Calamitous (Kaylor)

6

Karlie was startled awake in the middle of the night by the phone ringing. It had been nearly two weeks since the last time she'd heard from the informant, but she had taken the warning to heart and had been sleeping at the office ever since. It's better to get an awful night's sleep than it is to miss the call.

She lunged for the phone and answered breathlessly. "Hello?"

"Detective Kloss, I presume?" the voice said. "It's happening. Now."

Karlie, still half asleep, mumbled, "What do you mean, now?"

"I mean now. I'm in a supply closet in the building right now and I have to get back out there before someone notices I'm missing. Wow, they have a lot of guards here."

"You're already there?!" Karlie screeched. "You should have called earlier! This is a mess..."

"I couldn't have. Catastrophe was watching all of us like a hawk. Now I've got to go. This will be over sooner than you think, I'd expect, so hurry up if you want to catch your criminal." The line went dead, and Karlie sat there for a moment, her heart beating rapidly.

Holy shit. I've got to get a team over there fast. She started calling people and ran down to her car as she talked. We're finally going to end this game.

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"Where were you?" Cat called to Arsyn as the shorter woman appeared at her side. The fighting was spread over several floors of the building, and the action was so intense that it was easy to lose people in the fray.

"Cut Throat and Slay-Z needed some help. I told you they weren't experienced enough yet," Arsyn said, dodging a punch and kicking a guard away from her.

"We need all the help we can get. But thanks for keeping an eye on them." Cat ducked as a throwing knife launched itself in the wall behind her. She yanked it out and threw it back; it hit its mark and another guard went down.

"Why aren't they using their guns?" Arsyn yelled over the noise of the fight.

"Too many explosives and valuable weapons in here, I'd guess," Catastrophe answered. "Which is lucky for us. But don't underestimate them." She heard a crackle from her earpiece and turned away to try to hear, signalling for Arsyn to defend her.

"Welvin? Are you there?" Welvin was essentially the IT person of the crew. He took care of most technology issues and occasionally helped out on missions.

"Affirmative." The earpiece crackled loudly. "It's on the next floor up. Code name "Lights Out." There are probably ten more guards up there waiting for you."

"Thanks, Welv," Cat said. "I owe you one." The line dropped, and Cat approached her deputy. "It's upstairs. There are ten more guards. Fight with me?"

Arsyn looked around the room quickly. The gang was still fighting admirably, but if they took any of the girls upstairs with them, they could quickly become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of guards. She turned to Cat and nodded confidently. "We can take them alone."

The two waded through the brawl, throwing punches whenever necessary, and forced the door to the next floor open. They shut it quickly behind them and Arsyn used a small fuse to break the lock and hopefully keep the door welded shut long enough for them to locate their prize.

Catastrophe led the way up the stairs, taking three at a time as adrenaline pumped through her body. They burst into the room and startled the guards, many of whom were sitting at desks with their feet up. The two criminals looked at each other and grinned. "Together," Cat said.