Page 62 of Baby Take Me Home

“No fire,” TJ told me. “That’s to use as a weapon if necessary.”

“Shit,” I muttered.

“Jensen’s triggering the fire alarm. Do not evacuate. Barricade your office door, hunker down, and publish the article. Do not open the door for anyone other than me or someone on the Alpha Team.”

“On it,” I said.

“You’ve got this,” he told me, then he hung up.

I was the last one into the office. “Magellan, help me move the desk in front of the door.” When it was in place, I motioned to Jayne. “Set up the computer here and finish formatting. We need to hit send on schedule.”

“Mind telling us what the hell is going on?” Stacy asked.

“The fire alarm is going to go off,” I answered. As if on cue, the blaring began. “There’s no fire, but there is some other danger. We’ll stay here until help arrives.”

Magellan pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll call 9-1-1.”

I laid my hand over his phone. “No need. They’ve already been alerted.” By now, TJ would have called in the FBI and anyone else he could think of to help us. More importantly, his team would be moving into place to protect us from whatever shit was about to hit the fan.

On the other side of my office wall, people were stampeding down the stairs, evacuating the building.

“You’re sure we should stay put?” Magellan asked.

I nodded, although I shared his fear. If anyone other than TJ had told me to shelter in place, I would have disregarded the advice and evacuated by now. But if ever there was a time I was going to obey his orders, this was it.

“The cavalry is coming,” I promised my colleagues.

Somewhere nearby, there was an explosion, shattering glass, shouting voices. It wasn’t the Alpha Team. They wouldn’t have entered in such a loud and obtrusive way. The shouting voices drew closer.

I handed the fire extinguisher to Magellan and told him to guard the door. I pulled out my cell phone. “Jayne, how’s that coming?”

“Just a few more minutes.”

I hoped she was right because I wasn’t sure we had much more than that. I hit TJ’s number. He picked up before the end of the first ring.

“We’re in trouble,” I said. “Someone’s on the fourth floor and I’m pretty sure it’s not you.”

“Fuck me,” at least ten voices muttered.

Someone knocked on the door and shouted, “Fire department!”

“Do not open that door!” TJ said. “I’m in the building, almost there.”

The line went dead, cutting him off. I turned back to my colleagues just in time to see Magellan nudge the desk aside and reach for the door handle.

“Noooo!” I shouted, but it was too late.

Two burly men dressed in black, including ski masks, pushed the cracked door open wider.

I grabbed the fire extinguisher out of Magellan’s hands and clocked the first intruder in the face. He went down like a ton of bricks and slumped over the edge of the desk, halfway wedged in the doorway.

“Hit send!” I yelled.

Jayne sat frozen.

“Hit send!” I shouted again. “Magellan!”

At the sound of his name, he leaped into action, literally jumping onto and then over the desk. He rolled Jayne’s chair aside and crouched in front of the computer, typing furiously.