Chapter 25
Zane
Silently, I breach the roof entrance of the building we were sent here to watch. The sign outside still reads For Lease, but over the last twenty-four hours of monitoring this place, we saw over a dozen different people carrying boxes in but leaving with nothing in their hands.
Since they don’t look like movers or renovators, my best guess is this place is a staging facility for whatever they have planned next.
Sawyer comes forward with his tablet in hand. He sticks the long wand into the open doorway and watches the scan on his tablet. If anyone is talking on the floor just below us, we’ll know about it.
When nothing pops, he sticks it back into his bag and offers me a nod.
Weapon in hand, I move in first, with Sawyer on my heels, Weston behind him, and Ryker bringing up the rear of our breach party.
Near soundlessly, we move down the steps and pause just outside the door.
Even though Sawyer’s mic should have picked up any noises, I crack the door, and he listens again, just in case.
Sweet, sweet silence.
As one unit, we step out onto the top floor. The concrete ground is covered in a thin layer of dust, and there are a few painter’s tarps in one corner with some large buckets of paint beside them. Aside from that, though, the warehouse floor is completely empty.
We head toward the stairs. All the while, Sawyer is keeping an eye on the tablet in his hand. The third floor is completely vacant, too, lacking even the paint cans and painter’s tarps. One more floor down, and we find a few empty crates, a table saw, and some boards set up on sawhorses.
Nothing overly suspicious. Honestly, the farther in we get, the more my stomach begins to churn. Surely, Brenda didn’t send us off on a wild goose chase. Surely, she would have done at least some of her own research before sending us to an empty building—right?
The thought of Tessa momentarily pulls me out of the moment.
I’d checked in with Garrison right before we headed over here, and everything was fine. But this twisting in my gut says otherwise.
Focus, Knox.
We hit the doorway leading to the basement stairs, and as always, we pause a moment until Sawyer gives us the all clear. As soon as he has, I push through and move out onto the basement level.
The elevator shaft is directly to the right, and like the upper floors, this one is mostly barren. There are a few crates in the middle of the room, but no activity.
“We’re clear,” Sawyer says as he puts his tablet and mic away.
“What is this place?” Weston questions as we move farther into the room.
“I don’t know. But let’s get a look around so we can be gone before anyone shows up.” I gesture off toward the right. “Cowboy, you and Tank go check out that side. Cable Guy and I will see what’s in those crates.”
“Sure thing, Cap,” Weston says. Then he and Ryker move off toward the right to get a look around the corner.
Sawyer and I close the distance between us and the crates, and I withdraw my large knife to pry the lid off.
“I can’t make sense of this, Cap,” Sawyer comments. “Something feels off.”
“I feel it, too.” With one final movement, the crate pops open, and I shove the lid off.
My heart stops.
My stomach plummets.
Adrenaline surges through my veins as I try to process exactly what it is we’re seeing.
“Tank! Cowboy!” I bellow. “Get back to the stairwell!”
“I can’t diffuse this, Cap. I need Demo. We need Demo.” Sawyer is panicking. And I certainly can’t blame him.
“We don’t have Demo.” And Brenda had to have known we wouldn’t. She would have known I wouldn’t leave Tessa unprotected, and Garrison was the most logical choice to leave behind.
Is this really her, though? Is she truly trying to eliminate us?
Red numbers on a clock count down from thirty seconds.
Thirty seconds to get to safety from the basement level of an office building before the entire thing collapses on top of us.
It’s not enough time.
It has to be enough time.
God, please let it be enough time.
Ryker and Weston race toward us and, together, the four of us sprint back toward the stairs. It’s the strongest point of the building—and our only chance at survival. Even still, the chances we’ll live to see the sunrise are slim to none.
Ryker reaches the stairwell first, and he rips the door open. Weston sprints inside, then Sawyer. I pause, and he moves without argument, knowing I won’t go in before he does. I slam the door shut behind us right before a deafening boom robs me of a future I should have had.
And Tessa’s smile is the last thing I see before the world goes dark.