Chapter 27 - The Midnight Intruder
"Get down!" Julian roared, instantly tackling me toward the reinforced alcove beneath the heavy oak desk.
A split second later, the sharp, deafening shatter of safety glass ripped through the front office. A heavy metal canister clattered across the floorboards, spewing thick, chemical-laced white smoke that stung our eyes and choked our throats.
Detective Ruiz fired two rounds toward the doorway into the darkness. "Police! Drop your weapons!"
The response was a suppressed spray of automatic gunfire that chewed through the plaster walls and obliterated the wooden filing cabinets above our heads. Wood splinters rained down on Julian’s back as he completely shielded my body with his own.
"Julian!" I screamed through the suffocating fog.
"I've got you! Keep your head down!" he shouted, his voice hoarse from the smoke.
Lucas lunged forward through the smoke like a shadow bred in the dark. I heard the sickening thud of hand-to-hand impact, followed by a heavy body crashing against the wall. Lucas had intercepted the point man coming through the shattered door frame. A combat knife clattered to the floor, followed by the wet crunch of a broken nose.
"Back exit! Now!" Lucas yelled back, his arm locking onto the intruder’s collar and throwing him bodily through the ruined glass door into the hallway. "They aren't here to talk, Elaine! Vance knows I found you!"
Ruiz was on his feet, returning fire down the corridor to cover our retreat. "Julian, take her through the emergency fire stairwell in the back! Evelyn, move!"
Evelyn, trembling but fierce, grabbed the manila envelope and Arthur’s cassette tape from the desk and shoved them into her leather satchel. Julian hauled me to my feet, his hand gripping mine with an iron will.
We sprinted through the private conference room toward the heavy steel fire door. Behind us, another flash-bang grenade detonated, rattling the walls and sending vibrations through our teeth.
Lucas caught up with us at the threshold of the fire stairs, a shallow cut bleeding down his left temple, but his eyes blazing with fierce determination. "They didn't expect Ruiz to be armed and inside. We have about two minutes before their secondary team seals the street perimeter."
"My car is parked in the private underground garage," Julian gasped, kicking open the steel exit door. "Armored glass. It's our best chance."
We tumbled down the concrete steps into the dim, cavernous basement garage. Julian’s black SUV sat parked fifty feet away, its headlights flashing as he hit the remote unlock.
"Get in! All of you, get in!" Julian commanded.
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Just as the five of us scrambled inside and Julian slammed the heavy doors shut, three armed figures in dark tactical gear burst through the stairwell entrance. Bullets peppered the reinforced rear glass of the SUV with spiderweb cracks, but the armor held.
Julian slammed the transmission into reverse, spun the wheel with furious precision, and slammed the accelerator down. The tires shrieked against the sealed concrete floor, launching us out into the rainy, neon-streaked streets of Baltimore.
