"Sorry, Eric. You messed with the wrong guy. And now you'll never mess with anyone else again."
Alice saw Gabriel's finger quiver over the trigger.
He's really going to shoot him?
Grant suddenly flew across her field of vision, apparently seeing the same thing. He collided with Gabriel just as the sound of gunfire echoed inside the room.
Grant sat up and punched Gabriel in the face, knocking him unconscious. Alice wasn't paying attention to that scene, however. Her eyes were glued the figure lying still on the floor in front of her.
The men at her sides dropped her arms and rushed to him. His eyes were wide with surprise and Alice heard shouts as voices yelled for a medic.
Alice was horrified at the sight before her. Eric had seemed immortal. To see him lying wounded, blood beginning to soak through his clothing, did not seem possible.
However, the rest of her knew she would never get another chance like this one. She didn't wait another second to see what happened. Instead, she ran for the exit and no one tried to stop her.
***
When Alice thought about what happened later, it all seemed like pieces of an elaborate dream: strange and impossible.
After she escaped EngineerCorp, she had gone straight to Garrett. He was the safest person to be with now. He had constant media attention and could not be touched by EngineerCorp.
She knocked on his door and it opened to reveal a sleep-deprived man with dark circles beneath his eyes. The moment he saw her, however, his entire countenance was transformed. He reached for her and swept her into his arms for what seemed like an eternity, but Alice didn't care. She was beyond caring. She was free. The warmth of his arms around her made her feel safe and secure.
When he finally let her go, he paused long enough only to pull her into a passionate kiss. It caught her off-guard, but pleasantly so. It made the events of the past month seem somehow insignificant, though that hardly seemed possible.
Alice felt like a completely different person. Her life had been turned upside down from her quiet life of writing code for a small, no-name company in Asheville. Now her future seemed without bounds, open to whatever she chose.
She survived being chased, drugged, kidnapped, and held prisoner by EngineerCorp and the evil Eric Martin. Even though Garrett had partially gotten her into this mess, he was the only person who understood what she had gone through. He was also the first person she had truly connected with since her parents' death. The combination of all of those things made her kiss him passionately back…and enjoy it.
For the next few days, Alice stayed with Garrett, both of them keeping close to the TV to watch newscast after newscast about what happened with EngineerCorp. The media was fervently covering the story, trying again and again to interview Eric, to no avail. He refused to be seen by anyone.
Shortly after the broadcast, EngineerCorp released a statement:
It has come to our attention that certain employees, acting on their own accord, without knowledge or permission from EngineerCorp, have committed criminal acts in attempts to ruin certain individuals. EngineerCorp was completely unaware of the existence of such acts until the unprecedented broadcast earlier this morning.
Our president and CEO, Eric Martin, was injured today during a confrontation between himself and the guilty parties. Mr. Martin put his life on the line trying to prevent the criminal perpetrators from erasing proof of their wrongdoings. In the end, the only way Mr. Martin was able to prevail was to broadcast the information across the satellite network, even though it portrayed his own company in an unfavorable light. We apologize for the inconvenience and interruption that it caused, but it was the only way to ensure that the victims would be vindicated. Mr. Martin sustained a gunshot wound to his thigh and is recovering in our medical facilities.
While these acts were criminal and tragic in nature, the individuals responsible will be held accountable and brought to justice. They will be handed over to law enforcement immediately.
We extend our deepest regrets and sympathies to those affected by these cruel and thoughtless acts. Nothing can replace what was stolen from them, but we hope that being set free from the false accusations after all these years will bring peace and the ability to start fresh, combined with the knowledge that those immoral individuals will be swiftly dealt with for their misconduct.
Even though EngineerCorp appeared to be cooperating fully with law enforcement and everyone else involved, there was a move for a formal inquiry into all proceedings and business dealings that EngineerCorp had for the past decade.
However, the subsequent support for such a decision mysteriously vanished, allowing the issue to be dropped just as quickly.
A few of Eric's clients informed him of their imminent departure from any and all business dealings with him. They reasoned that they could not trust their projects to a company whose employees were free to break the law and cover it up.
It wasn't the ending Alice would have hoped for, but it was the first step to making the world free from tyrants like Eric.
It was disgusting to watch the events unfold, but EngineerCorp was right about one thing. Garrett was finally freed from his past. Reporters harassed Garrett unabashedly, trying to interview him about his feelings on the issue, how he thought this could have happened, what his plans for the future were…
He finally gave them a statement, saying only that he too was "saddened" by the audacity of greed that some people possessed, but that he would use his second chance to make Cyberconn the leader in technology that it was always meant to be.
When things started to settle down again, Alice was unsure of what to do next. In the end, she chose to work with Garrett and help him get Cyberconn back in the market. If she wanted to ensure that EngineerCorp would not remain a monopoly, the only way to do that would be to provide "healthy" competition.
Alice thought about her life and how much it had changed in such a short time. She felt bold, confident, and powerful. Three things that she never would have imagined feeling. While it had been a traumatic experience for her, she found she was glad of how it changed her. It served to fling her far beyond her comfort zone, to a place she never would have gone otherwise. She would have never met Garrett, nor been able to do any of the miraculous things that now seemed second nature to her.
Going into the future, she was sure of only one thing. No matter what happened, she would do her best to live up to the calling she had been given.
Epilogue
Shortly after Garrett was absolved, he released prototypes for the Memory Keeper to the market. The technology was unmatched and instantly became an overnight success. Cyberconn began to flourish, and Garrett found himself regaining the enthusiasm and hope he had lost all those years before. He had both the means and foundation to become a world leader in technology. Alice had given him a second chance, and he wasn't about to waste it.
Alice stayed, aiding him whenever she could. Her unique intelligence continuously allowed her to develop technology that kept Cyberconn flourishing. Eventually, what began as a friendship of convenience blossomed into a relationship. Soon after, Alice found herself falling in love with Garrett.
She enjoyed her work, but she also found ways to help others. If people were in dire need of a certain undeveloped technology, more often than not, they would receive an anonymous "gift," complete with blueprints and a prototype.
She became known as the "Silent Savior," which was a source of much amusement between her and Garrett.
Alice never told anyone about her powers. She debated telling Garrett many times, but then stopped herself at the last moment. She feared what he would think of her if he knew, so she refrained from telling him until such a day came when she could no longer hide it. The only person who knew, or at least who thought he knew, was Eric.
Not a day went by that she didn't think about what could have happened if Gabriel hadn't shown up. Would she have been buried forever in some darkened corner
of EngineerCorp, never to see the light of day again? She wondered what her life would have been like if Eric had gotten his way and she was still his prisoner. But most of all, Alice wondered what Eric was doing now and if he ever thought about her. She hoped, for both their sakes, that he had moved on with his life.
Eric's wound healed, but not without leaving some lasting damage. Most of the time, he was forced to walk with a cane. He hated his dependence on it, but he had no choice. Not a day passed that he did not think of the girl that caused the events leading to his injury. The girl that almost toppled his empire and somehow managed to slip through his fingers. When he wasn't working in his lab, Eric often found himself in his office, staring out the clear glass across his vast domain. Leaning on his cane, his thoughts were filled with vengeance.
Eric would see Alice again one day…that was a certainty.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Holly McCaghren was born and raised in the Houston, Texas area. "Mind Trace" is her debut novel and first adventure into the publishing world after years of an overactive imagination at work. With a background heavy in engineering and technical information, Holly has a unique viewpoint that helped to inspire the story of Alice McArthur.
While "Mind Trace" was designed to be a stand-alone novel, Holly has expressed tentative plans to continue Alice's adventures in the future.
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