Her breath caught. The Olympics. She should be getting home to train, not sitting here trying to figure out how to stay alive. A strong hand rubbed her tense shoulder warmly as if reading her thoughts.

“Don’t worry, Harper.” His voice was soothing as he continued his reassuring strokes. “You’ll get that chance. I’ll make sure you do.”

If only he knew what that meant to her to hear that. Even though she knew she wouldn’t get the chance. Heck, she’d already had her chance at the Olympics, and she’d blown it. She’d been looking forward to a second chance for four long years.

Because Bobby had been the one to convince her not to give up swimming and take another shot, it had become his dream as much as hers. And now? Well, now that dream was all but over.

A soft beep from the computer snapped her out of her leaden thoughts. She read the results of her program with an incredulous shake of her head.

“Oh, for crying out loud.” She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.

“What? The data’s gone?” Rome asked, looking at the screen along with her, a tad frantic. She was grateful he was still rubbing her shoulder, albeit a pinch faster now. The touch was sending nice little beads of sensation floating through her body.

“No, the data is intact.” She turned to look at him and let out a big sigh. My goodness, his lips were so close. “It’s just buried under layers and layers of jumbled code.” He blinked away his apprehension.

“Can you decode it?” Rome laughed as he said it. “Wait, of course you can.”

“Yes, I can,” she confirmed with another long exhale, smiling at his belief in her. “In fact, I think I’m the only one who can.” His brows furrowed, so she explained further. “Bobby knew what he was doing. There are so many levels of convoluted code here, yet it’s a specific pattern. Something only I would know to look for. Kind of like his personal signature in the code itself.”

“He wanted to make sure that you, and only you, would be able to decipher it,” Rome translated. “Wow. Genius.”

“He was.” Harper fondly thought of how smart her brother was. And knew that he’d been smart enough to put the answers under all those layers of protection. For her eyes only. She just had to dig around for them. But it was going to take some time.

“So how long do you need?” Rome asked. She loved his absolute confidence in her. There was no doubt in his question that she could decode it, just how long it would take.

“I’m not sure.” She thought hard. “Three, four hours, maybe. I won’t know until I get in there and start poking around. And even then, things may be, probably are, embedded.”

“Okay, well, get to it, then.” Rome squeezed her shoulder and stood. “Inside, Harper.” And then he held his hand down to her with a supportive smile.

She secured and closed the laptop after pulling out the flash drive. She stuck it in her front pocket and hauled herself up with the help of his strong hand. Brushing off her rear, she started toward the door, following Rome through the trickling sunlight, her hand still secure in his.

Shots rang out.

Bullets pelted the warehouse door just above their heads with a startling crack. Crouching to the ground, they looked at each other, bewildered. Rome had been right. Somebody was out there.

“Damn it.” Rome seethed. She watched him pull out his gun and prepare it.

The gunfire ceased. Were they repositioning? Reloading? Not for the first time, she realized just how inept she was at these spy-game situations. And how grateful she was that Rome was with her.

“Shouldn’t we go inside?” Harper whispered as Rome looked everywhere. She set down the laptop.

“No, we’ll be trapped inside,” he answered with a quick shake of his head. “We need to be mobile.”

“Where are they?” she asked, glancing around the area through the dusky sunlight.

“My guess is they’re surrounding us.” He grimaced. She noticed his fingers flex on the handle of his gun. Their gazes locked and she saw the troubled intensity in his eyes. It mirrored her own.

It was Bobby’s house all over again. Besieged. No way out. Images of the video game she’d just played flashed through her mind. Her virtual warrior. Lifting her digital hand. Commanding her power to save herself from her enemies. Living to fight another day.

Did she dare? Would Rome think her an abomination once again?

No, he believed in her, didn’t he? So she decided to do it.

“Let me try something.” Resting her hand against his stubbled cheek, she implored him with her steely gaze and her tender touch.

He looked away for an instant and then turned back, giving her a confirming nod. In return for his confidence, she surprised both of them with a brief yet intense kiss.

Harper stood to face their hidden attackers, completely exposed in the fading rays of the sun. It was very surreal to be standing there, just her against these unknown enemies like some superhero. Curiously, she kind of liked it. As though it were her own personal video game.

Several large men moved out of their shadowy hiding places. Slowly, three of them approached, monstrous rifles drawn.

Three thin red laser beams pierced the sun’s rays from their scopes to rest in a triangle on her chest, directly over her heart. She sucked in a quick breath as spikes of panic prickled under her skin, spreading like a wildfire until she burned with fear.

Wait a second. This wasn’t her own personal video game. There was no Restart button. This was true life. And these large men had every intention of killing her for real.

It seemed as though time slowed and she could see every millimeter of their fingers squeezing the triggers. She willed her chaotic nerves to settle as she’d done countless times before a race. Cold, then hot flashed through her body. She brought up her hand, palm out; just a sharp crack of gunfire echoed in her head. She shoved all fear aside, inviting the energy and focusing on the incoming ammunition.

The rain of bullets halted mere inches away from her hand, frozen in midair.

It worked. It actually worked. What next?

Calling upon the power again, she tested her mind’s fortitude. Her body felt none of the draining effects she’d experienced before. With a concentrated effort, she summoned another swell of energy and directed it at the threatening shells that hovered at the edge of her shield of energy.

A fresh burst flowed through her arm and prickled into her hand, propelling the bullets back toward the three men at lightning speed. Their eyes filled with shock and then pain as they all staggered backward, crumpling to the ground, lifeless.

Harper lowered her hand and gulped a lungful of cool air. Holy cow! Not only had she controlled the power, but she’d been able to direct it, too. What else could it do?

She looked at her hand as if seeing it for the first time. A heavy touch descended on her shoulder. She jumped and swung her elbow backward. Rome caught it just before it hit his throat.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice breathy.

“I’m fine,” she answered, realizing it was true. Her vision was clear, and she didn’t have the detached wobbly sensation. Honestly, she felt invigorated.

He kept ahold of her elbow and pulled her over to the three prone men in a cautious approach. Blood seeped out of the bullet holes in their thick black vests. Harper bent down with Rome as he removed one of the garments from the closest body. Amazed, she gawked at the damage as Rome held it up for inspection. The bullets had penetrated the armored vest, killing him instantly.

“I’m sure there’re more of them,” Rome said tightly, dropping the vest onto the ground. “We need to move. Now.”

“Rome,” Harper pleaded, gripping his shaking hand from her kneeling position. “Please don’t be scared of me.” She shook her head sadly.