12:22 p.m., Tuesday, August 18
“Sorry about that one,” Mrs. Penny said.
“God. Woman. When we get out of here, you and Burt are both going on a diet,” Nick said, trying to breathe through his eyes.
He’d managed to scoot back about two feet when she warned him he was in the blast zone, but there was no escaping the fart in such close quarters.
“Are you calling me fat?” Mrs. Penny demanded.
Before he could answer, the floor of the duct between them erupted as another gunshot rang out.
“Okay, that one wasn’t me,” his partner in crime insisted.
“Oh, fuck,” Nick muttered as metal supports beneath them gave way with a loud creak. With a tremble, the duct split apart at the bullet hole.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Mrs. Penny cried as the duct went from a gaseous tomb to a playground slide, hurtling him down and out into a free fall.
He landed awkwardly on something squishy and whiny. It was impossible to see due to the dust cloud. Surprised shrieks rang out.
“Ow! Get off me!” the something whined.
Nick caught a glimpse of unnaturally tanned skin and realized he’d landed on Griffin Gentry, who was duct-taped to a chair behind the anchor desk.
“Look out below!”
Nick’s vision cleared just in time to see Mrs. Penny careening backwards out of the duct above them.
“This is gonna hurt,” he muttered and braced for impact.
The old woman’s body hit him square in the gut, and Griffin’s anchor chair couldn’t handle the added weight. It tipped backwards in a pile of bodies.
“Nice of you to drop by.”
Nick extricated himself from between Mrs. Penny’s generous thighs and spotted Riley performing a rear naked choke on one Hudson Neudorfer behind the news desk. The guy’s face was the shade of a radish.
He grinned. “I’m impressed, Thorn.”
“I learned from the best.”
Nick pointed at the ceiling. “Just so you know, this wasn’t the plan.”
“Gah!” Hudson said.
“Same here,” Riley said through gritted teeth. “I can’t tell. Is this working?”
“Ow! I think you broke my entire body,” Griffin howled.
“Shut up, Griffin,” the entire studio yelled in unison.
Mrs. Penny managed a clumsy ninja roll to the side, planting her knee in Griffin’s groin before she climbed to her feet.
“Learned…my…lesson,” Hudson rasped.
“Are you just saying that because you see little spots floating in front of your eyes?” Riley asked.
“Maybe.”
“That’s the will to live,” she said, releasing him. “Your brother says you’re welcome.”
