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“Not this one. It’s a special assignment,” I cut in. Christ, this was too much work. All this to see if anyone else thought his kid was a serial killer in the making.
“I’m out,” Burg snapped. “Special assignment, my ass. You really expect us to believe he’s leaving and you can’t tell us why? And you need us to change diapers for his demon kid?”
My head snapped in Sinner’s direction and he flushed bright red. “Who else have you been telling your feelings to?”
“I…nobody!” Sinner argued.
“Please,” Burg snorted. “You’ve been telling anyone who will listen that your kid creeps you out at night.”
“I have not!”
“Just yesterday in the showers, you were going on and on about how you think your kid is trying to kill you with his eyes,” Burg countered. “And the week before while we were on the job. And two weeks before that while we were preparing for the job. Fuck, right about now, I’m pretty convinced you’re a demon too!”
The other guys shook their heads in disgust, pushing up from the table and walking out. Sinner stood, trying to negotiate with them, but nobody was biting. Once the room was cleared, he turned back to me with a scowl. “Thanks a lot.”
I shrugged. “Sorry. I tried.”
He jabbed a finger in my face. “I quit as your second.”
“You can’t!” I said in a panic. “We’re Danny and Kenickie!”
“We were,” he huffed. “Now, you’re just Doody.”
I paled, stumbling back a step. “That’s just mean.”
“Yeah? Friends don’t let friends raise demon babies alone.”
The alarms sounded throughout the building, jerking me out of the progress reports I was reading. I jumped up from my task, grateful for the interference, even if the whole place was coming down. I ran out of the office, hitting the button on the wall to lock down all important files. The windows instantly shuttered and when I shut the door, I heard the multiple locks engage.
With a quick glance at the elevator, I saw everything had already gone into failsafe mode, making it impossible for anyone to get in or out without the right sequencing running through the system. The only way out now was through the tunnels leading out of the safe room.
Storming into the IT room, I saw Becky already at work. “Status check.”
“All systems are running at full capacity. The gate outside hasn’t been breached and there’s not a single bird in the vicinity.”
I paused, repeating what she just said in my head. “Wait, no one’s attacking?”
“Possibly a stealth attack,” she said, rolling across the floor in her chair to another computer. As her fingers moved swiftly over the keys, I watched the screen, looking for any answers as to why we were in lockdown mode.
“Anything?”
“Not yet, boss.”
My nostrils flared in anger. This was just pissing me off. Either we were being attacked or we weren’t. What the fuck was this half-assed shit? “Well, where the fuck are they?”
“I don’t see anything,” she said, just as puzzled as me. “Not a single system has had even the slightest breach.”
“Maybe a sneak attack?”
“That none of our sensors picked up? I doubt it.”
“Well, if we’re not being attacked, then why is the system going haywire?”
“Boss—”
“This is fucking ridiculous!” I shouted, tossing my hands in the air. “You know, I thought we were actually on the verge of action!”
She stopped typing and slowly turned to face me. After a moment of staring at me, she smirked. “You miss the action.”