He shakes his head, tracing the sign of the cross over his chest with his shaking hands.
“No—no—Mr. Bradshaw, I?—”
I raise a hand to silence him, trying to listen. This can’t be a coincidence.Power outage on a clear day?
Kate.
I’m in motion before I have time to think about it. I press the call button for emergency services.
No answer.
I press it again, praying for a response. I’m met with silence again, aside from the other man’s quickening breaths.
“All right, this is intentional, meaning the entire building is out. I have to get to the lobbynow. I don’t have time to take you with me, but you’ll be fine if you stay put. In fact, this is probably the safest place you can be.”
His eyes are the size of quarters as he slowly nods.
“I’ll send someone for you later.”
I don’t wait to see his reaction, splitting open the doors to see that we’re seventy-five percent of the way on one floor with plenty of room for me to squeeze through. It’s simple enough. After I crawl out, I survey my surroundings. This floor must be under construction based on the plastic hanging from the ceiling and various tools and debris. There’s some light pouring through from the windows, but I don’t see another soul.
I race through to the stairs, my mind in SEAL mode. Pulling out my phone as I descend, I dial Jackson’s number. He doesn’t pick up.
“Shit. Why now?”
I pull up another name, hitting the Call button.
The FBI agent investigating Steelhart answers on the first ring. “Bradshaw, haven’t heard from you in a while.”
“Rick, they’re after me. Power’s out at Bradshaw Enterprises.”
I hear rustling on the other line.
“What else?”
“They came after my assistant Sunday.”
“And you didn’t tell me because? Jones, Wright, we’re out,” he says to someone in the room with him.
“Maybe I thought you had something to do with it. Maybe I thought you’d use her as bait. The point is, I need backup. Now.”
“We’ll be there in ten.”
I hit the End button, so I can run faster. Ten minutes could be too late for Kate. As I get farther down, the dark stairwell begins to crowd with people meandering slowly, mostly cheerful because they’re getting to take off early on a Friday.
“I need through, people! Move!”
A few part the way for me, one guy yelling, “Hey, man. What’s going on? Something wrong?”
I ignore him, shoving people as I go. All I can think about is getting to Kate. I finally reach the lobby, panting for breath. It’s a fraction lighter because there are more windows, but it’s filled with people wanting to leave.
I will never find her in this shitstorm.
I’m looking around for her golden head, but there are way too many bodies in the shadowed room to even begin to find her. My steps take me toward the lobby restroom even though I already know she won’t still be there. I burst in, the windowless space pitch-black.
“Kate.”
It echoes back to me, and even though I pray I won’t find her unresponsive, I use my phone light to search through the stalls.
