Station Alpha: (Soldiering On #1) by Aislinn Kearns Page A

company. She recognised Jimmy, his son, on the same page, the title of ‘Partner’ sitting below a photo where he looked just as smooth as he did in person. He was just one of a number people that shared the same designation on that page. All of them men, all bar one white, which made Christine roll her eyes.
    The company itself seemed pretty harmless from their site, though when she clicked over to the tab marked ‘projects’, she saw that they’d done some massive building contracts. With some further digging, she realised that Disik and Sons actually owned several other companies. By the time she’d typed out a list of all the ones she could find, it seemed more like it should be Disik and Sons Construction Empire.
    But why any of that would mean that someone would want to come after her, Christine was not at all sure.
    She decided to dig deeper.

Chapter 5
     
    Paul clicked between the various windows on his multiple computer screens. He typed another search parameter into one of their company databases and clicked run. While he waited, he was drawn back to the other window. The one he’d been trying not to stare at for the last hour.
    She was sitting on the bed, her crossed legs peeking from beneath those oversized shorts. Her laptop was perched precariously on her knees as she typed furiously. Completely engrossed in what she was doing, she hadn’t looked up at the security camera once. He knew. He’d checked.
    He should just tell her, that much was obvious. It was pathetic, him avoiding the inevitable. He just didn’t want to shatter that precious illusion she had—the one where he was heroic and whole.
    So engrossed was he in his contemplation of Christine that he nearly missed the movement on the smaller screen, the one where he’d moved the image from the security camera that was guarding the lobby of this building. He glanced at it out of the corner of his eye, then more carefully when some instinct caused him to turn back.
    Three men were talking to the security guard. They were dressed in suits, a little nicer than this apartment building tended to gather, but not so much so that he was immediately suspicious. He searched the frame, trying to see what had snagged his attention.
    There, the biggest guy. His suit jacket was straining at his shoulders, unable to comfortably fit his considerable bulk. The guy moved, and Paul realised what had caught his eye. The tight pull of the fabric revealed a distinctive bulge beneath.
    Gun.
    The security guard was shaking his head, and even from the distance and angle of the camera, Paul could see the man’s fear.
    Paul was already reaching for the phone when all three of the men drew weapons from beneath their jackets and fired simultaneously at the guard. The man slumped out of his chair, disappearing from sight behind his desk.
    Paul hit dial and flickered his eyes between the image of Christine and the one of the three men moving towards the elevators. Christine stared at the phone, obviously debating whether to pick it up.
    Paul’s heartbeat ratcheted up, pounding in her chest as he silently begged her to answer. The men were already at the elevator as the phone rang on, taunting him. The sound seemed large as it rattled in his brain. Christ.
    He put his free hand on the wheel of the chair, thinking that he’d have to go to her, when she finally, finally picked up the phone with a huff.
    “Yes?”
    The besuited men stepped into the elevator. Paul switched security cameras to the one inside, and watched as they pressed a button somewhere on the bottom right of the columns of floor numbers, obscured from his view. Where the button for level 14 was.
    “Paul?” came Christine’s confused voice.
    “I need you to go to the stairs, right now,” he told her, his voice trembling in an effort to keep calm. “Don’t use the elevator. The stairs.”
    Her breath hitched in his ear and she scrambled up from the bed. “They’re here?” she whispered, terror