Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
The only sound in the woman’s ears was the beating of her own heart.
She’d laid out her case to those in the room, but they weren’t talking.
Just giving her blank stares. The more she yelled at them and waved her gun, the quieter and more withdrawn they became.
She wished she could shake some sense into them.
Couldn’t they see no one was going anywhere until this matter was resolved?
But they obstinately thought they could remain indifferent, that the police would move in and rescue them.
For many people in this room, who saved lives for a living, she would bet they’d be willing to sacrifice hers if it meant their freedom.
But these people scared her far less than the sketchy people in that dive bar where she’d sourced the guns for today.
“None of you are leaving until I say so. You hear me? I’m the one in charge.
” She flailed the gun around, prepared to use it if it came down to it.
To prepare for today, she went to the shooting range a few times for lessons.
The last thing she wanted to do was blow off her own foot in a gunfire mishap.
No, if she pulled the trigger, she’d make sure the muzzle was pointed at her target and hold the gun steady and true in a two-handed grip.
“Just let us go.” Beal, the CEO, was still seated on her throne at the head of the table.
“No one cares that you’re even in here, don’t you get that?
” She’d seen the police move in hours ago, even caught a glimpse of the law enforcement circus that had grown outside the window.
But thanks to disabled phone lines and the jammer, she had all the time she needed.
Uninterrupted. And so what if they got eyes inside through security cameras?
There were none in this room, and if they saw her, they wouldn’t be able to identify her anyhow.
“Not about me, and not about you,” she added.
“That’s where you’re wr—”
She held up her hand to silence the woman. Her ears were picking up on something else. Another voice from the hallway.
“The police are going to come in here and shoot you,” one of the men said in a bold demonstration of stupidity.
She was tempted to pop a bullet in his skull. She might have if she wasn’t so focused on… someone talking? Maybe she was hearing things. But just as she thought that, there was the scant sound of footsteps.
The police, or someone intending to play hero?
She couldn’t let it go, or she’d be taking a big chance all her hard work in getting this far would blow up in her face. “Everyone stay put, or I will start shooting.” She opened the door. A shadow streaked across the end of the hall. “You! Get back here!”
She waited, and the shadow gained form. A young lab technician came back, with her arms in the air.
“Come here,” she prompted her.
The tech slowly walked toward her. “I’m sorry…”
As she came closer, she recognized the young woman. She walked past her and Beal’s assistant on the way to the boardroom. Cold fear shot through her. “Tell me why you’re sorry.”
The woman shook but said nothing.
“Speak!”
“The phones are back online, and I—”
“The lines are back?” What happened to the virus put on the system or the jammer, and why hadn’t she heard any phones ringing? Though those in the room might have muted theirs for the meeting.
“Yes, and the police… they called the main admin desk. I… I answered.”
“What did you tell them?”
The lab tech started crying.
She shook her. “What did you tell the police?”
“Just that… that a woman took Pamela into the board meeting.”
“Yeah, well, you’re going to join the party. Get inside the room.” She gestured with her gun, and the lab tech wisely did as she was told.
Son of a bitch! The gunwoman wanted to scream that at the top of her lungs, but she couldn’t let anyone see her crumbling apart.
The last thing today’s mission could withstand was them viewing her as weak.
But the timeline had been irrevocably narrowed.
How this would turn out depended on the people in this room.
She entered behind the tech and locked the door after them.
As she did so, it wasn’t missed that a few in the room passed this one woman with long brown hair a glance.
And the CEO was acting shiftier than before.
The gunwoman turned to their new honorary board member.
“Hand me your cell phone,” she said to the tech.
“I don’t have it on me. It’s in my locker.”
She quickly patted her down. “Fine. Now, get over there and sit on the floor.”
Again, the lab tech did as she was told.
“If only the rest of you were so obedient like Janie here.”
The tech’s mouth fell open.
“Yes, I know who you are.” She wasn’t surprised the tech didn’t know her.
She continued her way to the brunette, towered over her, and held the gun in her face.
“What are you doing there?” The furtive glances told her that the woman was up to something.
And with the phones back online, she had a good feeling what that might be.
“I’m not doing anything.”
“Do you want ‘Stubborn Bitch’ on your headstone? Hand me the phone.”
The brunette glanced at Beal.
“Don’t look at her. Look at me.” She grabbed the brunette’s chin, and the woman shook her hand off. She stopped struggling when the gun was against her forehead. “Phone!”
The woman put the device in her hand.
There was a voice coming through from the other end.
“Dr. Cowan, are you still there?”
She ended the call and saw that it had originated from another hospital. Its name was frozen on the screen. She was having a hard time knowing what to make of this. “You weren’t calling nine-one-one?”
“No,” the woman pushed out, refusing to look her in the eye. “And why would I? The police are already here. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll be dragged out of here.”
“I’m the one who says when it’s time, and I have as long as it takes to get this resolved. The question is, do the rest of you?” She slid her gaze over all those in the room.
“I was on the phone about a heart,” the brunette blurted out, when no one else said a word. “There’s a little girl who is going to die.”
Her heart pinched, but she said, “We all have to die.”
“She’s only four years old. You really can’t be that much of a monster. To let a little girl die. Without that heart, she will.”
An innocent child caught up in all of this.
It was a scenario she should have prepared for.
A hospital was full of the sick and dying.
But she was the monster? If she was, the people in this room had turned her into one.
“Her fate is up to you, now, isn’t it?” She tossed the cell phone onto the pile with the rest and smashed the devices under her boots.