“She didn’t say anything.”
“Of course she didn’t,” he said. “At least we tried.”
“Can I go back now?”
“Yeah. The boss wants to talk to you. I think he’s ready to let you go home.”
“Oh, yes, please,” she said. “It’s wasn’t exactly a comfortable position, turning on somebody like that.”
“You didn’t say anything though,” he said, “so your cooperation is appreciated.” At that, he pointed to an office door and said, “The boss is in there.”
As she headed to go in the wide-open door, Shane heard a sharp burst and knew exactly how she’d been thanked. He groaned silently and closed his eyes, wondering what had happened and why that woman had been taken out. As the killer came around the corner, Shane whistled, didn’t even give him a chance to react, and was on him in a second.
With a wicked uppercut, he snapped the guy’s head back, then pummeled him in the torso and dropped him to the floor. He quickly dragged him into the room where he’d shot the poor woman. And he stopped and took a look. Snatching up his phone, he quickly took several photographs and sent them off. Nine dead people were in front, and a slighter woman was underneath a couple men in the back. He sent a message to Gavin. Looks like they’ve been killing everyone.
He sent the photo off to Diesel as well. As he stepped back out into the hallway, he sent another message to his partner. One down.
He got a message back from Diesel.
That makes two.
Shane grinned. Now that’s what he liked, somebody who could keep track and count as they went. Because, dammit, no way in hell Shane wanted these killers to walk out of this building. He didn’t know what the hell this was all about, but it was BS. As soon as he moved down the hallway toward the last area to be checked, he stopped and searched the small rooms to the side. Nobody was here. And why the hell was that? Had they killed everybody up here? He frowned at that. Maybe Shelly was already dead. He could hardly bear the thought, but, if that were the case, nobody was leaving this place until he’d taken them all out. She hadn’t done anything to hurt anybody. Just then he heard a voice.
“Hello?”
He stepped forward and stuck his head around the next doorway.
Her eyes opened wide, and she looked at him. “Oh, my God,” she said. “Shane?”
He grinned, opened his arms, and she bolted toward him. She was a lightweight, but she raced like a tornado and slammed him back against the wall. He hugged her close.
“Jesus!” she said. “I was hoping you’d come, but, at the same time, I was hoping you wouldn’t.”
He squeezed her tighter and asked, “Where are they?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “They came to get me, and then I convinced them to take Mary to the bathroom first because she needed to go. He said he’d be right back.”
“Yeah, they took Mary to the bathroom all right,” he said, “and then shot her in the head.”
She stared at him, wordless, and then her jaw dropped. “Please, no,” she said. “All she wanted to do was go home and rest.”
“They convinced her to get some information out of you,” he said, “which probably kept her alive a few minutes longer. When she came out of the bathroom, he sent her into a room, supposedly to talk to their boss before they let her go,” he said. “Then he shot her while her back was turned.”
She sagged against him. “I don’t know what’s going on,” she whispered, “but these guys are assholes.”
“You got that right,” he said. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“How though?” she said. “There’s no place to go.”
He quickly pulled her back down and around in the direction that he’d come, moving as fast as they could. He sent Diesel a message that they were headed back to the men’s bathroom. Shane kept checking, but he found nobody around. “Did you see the gunmen leave?”
“No,” she said. “I don’t know why they would. I’m wondering if they are in my boss’s office.”
“Where’s that?”
“The other way,” she said.
“Did they sound like they were waiting for somebody?”
“You,” she said. “But, other than that, I don’t know.”
“Were they upset about the time frame?” he asked.
“Not really. They just snorted and said something like, it figured you wouldn’t make it on time.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he said. By the time he got her into the bathroom, Diesel was already there.
He smiled. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
She looked at him, and her eyes widened. “Wow,” she said. “I don’t know where you’re from, but they sure build ’em big.”
Diesel’s face flushed, and he nodded and said, “That they do.” Recovering quickly, he added, “Apparently you’re from the opposite side of the country, where they make the women small.”
She laughed in delight. “Yeah, I’ve never had much hope of getting any bigger either,” she said. “My mom was under five feet tall. So, when I hit that, I figured I was doing well.” She looked around and said, “How the hell do we get out of here?”
“I’m not sure,” Diesel said, as he pointed to the way they’d come in. Smoke was coming through the hole.
Shane looked at the smoke and swore. “Is that coming from downstairs?”
“Yeah, I think they’re a floor down, and they’re trying to smoke us out,” he said.
“In that case, we’re going up,” he said. “I found a room with nine dead, including Mary, who’d been sitting with Shelly. Plus those other two dead we saw by the elevators.”
“Eleven. Which means everybody but me,” she said quietly. “At least in our department. How about everybody below us?”
“They were all cleared out,” Shane said.
She shook her head. “So the bad guys have taken over the floor below? And how the hell are we supposed to leave?”
“Damn,” he said, pointing at the smoke coming out from the vent, and looked at Diesel. “So only one way to go, right?”
“Looks like it,” he said, and the two of them assessed the dangers of that. “You get the feeling we’re getting pushed in one direction?”
“Absolutely,” he replied.
“That’s a danger in itself. Suggestions?”
“Not necessarily,” he said. “We’re short on options.”
She frowned. “Well, I for one would much rather go down than up,” she said.
“You and me both,” he replied, walking to the vent. But he noted a sickening chemical odor to the smoke. “We can’t get in there.”
“So somewhere else maybe?” Shelly asked.
“Maybe,” he said. He walked to the door and opened it, then looked out into the hallway. He stared at the glass on the other side and said, “We didn’t come with rappelling equipment.” She gasped at that. He turned, looked at her, then smiled reassuringly. “Obviously we wouldn’t climb down the building unless it was safe.”