Thomas looked at me.
I nodded.
“I think they’re stealing babies. The infant adoption rate is too high. No way does one adoption agency find that many single moms who want to give up their babies.” He paused and then added, “Colterdidoffer to sell Elias.”
Kane came out of the chair, his massive bulk towering over Thomas. “Colter is a lot of things, but he doesn’t buy and sell kids.”
“I was there. He did,” I said.
His brow furrowed deeper. “What?”
“He told Cora that for a price he’d sign over custody and relinquish his parental rights.”
His hand raked through his hair as he stepped back, stunned. “I don’t?—”
“Do you smell that?” Thomas dashed to the door. When he put his hand on the knob, he jerked it back. “It’s hot.”
“Fire,” Kane growled, moving toward the window. “We need to get out. Now.”
The acrid smell of smoke was getting stronger by the second.
Thomas tried the door again, using his jacket to protect his hand. “Jammed from the outside.” He covered his nose with the crook of his elbow. “And there’s definitely fire on the other side.”
“Windows are barred.”
Kane shook his head and pulled his shirt up over his nose and mouth. “Yeah, this whole building was retrofitted for security.” He looked around the cramped office. “There’s got to be another way out.”
Smoke was beginning to seep under the door, thin wisps that made my eyes water and my lungs burn. The temperature in the room was rising fast.
How was the place filling with fire so quickly? Why weren’t there fire alarms going off? And where was the fire department? They were literally a few doors down.
“Back hall,” Kane said, pointing to a door I hadn’t noticed behind a filing cabinet. “Emergency exit should be that way.”
We shoved the cabinet aside. The door opened to reveal a narrow service corridor, already hazy with smoke that stung my eyes and made my chest tight.
“Stay low,” Kane ordered, his voice rough.
Not that he needed to. I was well aware that smoke would rise.
We crouched down, following Kane through the maze of back hallways. The smoke was getting denser by the second, and I could hear the hungry crackle of flames somewhere behind us. The heat was becoming unbearable.
Kane found the exit. A heavy metal door with an emergency bar. He slammed into it, bounced off, cursed, and then hit it with even more force before it burst open.
But as we stepped toward freedom, muzzle flashes erupted from the darkness.
“It’s a trap!” Kane shouted, shoving us back inside.
The door slammed shut behind us. The distinct sound of metal scraping against metal as if there were something heavy being dragged against the door from the outside.
Kane took a few steps back and then bulldozed forward, bouncing off the door. He rubbed his bicep. “That’s not budging.”
We were trapped between the fire and armed men waiting outside. Behind us, flames had reached the main hallway. The smoke was so thick I could barely see Thomas three feet away.
The temperature was rising fast. Way too fast.
“There has to be another way out,” Thomas gasped and sputtered.
Kane checked his phone. Even in the orange glow of the approaching fire, I could see the color drain from it. “No signal.”
