“Seriously,” she said, turning back to Moses. “We need to get the hell out of here.”
“Why are you so jittery all of a sudden?”
“I’ve got a bad feeling.”
Moses popped another hard drive in. “We’re good.”
Alix peered out the windows again, trying to see. The hair on her arms was standing up.
“I don’t like this,” she murmured. “I don’t like this at all.” She made a snap decision. “Okay, we’re wrapping up. It’s time. We’re going.”
“But I’ve only got half of it!”
“Better than none,” Alix said grimly. She yanked the hard drive out of the computer.
“Alix!”
“We’re going.”
She tossed the hard drive into the duffel. Moses looked like he was still going to protest, so she yanked the power plug out of the wall, too.
The computer’s screen went black.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure we get out in one piece.” She zipped up the duffel and grabbed Moses’s arm. “Come on!”
“Why are you so paranoid all of a sudden?”
“Like I said, I’ve got a bad feeling,” she said as she dragged him out of her dad’s office.
“You’ve got a bad feeling? You know how long it’s taken me to get here, and now you want to leave just because you’ve got a bad feeling?” His voice was rising, even as he followed her down the hall to the reception area.
Alix didn’t answer. All she could think was that something was terribly wrong. They’d done it wrong. They’d set it up wrong. Something…
By the time she shoved out through BSP’s main doors, she was practically running. She hit the Down button on the elevator. “Come on,” she whispered. “Come on, come on.”
Nothing happened.
Frowning, she hit the Down button again, then stared up at the glowing floor numbers.
L stayed stubbornly lit.
Alix pushed the button again.
Nothing changed.
Moses stood beside her, staring up at the unchanging floor number. “What was that you were saying about a bad feeling?”
From Alix’s perch by the windows, she could see more shadows converging. Moses joined her, watching as more stealthy forms filtered toward the building. The elevators weren’t working anymore, and, to their dismay, they’d found that the building’s fire stairwells were also locked down. They’d hammered on the doors, at first thinking they were stuck, and dashed around the entire floor of the building, hoping there might be some other escape, but now the reality of the situation was sinking in, and Alix found herself filled with an almost unnatural calm.
“Williams & Crowe, for sure,” Moses said.
“Yeah.” Alix wondered if Lisa was down there somewhere. Death Barbie incarnate. Coming for them.
“I must say I hate those guys,” Moses said with a sigh. “Well, we might as well make it a big event.” He picked up the office phone and dialed.
“What are you doing?”
“You remember how Williams & Crowe came in for me the last time? The only thing that keeps us safe right now is if this turns into something public.” He turned his attention back to the phone.
“911? This is Simon Banks. I’m at Banks Strategy Partners on K Street, and I’m seeing what look like gangbangers on the street.”
“What are you doing?” Alix hissed.
Moses shrugged. “Confusing the issue.” He went back to talking into the phone. “They’ve got… It looks like they’ve got automatic weapons of some kind. I don’t know who they are or what they’re doing, but we need the cops here, right now! Send SWAT! Hurry! It looks like they’re trying to break in!”
Alix peered out the window. Vehicles were converging around the building now. Moses rolled his chair over and peered down. “Looks like Williams & Crowe isn’t worried about us noticing them now.”
“Yeah.”
“We’ll need to watch out for snipers,” Moses said. His voice was oddly flat as he pointed at the buildings across the street from them. “Once they get set up, they’ll be looking to shoot inside for sure.”
“They aren’t actually going to shoot us! Who would authorize that?”
Moses gave her a look. “Williams & Crowe would probably do anything to get a clean shot at me.”
He peered out the window again. “Sure wish the cops would get here.”
Alix didn’t like how calm he sounded. No, not calm—resigned.
Alix pulled out her phone.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to try to buy us some more time.”
The phone started ringing. “Pick up,” Alix whispered. “Go on. Pick up. You always have your phone.”
She peered down at the increasing activity as Williams & Crowe set themselves up around the building. “This is real, isn’t it?”
Moses glanced down at the lights as well. “Getting more and more that way.” He glanced over at her. “Not like the last time we threw a shindig like this.”
Alix swallowed. “No. The bad guys have the right address, this time.”
The phone picked up.
“Alix?”
Dad’s voice.
“Alix?”
Lisa turned. Mr. Banks had his cell pressed to his ear.
“Mr. Banks?”
He cupped his palm over the phone’s receiver. “It’s Alix!”
Lisa held out her hand. “Let me speak to her.”
Banks ignored her and turned away. “Are you okay, honey? What are you doing?” Lisa pressed close, listening in. When he tried to shake her off, she glared at him. Finally, he relented and let her listen.
“I’m fine, Dad.”
“You’re in my office, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Alix. I don’t know what that boy’s been telling you—”
“How you could you, Dad?”
“How could I what?”
“You killed people, Dad.”
“That’s not true.”
“It’s true, Dad. I’m looking at the files. All the companies you’ve worked for have been letting innocent people die. The drug companies and the asbestos companies. The lead companies. The chemical companies. It’s like every big name is here.”
“Alix—”
“They knew people would be dying, Dad. Kimball-Geier knew. You knew. You helped them with their strategy. People are dead because you helped them!”
“It’s not like that, Alix.”
“Dad, if Williams & Crowe tries to come in here, I’m going to make sure this goes on the news. I can send things out that only you would believe. You know what I’m looking at.”
Banks waved at Lisa. “You need to back off! She’s threatening to release client files!”
Lisa tried to get her hand on the phone. “Let me talk to her.”
Banks shook her off again. “I’ll handle this!’ he whispered fiercely. “You just figure out how to get her out of there.”
Lisa didn’t back down. “Your phone isn’t secure. You don’t know who else is listening. We have clients—”
Banks brushed her off. “I know my business. Take care of yours. Get Alix out now. We don’t want to be the story here.”
Lisa spun away, scowling. George Saamsi joined her as she strode across the lawn to her teams.
“Do we have a problem?” he murmured.
“Banks’s daughter is up to her neck in this. She’s not a kidnap victim this time. She’s the one who’s driving this.”
Saamsi’s gaze went from Banks to Lisa, then to the response team.