Chapter 21
I’d Get Enough Exercise Just Pushing My Luck
The main office building of Antecedent Industries was brilliantly lit by the flashing lights of police cars surrounding it. Other cars I recognized were in front of them, closer to the building, and I could see Brotherhood members and Knights all around, guns drawn. Police officers almost looked like they didn’t know what they should be doing, standing back from them all.
From what I could see through the glass walls of the first floor, dozens of other people, all who I’d never seen before, were standing guard. The front doors were busted open, the glass shattered all over the steps. Only a few lights were on in the lobby and one set upstairs at the topmost floor. Shadows passed and the silhouette of a man appeared from twenty floors up.
When we pulled up alongside one of the cars, I could see Jamie standing with the others, relief clear on their faces as we stepped out.
“What the hell is going on?” John growled.
Jamie was the first to answer. “They’ve been here for almost two hours now. Anytime the police tried to make contact, they’d shoot. We tried to get in, but they do the same if we even step foot on the front steps. We’ve got more Brotherhood and Knights surround the building, ready to jump at the slightest sign of stress.”
Stella continued. “Paul, Rosaline, and Kate stayed behind because of Elena. Your parents, too, Emmy. Juliet was the only one they let upstairs to your office. They don’t want anyone else,” she said, nodding toward the front entrance. “Just you…and Emmy.”
John growled low in his throat. “Hell no. She’s not going.”
“Um, yes, I am,” I told him.
“No, you’re not.”
“Don’t even start with me, John Raymond. I’m with you in this until the end, remember?”
“They won’t even let you in unless she’s with you,” Jamie said. “They’ve been waiting…and I don’t like how long Juliet’s been up there alone. You guys need to go, John. Now.”
“Who is it?” he asked, looking up to the lit windows twenty stories up. The silhouette was still there, though it then turned and walked away.
“Just Vince Peters and Braewyn, we’re told,” Ren said. He nodded to one of the cars with the passenger side open. “I’ve tried to connect with the security system, but they’ve shut down everything.”
“Have you tried the override systems code?” John asked.
“Well…no. Because you’re the only one who knows it…”
John pulled him closer, rattling off a twenty-digit code quietly in his ear. Ren nodded, somehow remembering all of it, and ran back to his computer with Stella on his heels.
“The Tube station down the street,” he started, looking at everyone else before clasping his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “There’s a doorway on the other side of the tracks if you go to the left. When you’re through, it takes you to the basement of the building. Go and get inside. If we’re not down in twenty minutes…”
“Got it,” he nodded, and motioned for all of them to follow him.
I looked on as Jason and Drake followed…knowing that this would be the first time that something serious had ever gone down with them there.
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