I grabbed Skip again and pulled him into the room. I tried to keep my voice low when I asked, "What are you guys doing in here? What's going on?"
TJ, who had been at the front of the group, lowered the baseball bat in his hands. "There was some guy," he said. "He came in to the entry and started swinging a gun around. We were in the kitchen withPapàgetting a snack. He sent us in here with Mrs. Martinez and told us not to open the door unless it was him, Dad, or one of the team."
"Do you know where they are?"
TJ shook his head.
"How long ago was this?"
"About fifteen minutes ago."
Crap.
"Okay, I want you to stay in here like Lany said. I'm going to go find your parents." And hopefully everyone else. "Skip—"
Skip held up his hand. "I know. You need to go do your thing."
"Yeah."
"Don't get shot. Stitching you up is not how I plan to spend my evening."
I grinned before leaning in and pressing a kiss to his lips. "You're the best, babe."
"No getting shot," Skip said as I turned and hurried out of the panic room.
I shut the door behind me, waited until I heard the lock engage, and then slid the pantry shelf back in front of it, hiding the entrance from view. No one would be able to find it unless they already knew it was there.
That was the hope anyway.
I pulled my gun, making sure it was loaded. Before I left the kitchen, I made sure my earpiece was in and working. I tapped it twice instead of saying anything.
I heard a cough.
I tapped again, twice.
I heard another cough.
That basically told me whoever had answered couldn't say where they were.
I gripped my gun and started out of the kitchen. After checking the entire room and assuring myself that it was empty, I moved on to the living room. I could tell as soon as I stepped in that no one was there. It was a large room, but there was nothing big enough for someone to hide behind.
My next rooms were the blue guestroom, the downstairs bathroom, and the infirmary. All of them were empty. Moving down the hallway, there was only one room left on this floor. Sal's office.
Just as I reached the closed door, I heard the unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh and then someone cried out, "No! Stop hitting him. You're going to kill him."
It was Lany crying out, which led me to believe someone was hitting Sal. I started to reach for the doorknob and then hesitated. Whoever was inside would expect that. I also didn't know how many men were inside.
I glanced down at the pistol in my hand. I needed more firepower. I turned and hurried back down the hallway. When I reached the entrance to the panic room that connected to the one upstairs, I punched in the code and then stepped inside.
I would have been thrilled if everyone else had been in here, but the room was empty. I closed the door behind me just to be safe. The first thing I did was walk over to the phone and call Jerry.
"Commissioner, it’s Officer Wu. I'm at Sal's. Someone is here, and he's taken everyone hostage in Sal's office. Can you send backup?"
"Fuck!" Jerry snapped. "Can't go more than a few hours without getting into trouble, can you?"
I winced at the anger in his voice. "No, sir."
"Is anyone else there to help you?"
