locked on to my shoulder with far more intensity than I thought possible.

  “No. No. No.” Dean got louder as they came for him. He pulled on my shoulder, and it hurt as he dug in until they forced him to let go.

  More commotion outside the room. A male voice strained to sound calm as he shouted into the room, asking what they wanted.

  “Police have arrived and are setting up a perimeter,” Dad said.

  “We’ve got what we came for.” Stern Woman spoke to someone in the hall that I couldn’t see. “Do not interfere.” She slammed the door with so much force that it shook the wall adjacent to it. She locked the door. It appeared to be a flimsy lock that could likely be breached easily.

  “Up against the wall, all of you,” Stern Woman said gruffly.

  No one moved from their position.

  “Come on guys.” I pulled Alice back since she still held on to me. The group moved so we ended up against the whiteboard we’d used.

  “Listen to him. He’s a smart one.”

  “Oh my God, Chet!” Alice shrieked. He was out cold, sprawled on the floor. He bled from a cut on his forehead.

  “He needs help.” I stepped forward, but Jessie pulled me back. “We can’t just leave him like that.”

  “Yes we can,” Stern Woman said in a chilling voice. It was clear that she wasn’t going to be deterred from her mission. “Now, Dean Brody, it’s time for you to work on this file. We hoped you’d get it done yesterday, but with time running out, we decided to focus your attention.”

  “I can’t do it.” His voice shook.

  “Is that why none of us know what to do with that?” I asked calmly. Despite being stuck in typical teenager mode, I refused to play into the fear these guys were creating. “I told you that didn’t come from a student.”

  “He can,” Stern Woman said, waving her gun in Dean’s direction. “And he will.”

  “What’s she talking about?” Jessie asked.

  “You don’t know about your teammate? He hasn’t solved all these problems for you? He has a reputation for getting into places he shouldn’t. He should be able to release the information we need from this file in no time.”

  Chet moaned and struggled to sit up. “What happened?”

  Goon One quickly went to Chet and knocked him in the head with his gun. More blood spilled near his ear, and he fell back to the floor. The team gasped and there was at least one yelp.

  “Winger, give us clues if you can,” Lorenzo instructed. “We should have eyes on you within five through the laptop cameras.”

  “This man needs help.” I got out of Alice’s grip and moved away from the team.

  “Get back,” Stern Woman said while Goon Two cut me off from getting to Chet.

  Three bullies in the school bathroom were easy to handle. I couldn’t risk anything like that here with guns involved and others who could be hurt.

  “I’m going to help him.” I focused on using my work voice, the one Dad commented on last night. “No one needs to die while you’re doing whatever this is with Dean.”

  Stern Woman nodded and Goon Two stepped aside. Kneeling next to Chet, I checked out the gash on his forehead, which was clotting. The side of his head was far worse off with blood coming from his ear and a wound on his cheek.

  I took a deep breath through my mouth. I had a hard time with blood. The smell of it made me sick. I didn’t need to get woozy while this situation unfolded.

  “You really did a number on him.” I looked at Goon One standing over me, and he gave me an icy look. “I need something to stop the bleeding.” I looked around to see if there was a first aid kit in the room. There wasn’t.

  Since I wore a T-shirt over a long sleeve, I pulled off the tee.

  Goon One tensed up as I brought the T-shirt over my head like he thought I might have a weapon.

  “Winger, we’ve got eyes on the room. We deactivated the web cam lights so no one can see they’re on. We’ve patched this to Defender and Shotgun, who are at the on-site command center with the police.”

  Sounded like TOS and the police were already teamed up. There were TOS agents embedded in law enforcement all over the world. Plus TOS agents often served in many federal agencies. Dad had Department of Homeland Security credentials.

  “Now, Dean, have a seat and let’s get to work.” Stern Woman acted like this was the most normal thing to do as she pushed Dean into the nearest chair. “The sooner you get this file open, the sooner your friends can get on with their day.”

  I worked on Chet, lifting his head gently to wrap my T-shirt tightly around his head to stop the bleeding. I opened each of his eyes, and his pupils were responsive to the light. That was a good sign. I looked around the room again and found what I needed.

  “Cullen, I need your hoodie.”

  “Sure, man.” He stepped away from the wall and took it off.

  “Did I say you could move?” Goon Two aimed his gun at Cullen, and he stepped back. “He needs the hoodie, he can come get it.”

  “You’ve got Dean, why keep the rest of us?” I asked, mostly to see what the response would be.

  “Winger, be careful,” Dad said in my ear. “I know what you’re trying to do, but you don’t want to antagonize them.”

  “Don’t you watch movies?” Stern Woman said. “It’s always better to have hostages. Even better if they’re kids.”

  I quietly got the hoodie from Cullen and returned to Chet. I made the hoodie into the best pillow I could and put it under his head.

  “Now, Dean, what do you need to be able to get this done?”

  “Let me look it over. I’ll need some time to see what I can do with it.”

  I returned to the team and didn’t know what to do. Should I volunteer to help? Should I let Dean do it solo? Would he unlock it since we agreed it should stay locked? Getting out wasn’t an option. We were well covered with Stern Woman near Dean, Goon Two guarding the team, and Goon One at the door.

  “Don’t give me that shit. You had a good look when Violet asked you to take the job with her.”

  “Winger, we can see you,” Lorenzo said. “Can Dean hack this file? If you think so, make a fist with your left hand.”

  I fisted my left hand. It would likely take him a while, but I knew he could do it.

  Dean visibly shook. “But I don’t know how—”

  Stern Woman yanked Dean from the chair by his shirt while Goon Two moved to restrain him. Stern Woman aimed her gun at Dean’s chest. Some of the team gasped. Cullen and Alic looked away. Goon One quickly moved nearer the team.

  “Dean, don’t,” Alice squeaked.

  “Don’t bullshit me. Violet made it very clear you could do this and that you decided not to.”

  “Leave him alone.” I stepped forward. “He says he doesn’t know.”

  Goon One punched me in the stomach, and I dropped to my knees. Stupid that I hadn’t anticipated a response like that. I wrapped my arms around my midsection and stayed down, while keeping my eyes on Dean.

  “I… I need him. I need Theo’s help.” Dean looked at me, an apology written across his face. Was he worried I’d say no? “He’s even better than I am.”

  “Then get over here, Theo.” Stern Woman gestured to a seat next to where Dean stood.

  I stood slowly, wanting to seem more hurt than I was. I glared at Dean. I wanted everyone to think I was pissed, but the setup worked perfectly because I’d be more able to control the situation in front of a keyboard.

  “We’re right here with you,” Lorenzo said. “We’re monitoring all of the laptops so we see everything.”

  The only mystery was I didn’t know how fast or slow Dean could get into the file. If he went too fast or did something wrong, he might prevent me from being able to do something meaningful to end this well.

  Goon One shoved me toward Dean.

  “I want this file opened within the hour or one of your classmates will pay the price.”

  Dean and I looked at each other. I shrugged and nodded. We had no choice but to get to work.

  Twenty-Seven

  “Winger, Defender here. We’ve got some information on the woman holding your team. We’ve debriefed with Douglas Benjamin. His father was abducted earlier this week. Douglas and his mother were told if he turned in this module to the competition and allowed this woman to chaperon him, his father would be released. She called herself Julie Carson, but based on what we can find, that’s an alias. We’re working on her exact identity.”

  This just got weirder. Dean and I weren’t special. If we couldn’t decrypt this file, there were a lot of people who could. Why come after Dean? If they wanted a student, why not a college student? If they were willing to pay Violet Knight and Dean, why not pay someone else? Or was it because using a student made them think they’d get away with it?

  I stole a glance at our teammates, clustered close to each other against the whiteboard. All of them looked scared, a few wept.

  One of the phones on the table at the back of the room rang. Initially Stern Woman ignored it, but it kept going. Whoever it was seemed to be leaning on the redial button.

  “Winger, Shotgun here. The cops are trying to get them to pick up the phone. The one they’re calling is the only one that’s on.”

  I wasn’t sure what they hoped to get from that, but it’d be something.

  Stern Woman took the bait. “Whose phone is this?” She held it up.

  “Mine,” Cullen said weakly.

  She went up to Cullen and showed him the display. “Do you recognize this number?”

  “No.”

  Stern Woman pressed the screen to take the call. “What?” She listened for a moment. Whoever was on the phone wasn’t on comms.

  “I’ve got what I need right here. This will be over within the hour because I need to be on my way. And if they can’t do it, well….”

  Dean stole a look at me and I shrugged.

  I typed a quick bit of code so I could type onto Dean’s screen from my computer.

  We need to just get this done, I wrote.

  And then what?

  I don’t know. Hopefully it ends.

  “Oh, I’m afraid Douglas’s mother is a widow since he violated our agreement.” She paused again. “I have all I need. Once these boys decrypt this file, I’ll go.”

  So they were willing to kill. We needed to hurry this up.

  “Shotgun here. Douglas didn’t indicate he thought his father was dead. Not sure if it’s a scare tactic or reality.”

  “What’s taking so long?” Stern Woman raged and threw Cullen’s phone against the wall. “Maybe you need a clock on this to spark your competitiveness. Or perhaps some other incentive?”

  She gestured toward the group and Goon Two grabbed Alice and Jessie.

  “Let me go,” Jessie said, struggling against the man’s hold. Alice shrieked as she was jerked forward.

  “Hey, you—” Goon Two let go of Jessie long enough to punch Cullen in the face. He fell backward into the wall, holding his nose. Lars and Nat stabilized him.

  “Here’s the deal, you’ve got thirty minutes before I hurt one of these two. I’m going to leave it up to my friends what they do, but I assure you the ladies won’t like it. Now get to work!” She bellowed loud enough that I figured people in the lobby heard it.

  Dean and I cringed. Stern Woman had no patience and that made her dangerous.

  “Doc, how fast can we get that file decrypted?” Defender asked.

  “Winger and I should be able to do it in the time frame. We’ve been writing bots here to assist. If we involve Dean, our speed might increase. We can’t separate what he’s doing from us without him knowing it. But Winger can direct him.”

  Lorenzo gave me an earful of instructions. I simply took it in and started and occasionally told Dean things to do. He followed directions flawlessly. He showed off some mad skills along the way too.

  What really sped this up were the scripts Lorenzo had produced. Dean and I could’ve done this on our own, but the half hour requirement would’ve been difficult to meet.

  “Winger, one of the students is on the move toward the door,” Defender said. “It’s a very bad idea. He’s in a red and black shirt and has black hair. That’s all we can see.”

  Cullen was either trying to be a hero—or save himself.

  “You there, stop!” shouted Goon Two.

  “Cullen! I need you over here, please.” I shot him a glance over my shoulder. If I could make him useful, maybe—

  “What’s wrong with you?” Stern Woman blazed with fury and moved past Goon One to get to Cullen. “Your friends are gonna get hurt, just like that one,” she said, gesturing at Chet, “and you’re trying to sneak out?”

  “Sorry. I didn’t… I can’t—Ahhh!”

  I turned. Stern Woman broke Cullen’s right wrist. I knew how to do that, and if it was done right, it guaranteed Cullen a long recovery period. Stern Woman shoved him toward the group.

  Cullen whimpered as Lars caught him and lowered him to the floor.

  “I won’t be so gentle to the next person who tries something stupid,” Stern Woman growled.

  “Guys.” The quiver in my voice annoyed me. I hadn’t realized how nervous I’d become. “Let Dean and me finish.” I looked at Jessie and Alice in front of me and then back to the rest of the team. “Then this will be over.”

  “Keep listening to him. Now, smart guy, open the file!” She stood in front of me and screamed directly into my face.

  “You’re doing good, Winger,” Dad said. I’m glad he thought so because I had a hard time seeing a solid course of action.

  It only took another five minutes of work to open the file. Dean looked surprised. What did he think was going to happen? Of course we were going to open the file. It wasn’t acceptable for anyone else to get hurt.

  “It’s done,” I said, looking at Stern Woman.

  “Let’s see what we’ve got.” She came around behind Dean and me. The file directory had a single entry—current.dbs.

  Twenty-Eight

  “Winger, Defender here. MI-6 informed us that the woman in the room is an agent of theirs gone rogue three weeks ago. Her name is Fiona Coyle. This mission’s now expanded to recover the file and her.”

  Stern Woman had a real name. She was even more dangerous than I’d given her credit for. MI-6 were very well trained.

  “Let’s see if you’ve done your job right.” Coyle reached over us and typed a sequence to open the file. A single line of text appeared on the screen: Open failure—Unauthorized copy.

  Coyle slammed her open hand into the side of my head and nearly knocked me out of the chair. I let out an oomph of surprise. She ripped Dean out of his seat and held him by the shoulder—like she wanted to use a Vulcan nerve pinch.

  “What did you do?” Coyle asked, menacingly. “Fix it. Now!”

  She shoved Dean back into the chair with so much force that he fell out the other side. His ribs crashed into an adjacent chair before he dropped to the floor.

  I righted myself, despite my fuzzy vision.

  “What do I have to do to make you take this seriously?” Coyle moved her gun between Jessie and Alice. I hated the fear in their eyes. “Do I shoot one of your friends?”

  “No!” I said firmly.

  Dean tried to pick himself up.

  “I told you if you didn’t have this done, it would happen.” Coyle moved and kicked Dean down and planted her foot on his chest to keep him on the floor.

  I stiffened. Maybe if I rushed her and aimed for her center of gravity—

  “Winger, you can’t win this battle, so don’t even try to take her,” John ordered.

  “It’s not our fault.” Facts were all I had to stop her. “With security in place to guard against copies, nothing we did would prevent this outcome. The file’s contents would’ve been rewritten immediately when the copy occurred.”

  “Pick one of them, I don’t care who.” Goon Two pulled Jessie forward. She tried her best to be defiant and calm, but her eyes gave away how scared she was. Coyle continued, “If I shoot her in the head, she’ll splatter all over your friends. Will that make you get this done?”

  I hoped counselors were on standby. My teammates weren’t likely to forget this anytime soon.

  My vision cleared, and I could see what my teammates probably wouldn’t notice, and from the angle on the cams, TOS probably couldn’t see it either. Coyle had the gun’s safety on. She bluffed big-time—at least for now.

  In a ballsy move, I grabbed her shoulder and spun her around as much as I could, given the odd stance she had with one foot on Dean. “You wanna shoot someone, shoot one of us since you don’t like our work.” I gestured to myself and Dean—who looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “There was no other outcome possible since you gave us a copy. You want the information, give us the original.”

  She put the gun in my face, inches away from my nose.

  “Winger!” Dad screamed in my ear, and I hoped no one in the room heard it. “What the hell are you doing?”

  I held her gaze, thankful I didn’t sound as scared as I felt. “Otherwise, we’ve done what you asked, so you need to let us go.”