Chapter 16 - The Executive Suite Showdown“Get down!” I roared, grabbing Rachel by the waist and pulling her hard behind the heavy mahogany executive desk just as a volley of suppressed gunfire chewed through the drywall above our heads.

The air filled with the sharp, acrid smell of ozone and cordite. Federal agents returned fire from the hallway, their weapons echoing like thunder inside the enclosed corporate floor.

“Who are they?” Rachel yelled over the deafening racket, pressing flat against the carpet behind the desk, clutching the optical drive to her chest.

“Vance’s private corporate security sweep!” I yelled back, scanning the room for exit routes. “They must have had a secondary trigger wired into the building's main grid!”

Two armed men in black tactical gear breached the office doorway, stepping over the shattered glass. Agent Miller engaged the first one, dropping him with a clean shot to the shoulder, but the second assailant swung his rifle around, aiming straight toward the desk where we were hiding.

Adrenaline surged through my veins with the force of a tidal wave. I didn't think; I exploded upward from behind the desk, launching myself across the ten-foot gap like a linebacker executing an open-field tackle.

I hit the second operative squarely in the chest, carrying him backward through the remaining glass partition wall of the private office. We crashed onto the carpeted open-plan floor outside, the man’s rifle clattering away across the tiles.

He swung a heavy tactical combat knife toward my ribs, but I caught his wrist mid-air, squeezing with the crushing grip that had broken defensive lines across the country. He grunted in agony, dropping the knife as I twisted his arm behind his back and pinned him to the floor.

“Clear!” I shouted over the ringing in my ears, standing up slowly and wiping sweat from my forehead.

Agent Miller walked out of the office, lowering her weapon, her chest heaving as she checked her radio. “Reinforcements are storming the lobby elevators right now. The building is completely locked down.”

Rachel stepped out from behind the desk, her face pale but her eyes blazing with absolute determination. She walked right up to me, reached out, and checked my arms and shoulders for any sign of injury.

May you like

The morning light in Portland didn’t filter through my apartment window...

The air between us grew so dense it felt difficult to breathe. Evelyn di...

The rain pelted the stone porch of the Sterling estate as Eleanor Sterli...

“You are insane,” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. “You could have been shot.”

“I told you,” I smiled, resting my hand against her cheek, “nobody touches my best friend.”