Chapter 6
Pounding fury pulled Peter from the grip of unconsciousness.
What in the world had happened? The ground under him was rough and hard.
He tried to rub his face, but his right hand only moved a few inches before encountering solid resistance at the wrist. His eyes flew open, and he found himself looking at a thick mass of leaves.
Where was he?
The details of the moments before he’d been knocked unconscious rushed into his memory. There’d been two people skulking about, not just the one he’d seen. And he’d been ambushed.
He tried moving his other arm instead and found it was free.
With the motion, his watch face lit up. The sudden brightness made him grimace, but he was able to see the numbers clearly.
That was a good sign. And he hadn’t been out long.
Maybe a minute or two. Long enough to be tied up and—he probed his duty belt and pockets—disarmed, but hopefully not long enough to be worried about long-term effects.
He wasn’t quite two years out from his last concussion, and he’d really like to avoid permanent brain damage.
Or any brain damage for that matter. But that was a concern for later.
Right now, he needed to figure out how to get out of here.
He took stock of the situation. Felt the ground beside him.
Mulch. He was lying on a bed of mulch, a chain of zip ties securing his wrist to the base of a large shrub.
His vision was limited by the leaves overhead and the fact he didn’t have enough room to sit up, but the harsh light outside the shadow of his makeshift prison indicated he was probably in the landscaping that lined the front parking lot of his workplace.
Turning his head to the left, he confirmed that theory.
The front of the building loomed large about ten yards away.
He scanned as much of the area as he could.
No one was in sight. No vehicles pulled up to the doors for a quick getaway.
No lights on where they shouldn’t be—at least, not in the lobby or businesses with front-facing windows.
Where were the people who’d knocked him out?
Had they managed to break into the building?
He checked for his badge and groaned when he didn’t find it.
Whoever had done this to him had access, not only to the main entrance but to the security office and the master key card inside.
If they knew what they were looking for, they could get into any of the businesses inside without setting off alarms or having to break through doors or windows. He had to stop them.
He tugged against the zip ties holding him in place.
They were solid, heavy duty. But that didn’t mean they were unbreakable.
He aligned the closure of the one around his wrist so it would take the brunt of the force, then yanked hard.
The thick plastic cut into his skin but didn’t give.
He wasn’t in a good position for leverage.
He’d have to come up with another way out.
Think, man.
The police were supposed to be on the way.
He could yell for help when they arrived.
But Kincaid usually only had one or two officers on duty overnight.
If they were occupied elsewhere, he could be waiting awhile.
He didn’t have time for that, not when his assailants had unfettered access to every business in the building.
Letting his body relax, he tried to think through his options.
No knife. No phone. No keys. He shifted.
Noted the snug fit of his boots. So his assailants either hadn’t noticed his paracord laces or hadn’t bothered to remove them.
He could work with that. He wasn’t in an ideal position to put them to use, but it was better than just lying here until the police arrived.
Awkwardly, he drew his left leg up and reached for the bootlace with his free hand.
After a few fumbling attempts, he managed to get it loose and threaded through the connecting zip tie.
Then he added slipknot loops to either end.
Feeling like a pretzel, he stretched his arm as far as possible and pulled his legs up to reach the loops he’d made.
His knees knocked into the branches above him and bits of dirt dropped into his face and eyes. Grunting, he blinked away the debris and started working the laces like bicycle pedals. Within a minute, the connecting zip tie snapped. He was free.
Wasting no time, he rolled out from under the bush and stood.
The pounding in his head immediately intensified, and he closed his eyes to ward off a bout of nausea.
Right. He had taken a hard knock. He pressed his hand to his forehead, willing the pain away.
It didn’t work, but he didn’t have any more time to spare.
He stumbled toward the building. Reached for the closest door handle. Locked. He slammed a fist against the brick facade. He needed to get in there.
An approaching car engine caught his attention, and he whirled.
With any luck that would be the patrol car he requested.
The responding officer wouldn’t have a master key, but he could use his phone to contact Peter’s boss and either get someone out here or arrange to have the building unlocked remotely.
Sidestepping so the glass doors wouldn’t be at his back, Peter waited and sucked in a breath of relief when a marked vehicle pulled into the parking lot.
He took a step away from the building and waved the officer closer. The car pulled up to the sidewalk, and the officer lowered his window.
“You the one who called?”
“Yes. We’ve got a bit of a nasty situation here. I came outside to check things out and got whacked in the head and tied up. I managed to get free once I came to, but whoever did it took my weapons, my work and personal phones, and my access badge. I’m assuming they’re inside now.”
The officer called for backup, then exited his vehicle. “You need me to call the EMTs?”
“No, I can get checked later if necessary, but I don’t think I was out long. Bigger priority is getting inside. Without my badge, I can’t access the building or reach a phone to call for assistance.”
“Who do you need me to call?” The officer pulled out his phone.
“My boss, Andre Phillips.” Peter rattled off the number. “He’ll be able to get us inside or send someone who can.”
The officer dialed the number. “Mr. Phillips? This is Officer Kevin Henderson from KPD. I’m here at the 1798 Building with one of your security guards.
” He glanced at Peter’s uniform, his eyes tracking to where his name was embroidered above the left shirt pocket.
“A Mr. Lewis. There’s been an incident, and we need help accessing the building.
. . . Yes, he took a blow to the head, but he seems to be fine.
. . . Yep. . . . Appreciate it. We’ll be waiting.
” The officer disconnected the call and returned his attention to Peter.
“He said he’ll be here in five minutes.”
“Great.”
Five minutes sounded like an eternity at this point.
But as long as the culprits were still inside, maybe they could catch them and minimize the extent of the damage.
Of course, that was assuming they’d gone in there in the first place.
He couldn’t imagine why they’d take his badge otherwise.
Anyone with half a brain would know it would be deactivated as soon as it was reported stolen, so it wouldn’t be any good to them after tonight.
“Listen, I’m going to move to the corner of the building so I can see if they try to sneak out through the security office. They probably don’t know about that exit, but it’s the only one besides this one that won’t sound an emergency alarm if they try to—”
A blaring alarm interrupted him, and he exchanged a startled look with the officer.
“Stay here,” Officer Henderson commanded. “I’ll try to head them off.” He broke into a run before Peter could protest.
Indecision warred within him. The officer was right to order him to stay put.
He was currently unarmed, and there were two assailants, which meant one could try to exit this way if they had split up.
Somehow he doubted that was the case though.
If Officer Henderson wasn’t quick enough, they would escape.
The next few minutes stretched long, and Peter could hardly stand it. He was on duty. He should be actively confronting the threat. He wanted to be involved. But he’d failed. Again.
Sirens wailed in the near distance. Must be the officer’s backup. He checked his watch. His boss should be here any moment now too. It was shaping up to be a regular party. He only hoped Henderson managed to compel his assailants to join them.
But as the sirens grew louder, he heard the return of the officer’s boots on the concrete of the parking lot. One set of unhurried footfalls. Even before the man rounded the corner, Peter knew he was alone. The duo had gotten away.
Obviously unhappy with his failure to apprehend the fleeing criminals, the officer stomped over to rejoin him. “Didn’t even see them,” he said before Peter could ask. “I heard a vehicle start up on the other side of the trees, but they were long gone before I could get over there.”
A truck that looked like his boss’s turned into the parking lot, followed about twenty seconds later by a car with strobing red and blue lights. The truck pulled to the side to let the patrol car pass, then both made their way to the front of the lot, where Peter and Officer Henderson stood.
Andre jumped out first. After quickly confirming Peter was okay, he badged them into the building and dashed to the office to shut off the alarm. Peter and the officers followed, all three crowding into the small space with Andre, who was already calling up the security footage.
“It’s gone,” he growled. “The recorded video cuts out at three twenty-six.”
Peter grimaced. That would have been right before he’d seen the first person arrive.
He searched one of the screens in front of them and noted the missing red dot that would have indicated the live footage was also being recorded.
Well, this was a fine kettle of tea. He rubbed his aching head and scowled when his hand encountered a sticky mess.
He hadn’t realized he was bleeding too. He wiped his fingers on his black jeans and returned his attention to the matter at hand.
With a few keystrokes from Andre, the red dot reappeared on each screen. Lot of good that would do them now. His boss started to swivel, then seemed to think better of it when it nearly brought him knee to knee with Officer Henderson.
Peter opened the office door and moved just outside the room to give them a bit more space.
He glanced at the hook where the master key card usually hung.
Gone, as he’d suspected. He pointed to the empty spot.
“Looks like they took the master key card. Can we check where they might have used it, or did they wipe the badge logs too?”
Though he’d never done it, he knew the camera footage could be deleted by anyone with access to the computer.
When he was hired, he’d been strictly warned to avoid that area of the program so he wouldn’t accidentally mess anything up.
But the badge logs were set up differently.
While any of the security guards could access a read-only version of them, a manager’s passcode was required to manipulate the data.
Andre’s fingers flew across the keys, and a few seconds later he let out a triumphant grunt. “Nope. Those are intact.” He stared at the screen, and the officers bent to peer over his shoulders.
Peter tamped down the urge to crowd back in and look at the logs himself. He wanted to see where these guys had gone. Which businesses might have been compromised.
A whirring sounded, and the printer spit out two sheets of paper.
Andre grabbed them and handed one to Officer Henderson.
“These are the businesses that were accessed via the master key card tonight. I’ll have to contact the owners or local managers to inform them of the breach and get permission to do a cursory search for evidence.
We’ll have to program a new master key card too. ”
“I can start making those calls while you do that,” Peter offered.
“Thanks.” Andre passed a copy of the list to him.
“Do that, then we’ll need to get an official statement from you,” Officer Henderson said.
“Sure thing.” Peter quickly scanned the list. There couldn’t be much worth stealing from the café, so he skipped to the next line.
The other three made his gut clench. The master key card had been used to access the jewelry store, the insurance office, and Pendleton Accounting.
This could have massive implications, especially if his assailants had managed to hack into either of the offices’ computer systems.
But maybe they hadn’t. After all, they couldn’t have been in the building more than twenty or thirty minutes, and that included the time they would have spent retrieving the master key card from the security office and wiping the recorded footage.
Coupled with hitting four different businesses, they wouldn’t have had much time to spend in any one place. But why else would they have gone in?
He didn’t know the answer, but figuring out motives wasn’t his job. Right now, he was on damage control. Taking a deep breath, he reached for his work phone, then remembered his assailants had taken it along with his personal cell. He’d have to use the office phone.
“Pardon me.” He squeezed past the two officers and retrieved the phone from the other side of the room. “And again. Sorry.” He made his way back to the door without stepping on anyone’s toes and turned to exit into the main lobby to make his calls.
“Hold up, Peter.” Andre stopped him. “There’s blood all over the back of your head. Thought you said you were fine.”
He waved off his boss’s concern. “That’s where I got whacked. I’m all right, just need to clean up.”
“Not a chance. You get injured on the clock, you get checked out by a professional.”
“I’m really quite all right.”
“Sit.” Andre pointed to one of the lobby chairs. “I’m calling an ambulance, and you’re going to let them take you to the ER. That’s an order.”
Seeing that arguing would be futile, Peter sighed. “May I at least start making the calls while I’m waiting?”
One of the officers snorted, and Andre rolled his eyes. “Fine. But soon as they’re here, you’re out. Got it?”
“Loud and clear.” He let the office door close behind him, then released another heavy sigh. Ducking out when this was all his fault was not cool. But he knew Andre was just playing by the rules. Peter would do what he was told, then he’d try to help out however he could.