“She’s threatening to release client files,” Lisa said.
In the distance, sirens wailed. Saamsi swore. “They’re going to try to turn this into a media circus. This is exactly what they love to do. In about ten minutes we’re going to be front-page news.”
“Banks is trying to talk to her, but…” Lisa made a gesture of frustation. “I think we’ve got ten minutes before everything goes wrong. Our best bet is to hit them now. The longer we wait—”
Saamsi cut her off. “I understand. It’s time to cut our losses.”
“And that means…?”
Saamsi looked at her fiercely. “Protect our clients.”
The sirens were growing louder.
“And Alix?”
“You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. Just make sure our clients stay out of the news. I don’t want a single whisper of our clients leaking out.”
The first police department squad cars were arriving, along with ambulances.
“This is going to turn into a jurisdictional nightmare in about two minutes,” Lisa warned.
“So get it done.” Saamsi turned and started striding toward the police and rescue vehicles, holding up his hands with authority. “I’ll handle the cops,” he called back. “You just handle those kids.”
Lisa was already jogging for her team, thinking about how it needed to happen. She crouched down with Timmons, her strike leader. “What’s our situation?”
Timmons said, “We’ve got all exits blocked. Elevator locked. Stairwells locked. We’ve got them bottled.”
“I want you to go in.”
“I’ve got thirty split in three go-teams—”
“No.” She pulled Timmons closer. “This has to be quiet. Quick and fast and quiet.”
Timmons frowned. “There are risks.”
“There are more risks if you’ve got a lot of witnesses.”
Timmons eyes widened. He hesitated. “These people armed?”
Lisa gave him a hard look. “That’s the assumption. We’re proceeding under the assumption that these are unstable terrorists with knowledge of explosives, and we need to stop them, fast. We’re sure a fast resolution will save lives.”
“A fast resolution,” Timmons repeated.
“You understand?”
He nodded sharply. “Elam and Mint and me, then. We can do it.”
“Quietly.”
He gave her a look of irritation. “I know my job.” He glanced over at Simon Banks. “The boss okay with this?”
Lisa glanced back to where Banks was still on the phone, pleading with his daughter. Still under the impression that he could use all his persuasive skills to get her to undo decisions that had already been made.
“He’s not the most important consideration anymore,” Lisa said. “As far as we’re concerned, we’ve got two armed intruders on BSP property who intend domestic terrorism. For all we know, they could have a suicide device. The next time I see them, I want body bags.”
Two seconds after Alix hung up with her dad, lights went out. Williams & Crowe had cut the electricity, and they were in the dark now, illuminated only by emergency battery lights that apparently even Williams & Crowe couldn’t get access to.
“We need to hide!” Alix said.
Moses looked up at her, his expression somber. “Where do you think we can hide?”
“In—” Alix thought furiously, trying to think of a way to escape.
Moses smiled tightly at her lack of an answer. “I don’t have any more tricks up my sleeve, Alix. I should have had a backup plan for this, but I let myself rush. I screwed this up.”
“No. It was my fault. I pushed too fast.”
There had to be some way to hide, or sneak past, to get down from the tenth floor… Alix’s mind kept racing, but a more rational part of her knew that Moses was right. She was just still trying to believe. Making up fantasies that weren’t real. A little kid fantasy that kept her hoping, even though there was no hope left. The fantasy that if you were doing something for good, you were supposed to be rewarded for it.
“It’s over,” Moses said. He seemed to be speaking more to himself than to her. “It’s over.” He looked up, his expression firming. “This doesn’t have to be you,” he said. “I can give myself up.”
“No!”
“Just hear me out! We can hide the drives.” He held up the duffel. “I can give myself up. I can tell them it was me who dragged you into this. I can convince them that you didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“I won’t do that, Moses.”
“Why not? You could even come back later and get the drives. We can hide the drives, we can save the data—”
“I’m not leaving you!”
Moses glared at her with frustration. “Why not? You know they’re going to gas us! Maybe even shoot me if they get a chance. You need to get as far away from me as possible.” He put the bag down and started striding back toward the elevators, waving at her not to follow. “You stay back. Once they get me—”
Alix stormed after him. “The hell I will!”
“You don’t need to do this!” Moses said. “It’s not your fight! You can say I forced you. Say I brainwashed you! It’s me they want. So let me take the heat.” He reached the elevators and turned to face her. “Try to keep one of the drives and put it out later, maybe.” His voice turned pleading. Cajoling. “I can take the heat. We can’t hide, but you can hide the drives. You can maybe come back later and get one. You don’t have to go down for this.”
Alix swallowed. It was so tempting. Just run away. Pretend it hadn’t happened…
“No.”
“But it’s not your fight!”
“The hell it isn’t! If they’re taking you, they’re taking me, too. I’m not leaving you, and I’m not saying it was your idea. I got us into this. This was my fault. I got us into this.”
“But—”
“And it is my fight!” Alix fought back tears. “Don’t you dare ever say that it isn’t my fight!”
Moses paused, taken aback at her outburst. All the argument went out of him. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her close. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“It is my fight,” she said with her face muffled in his chest. “We’re together.”
“I know. I get it.”
The number indicator on the elevator began changing.
L… 1… 2…
Alix dried her tears on the back of her hand. “Here they come.”
3…
4…
Moses was staring into her eyes. “I…”
Alix could feel her heart starting to pound. Williams & Crowe was coming, and all she cared about was Moses’s gaze. She pulled him down to kiss her. Kissed him again.
6…
“I’m sorry I got you into this.”
“No, I’m sorry I got you into this.”
He smiled at that.
7…
They both took an instinctive step back from the elevator.
“Get ready,” Moses said.
Alix felt him gripping her hand hard as she watched their fate count upward. She wanted to run. She wanted to believe there was an escape, even though she knew there wasn’t.
“We need to get back,” she whispered. “We’re too close.”
His hand was holding hers so hard it felt like it was going to break.
9…
Moses looked over at her one last time, and his eyes were filled with sadness and wonder and regret.
10…
“I love you,” he whispered.
The elevator chimed.
They were still holding hands as smoke enveloped them.