Red Night ((Book 1) Timewalker Chronicles) by Michele Callahan

could rattle right off her neck. Without question, he was the most frightening man she’d ever seen. The bastard had to be six-five, if he was an inch.
    “Good. Does he have the virus with him?” The Colonel’s left eyelid twitched a few inches from the big guy’s shoulder.
    “Yes, sir.” Alexa wanted to cry with relief.
    “No one else saw him?”
    “No, sir. Caught him on the north service elevator.”
    Some of the starch seemed to leave the Colonel’s shorts. Shoulders slumped in weariness beneath his tuxedo jacket, he ran a hand through his short gray hair with obvious relief. “I won’t forget this, Patrick.”
    “I’m counting on it, sir.” The Colonel reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a heavy envelope. Alexa assumed it was full of cash. The envelope disappeared from view in the giant’s hands. He handed the Colonel a small key in return.
    Hah! Her instincts about the Colonel were right. They had him! They had the virus! All she had to do was follow them straight to Matthew Kline and finish it. This was it. The end of the road. Her attention darted between the Colonel’s aging face, lined with resignation, and the mammoth size body of the brute in black next to him.
    She sent a silent prayer to the Lord thanking Him for the invention of gunpowder and bullets that evened her odds against the big brute, and to ask for a wee little bit of help. This was going to be one wild ride.
    * * * * *
    Luke felt her leave. The muscles in his back and neck clenched so tightly he thought they would explode. Damn her. Where the hell was she going?
    To save the world.
    “Shit.” Hurrying to the elevators, he counted the seconds until the yawning entrance beckoned him to follow her. He darted in and pushed every single damn button on the panel. Twenty floors. There’d be no way to know which floor she was on until the door opened. Grateful for the link between them burned into his chest, he couldn’t help wishing the old man had fine-tuned the damn thing a little better. All he could feel was her drifting farther away. His gut told him she was in over her head. Didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out.
    He pulled his handgun from his ankle holster, made sure a bullet was in the chamber, and let the quiet dip of the elevator beneath his feet calm him. His little lady acted like she was indestructible. She was going to save the world. All right. Fine. He was going to help her whether she like it or not. Damn stubborn woman. The grudging respect he felt for her courage didn’t ease the painful grip of the giant fist squeezing the hell out of his heart.
    First stop. Twentieth floor. The doors slid silently open and he waited for the flash of heat her presence would bring to his chest. Silence. Darkness. Cold.
    Nothing.
    The doors slid closed and he clenched his teeth. One down, nineteen to go. He willed the damn elevator to hurry. “Hang on, angel. I’m coming.”

Chapter Eight
     
    The Colonel was breaking plenty of rules to protect Matthew Kline. He slinked through the dark hallways of the building like a snake with his private one-man army, while the rest of his team continued to search for Kline in ignorance. Taking out two men would be a hell of a lot easier than thirty, but history was working against her. This had all happened before. If Matthew Kline was trapped down here with daddy, how did the virus get to the party?
     
    Something must go wrong with the Colonel’s plan. She had to figure out what before it happened again. Maybe she should just shoot them all the first chance she got, grab the case, and run like the devil was chasing her. Her blood chilled to cold jelly in her veins. She didn’t want to kill anyone. But she was afraid she wouldn’t have a choice. The Colonel wasn’t going to let her just waltz in there and bury a few bullets in his precious son.
    The hair on her arms rose in alarm and a cold shiver raced over her skin like Death was introducing himself a