It struck a gunman stationed at the bottom, decapitating him.
A wall of flames followed, blasting across the main room.
Kowalski had rolled aside, dropped into a fetal position, and coveredhis head. Still, the heat had come close to parboiling him—and might still.
Have to get out of here.
He crawled to the door and searched outside the cell.
Through the smoke, he spotted a second body blown against the far wall. The man’s clothing still burned. He turned toward the tunnel where Sychkin’s group had fled. He hoped Elle and Marco had been far enough away when the world had exploded.
He squinted in that direction.
But where did that tunnel lead?
9:04A.M.
With his pistol in hand, Tucker headed through the smoke-choked basement. Flames burned all around. The heat was blistering. He searched for any sign of the others, though if they were down here, he’d be identifying bodies.
He cursed himself, breathing hard—and not because of the foul air.
What have I done?
Yuri had already radioed in. He and Seichan were headed down to aid in the search. They would not have much time. Though it had only been twenty minutes since the start of the attack, there was little leeway left. With a military detachment stationed by the Trinity Lavra, the response to the blast would be swift. He had to hope that the prior firefight, which was mostly limited to the interior of the mansion, had not been reported.
As he continued across the ruins, he spotted an open doorway through the smoke.
Steps led downward.
Into a subbasement.
Such a level hadn’t been on the floorplans for this place. Plainly, the Sychkin family was good at keeping secrets.
Hope flared inside him.
If the others had been kept down there—
A loud growl of a throaty engine drew his attention. The noise rose from outside, coming from the parking lot. Another engine joined it.
He could guess what that meant.
No...
He swung around and ran through the smoke toward the back steps. The exterior door had been blasted loose. It hung by one hinge. He climbed through the wreckage as a pair of black SUVs barreled out of the garage and sped toward the gate, which rolled open ahead of the vehicles.
Tucker leaped the steps as the vehicles swept past. He spotted Elle in a backseat. She hugged a dog in her lap.
Marco...
The vehicles didn’t slow as they hit the street and careened away.
I can’t lose them.
He raced to one of the bodies on the parking lot. He skidded through the blood and patted down the man’s pockets. He prayed there were keys to one of the vehicles.
As Tucker pawed at a breast pocket, the nearest G-wagon chirped and blinked.
Thank god.
