He wasn’t throwing pies, Annika realized. Instead, he was using a special gun—a pie blaster—Stryker had developed. Some of the other protesters had one, too. Others had water guns. It was pandemonium.
Annika looked to see Edward’s team fall on top of him and start rushing him away. She laughed. A little cream filling and water wouldn’t hurt anyone. But when you’re a pompous ass like Edward Marlot, you can’t have even the slightest inconvenience.
“Save the environment!” Katie yelled.
“Free mother earth!” Bradley hollered.
Annika grinned. Her new friends were playing their parts to perfection. And thanks to Stella hacking the system, the power outage had allowed them to rush in through the front gate.
The electrical disruption had also served as a sign.
It was time for Annika to get busy.
“It worked!”
Annika was shocked after she’d held the faux eyeball up to the retinal scanner and watched as a green laser came out and traced up and down.
A happy chirp announced its acceptance before the door clicked.
Harrison held it open for her. “Come on!”
Soon, they were downstairs, navigating the winding tunnels that led to the server room.
Once they reached the server, she opened up her small black handbag, turning it inside out to reveal a keyboard and screen.
“This is so cool!” she said giddily.
“Another Stryker special,” Harrison said. “That guy can rig up anything.”
The director’s voice came back over their earpieces. “Aww, shucks, guys. But hurry up! We’ve got to move.”
“I’m on it,” Annika said as she plugged in her small, portable device to the server and began tapping away at the keyboard. “What’s it looking like up there?”
Stella laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m recording this for everyone. I’ve hacked into the security feed. It’s complete pandemonium. Eli is having a field day destroying the place.”
Annika kept working.
Harrison said, “Have they called the police yet?”
“Oh yeah,” Stella responded. “I of course intercepted the call. Don’t worry. I’ve dispatched our officers. Law and order will be restored soon.”
Annika could imagine how sexy Matteo looked in his police uniform as he rolled up along with Kendrick, Isaiah, Ace, and Jack. She wished she could see it. But she had other things to worry about—like downloading the proof they needed to nail Edward Marlot.
Her heart beat faster as a status bar popped up on her screen. “It’s downloading!”
She couldn’t believe it was actually happening! That monster was really going to go down!
Part of her wanted to let him know it was her. But it was more important that they all escape undetected.
“Got it!” she said once the bar hit 100%. Reaching to unplug the device, she stopped.
“What’s up?” Harrison asked. “Everything okay?”
A devilish smirk turned Annika’s lips up. “Everything is perfect. Just give me one more minute.”
She tapped a few more times. Since she was already in the system, her new, spur-of-the-moment objective wasn’t hard to accomplish. Unhooking the computer, she folded it back around, making it look like a handbag once more.
“All set.”
