Hard Wired Trilogy by DeAnna Pearce (smart books to read .TXT) 📕

Ari worked on an excuse. “That’s okay. I’ll just call and set up a different time.”

The woman watched Ari carefully, but said nothing.

Ari waited for a second, then realized the woman wasn’t going to leave her alone. “I’ll just step over here to call.”

Moving, she pretended to call. “Hey, Tessa,” she said to Patrick, knowing he would catch on. “I lost the directions to your office here.”

Ari kept walking and pretending to speak to Tessa, hoping to lose the woman behind her. The reflection in the glass offices showed the woman following her and now on her own phone call. Her high hells tapped rhythmically on the stone floor.

“Head back to the elevators. Go to the interview.” There was a serious edge to Patrick’s voice.

Ari picked up her pace back to the elevators, all while continuing her pretend conversation with Tessa. “They have lots of helpful people here. One is just calling someone to escort me. I told them I don’t need it. Not when I can call you.”

Thankfully, the elevator was open, and she pressed the tenth floor. The door shut just in time for her to see the assistant. The smile on her face made her think she wasn’t in the clear just yet.

“I’m on the elevator,” she told Patrick.

“Good. Go to your interview on tenth. I’ll be with you.”

The doors opened on tenth, and two men stepped towards her.

“Excuse me.” Ari tried to step around them to exit.

They blocked her exit. “You’ll need to ride down with us, ma’am.”

“Ma’am?” She was eighteen years old. No one had ever called her ma’am. “I have an interview I need to go to. I’ll already got lost once and if I hurry I won’t be late.”

“Your interview has been canceled.” One of them stepped inside, pushing her back, while the other man hit a button. The doors closed and the elevator continued down.

Looking up, she finally realized her mistake, though there was probably more than one. When she pretended to call, she used Tessa’s name. Ari’s appointment was with a different department for an intern. Would the assistant have been familiar enough with Tessa to call security on Ari? The man in front of her was easily over six foot with shoulders that said he lifted weights heavier than Ari. She swallowed any fear and remembered to stay in character.

“What? My interview has been canceled? I needed that internship. Do you know how long it took me to come here?” Ari kept to her lies for as long as she could.

“Someone overheard you calling for a Tessa?” He watched her carefully. “How do you know Tessa?”

“He must have misheard me. I had an interview with the marketing team. I got lost.”

“Don’t worry. We can straighten everything out,” one of the men said without looking at her.

They stopped and with a quick glance at the panel, she realized they were in the basement. Ari didn’t even realize they had a basement.

“Stay calm,” Patrick whispered in her ear. “At first chance excuse yourself to the restroom. There are stairwells at each end of the building. Take it up and you should be able to exit to the outside. Just stay—”

The phone in her ear cut out, static replacing his voice. She didn’t dare bring attention to the piece in her ear. As she stepped out of the elevator with the two men, the static cut out. This had to be a dead zone or something.

“This way.” The man motioned with a hand for her to turn. At least he didn’t restrain her.

Nodding in compliance, she fought down her anger and tried to play the nervous girl. Not that she had to dig too far for that emotion. They couldn’t arrest her for getting lost in the building. Could they?

She stopped and turned to face the two guards. “I need to use the restroom.”

“That can wait until later.”

“Excuse me? I came here for an interview. That doesn’t mean you can force me to your basement. I have rights. I don’t think I care to work for an establishment like this. I’m leaving.” It was easy for Ari to pretend to be furious. Scared and angry aren’t as far apart as most people think.

The men didn’t twitch or move an inch. “There have been death threats and averted attacks against this company. We take any trespassing seriously and will hand you over to the government as soon as we discover your motives.”

“My motives were to get a job, which I no longer want.” She tried to push past them.

They grabbed her arm hard enough to leave a bruise. “Trying to get on a computer that isn’t yours brings your motives into question. We wanted to do this the easy way, but I guess you opted to be more difficult.”

Knowing things were just going to go downhill from here, Ari quickly twisted out of the guard’s hold. She struck fast, connecting with his throat. The other man stood behind his friend, blocking her from his grasp. She remembered one of her most important lessons about being overpowered and outmanned: when all else fails, run. Sprinting down the hall, she followed the twists and turns and wished for Patrick again to direct her to the exit. Her heart raced and she swore that she would train more.

She didn’t see the stairwell until she passed it. When she turned to reach for the doorknob, the men slammed into her, taking her down. The heavy weight knocked her breath out of her, and she struggled under their weight. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“Dammit,” a familiar voice sounded down the hall. “One guy comes with a gun and you guys think you can tackle anyone you want.”

With each painful breath, Ari wondered if her rib was bruised or broken. Half her face ached as she remained on the floor, and her words came out weak. “Hey, Tessa. Long time.”

Chapter 7

“Hey, Beefcake, get off the girl.” Tessa sounded from above.

The security guard rolled off