relieving themselves. So far both of them had been able to avoid the need to use it. Between the two metal makeshift seats was an area plenty long enough for either of them to lie down, just not both at the same time.
“I’m fine,” she said softly. “You can use it.”
“I know you’re not fine, because I’m not fine. Now get some rest. The sooner you’re done, the sooner I can lie down.”
“Bobby, seriously. You can go first.”
“Absolutely not. You first, or neither of us go.”
Even though she knew he couldn’t see her, she rolled her eyes, but as soon as she lay on the floor, she was thankful he’d forced her to do it. She was completely drained. The time since they’d arrived outside the roadblock at Sage Springs seemed to have blurred into one long, living nightmare.
“We probably lost our jobs,” she said as she closed her eyes.
“They won’t fire us. They’ll make us stars. ‘The reporter and the cameraman forced into hiding by…’ ”
“ ‘…a rogue military force,’ ” she finished for him.
“Oh, that’s good. I like that.”
They fell silent for a moment.
“Who do you really think they are?” he asked.
“I wish I knew.”
He asked her another question a moment later, but though she could hear his voice, she couldn’t make out the words as exhaustion took over, and she fell into a deep sleep.
45
The low tone of the motion sensor alarm suddenly pulsed out of the speaker in the security room right off the lobby at NB7. The head of security had been sitting at the monitoring desk, talking to one of his men. The moment the alarm went off he whirled his chair around and looked back at his computer.
His first thought was that the two men he’d sent out to check for the missing car on the highway had somehow triggered the motion sensors.
By the time he took a good look at the warning screen, six seconds had passed.
Cameras covered the entire grounds, but there was no sense in constantly watching them since the system would alert security to any problems, at which point the video could be reviewed.
Though he immediately saw the others weren’t there, the head of security wasn’t worried. They’d had these alarms in the past, and all had turned out to be animals wandering in from the desert. The beams were supposed to be elevated high enough to cut out this kind of false alarm, but it still happened.
As he tapped the link to the video, he said, “Luke, go out front and check.”
The other man got up from his chair and went into the lobby.
By the time the head of security was looking at the video feed from the west side of the building, ten more seconds had gone by.
There was nothing on the screen but the same monotonous desert he’d been looking at since he’d been assigned to this post. Apparently whatever had triggered the alarm had wandered back out. As he hit the button that would take the video back a full minute, he heard Luke open the front lobby door and go outside. He almost called out to stop him, but realized he was too late.
He shrugged-no big deal.
Eight more seconds passed.
The video started playing again. He watched in real time for several seconds, then tapped on fast-forward, making the footage go at double speed.
Suddenly, he slapped the keyboard, pausing the image. “What the hell?”
Just then, out in the lobby, the front door opened again.
Ash didn’t have a stopwatch, but he was pretty sure he reached the sidewalk near the front door in less than six seconds. Not as good as he hoped, but good enough. As he stopped, he looked back and saw that Chloe was still right behind him.
The entrance was actually a double metal door that opened outward. It was taller than normal and a little bit wider, obviously designed to accommodate large items. There was a security card reader mounted on the wall next to the door, which was a pretty good sign that the door was locked.
The wear marks indicated the right half of the door was the one used most. Ash moved over to the hinges, then pulled the box of little bangs out of his pocket. His intent was to use one of the white crackers along the edge, and hoped it was enough to blow the door loose. But just as he was lifting the lid off the box, the knob turned and the door swung out.
There was no way Chloe could get out of sight, so she froze in place.
The man who stepped through the doorway saw her immediately, but hesitated for a second, caught off guard. That was all the time Ash needed to put the barrel of his gun against the man’s back.
“Nothing stupid, agreed?” Ash said, giving his gun a nudge.
“You shouldn’t be here,” the guy said.
“Is that a yes or a no?”
“Sure. Nothing stupid.”
“Good.” Ash glanced at Chloe. “Check him.”
Chloe stared at the man, not moving.
“You said you wanted to help,” Ash said.
She took a breath, then nodded. She first took the man’s gun from the holster on his belt, then frisked him quickly as if he might explode at any second.
“Just the pistol,” she said when she was done.
“What’s inside?” Ash asked the man.
“Lobby,” he replied.
“Anyone there?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
The man hesitated. “Not in the lobby. In the security office next to the lobby. One guy.”
Ash shoved the man toward the reader on the wall, then pulled the guy’s security card from his belt and touched it to the pad.
The latch clicked, and Ash pulled the door open.
“Let’s go.”
The head of security activated the general alarm then jumped out of his chair. His hand was moving to the gun at his side as he pulled open the door to the lobby.
“On your knees.”
A woman with milk-chocolate skin and fire in her eyes stood just on the other side of the door, a pistol in her hand pointed straight at his chest.
“Now,” she said.
Beyond her, he could see Luke kneeling on the floor. Standing behind him was a man with a bandaged face, and a gun very much like the one the woman was holding.
“This is private property,” the head of security said, buying time. NB7’s security force was small, but more than adequate to handle the man and the woman, even given the fact that twenty percent of his force was out on the road at the moment, looking for the lost car. “I’d advise you to put your guns down and lie on the floor.”
“Your. Knees,” the woman said again.
He moved his hands in front of him, holding them palms out. “Hold on. I don’t think you fully appreciate the situation you’re in. There’s more than just the two of us. It would be best if you’d-”
