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“I would never.”
Someone knocks on the door. Two quick raps and then three more slowly. Rocco nods like he’s listening to someone, and opens the door. Two guards I don’t know slip inside, one with red hair and the other with dark neck tattoos. Rocco leaves without saying a word.
I pull Anne even closer. She’s practically sitting in my lap. "It's going to be okay. They’re here to keep you safe, right? There’s food and water, and I bet I can come up with some more math for you to work on if you get bored. Victor will deal with whatever is going on and then we can fly back to the city. You like flying in the helicopter."
She nods. “You think so?”
The guards look nervous, which doesn’t feel like a good sign, but I paste a smile on my face. “Absolutely. This will all work out for the best, promise. Hey, how about we see if there are any snacks in here? What Marissa doesn’t know won’t hurt us.” I untangle myself from Anne and pull her over to the small stash of shelf stable food.
There are bottles of water and a few cans of beer and soda. I consider it for a short moment, then grab cola. Anne's eyes light up when I give it to her. No cookies, but there are some granola bars, and I take two, handing one to her.
Anne takes a sip from her can and grins. “You didn’t really mean it about the math, right?”
“No. You think I would do that to myself?” I stick out my tongue and she laughs.
The danger isn’t forgotten, but the gunfire has died down and for a second we relax. Right up until another, smaller, explosion shakes the building.
“What the fuck was that?” the redheaded guard asks his buddy.
The walls of the safe room might be intrusion proof, but they're definitely not sound proof. More cracks that have to be gunshots sound like they're coming closer. I don’t know exactly whatbusiness Victor is in, but I know it’s not legal. Even if every single other sign didn’t point that way, he murdered my parents, after all. That’s not the work of an investment banker. It shouldn’t be surprising that it’s finally catching up to him, but it is. If they succeed, what will happen to Anne? To me?
I can’t decide if I’m excited or terrified. Both, I guess.
Anne nibbles on her granola bar. I’m not even sure she knows she’s doing it. Her eyes are fixed on the door and she’s snuggled right up against my side again.
Something is happening outside. There aren't any windows, but men are yelling to each other close enough that I can almost make out what they are saying. A moment later, there's another explosion, so close that my ears are ringing. Anne screams and drops her can, the soda leaking out and covering the floor.
The guard with the tattoo snarls. “Shut the fuck up. You trying to get us killed?”
"It's okay, Anne. It's okay." I put an arm around her and hold her tight. She's shaking like she has a fever. "We’re going to be fine. I promise."
Gunshots, sounds of struggle, screams. The more we hear, the tighter my hold on Anne gets.
“I can’t breathe,” she gasps.
"Sorry." I force myself to let up.
Voices right outside the door. Both guards draw their weapons and get into ready positions at either side of it. "Get back," hisses the redhead. "Stay low. If things go to shit, run."
“Little pig, little pig, let me iiiin,” a deep voice croons from the other side of the door. “We can hear you in there.”
"Fuck it," says the one with the tattoos. “I’m not going down for that asshole or his brat.”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The other guard grabs him as a thundering roar blasts all four of us.
The door blasts inwards, smashing against the opposite wall and taking the coward with it. A thick cloud of smoke billows to fill the whole room, so I can't see a thing. Only Anne's tight grip on me lets me know she's still right next to me. It's not until the ringing fades that I realize we're both still screaming.
"Don’t come any closer!" barks the redheaded guard. I don’t know who he thinks he’s fooling though. Even I can tell he’s not the one in control.
A massive, undeniably male silhouette fills the doorway, so broad his shoulders almost touch the frame on both sides and tall enough that he has to duck a little to step inside.
"Keep back, or I'll—" The guard's shout is cut short as the big man wraps a massive fist around the guard's throat and slams him up against the wall. The man puts a gun right up underneath the guard's chin.
I pull Anne against me, pressing her face into my chest. “Don’t look!”
"Or you'll what?" the big man growls.
"Riot! Wait! It’s not Kane. There's fucking kids in here," another man shouts.
