catching his breath. He picked up the phone hanging by the toilet and found there was no dial tone.
"Shit!" Rubbing his head, he thought the phone lines must have been cut. His eyes brightened with the hope that the wireless network might still be up. He peeked out the doorway and found it clear. Swiftly he glided past the opening to the other side of the bathroom and grabbed a towel, securing it around his waist.
After peering out the doorway again, he rushed to close and lock the outer door. Then he moved to his computer and went to work bringing up security camera images from around the building. Most of the views showed that the building was empty, but then he reached the lobby and saw Akbar sitting behind the desk. Looking closer, he saw the Colt LE6900 rifle leaning against the desk next to him.
Flipping through other images, he discovered the box truck parked at the loading dock, one man working near ventilation unit number two and another near ventilation unit number one, although from the distance he couldn’t tell exactly what they were doing. Moving to another image his jaw fell open upon seeing both Marci and Stephanie standing with their backs up against the support polls of a warehouse rack in the center of the building. Their hands were behind their backs and three men carrying the same Colt rifles were standing nearby.
"Fucking bastards!" He closed his eyes and groaned. Grabbing his telephone, he discovered it was also dead. His eyes scanned the desk in a desperate search for his cell phone, but it wasn't there. He grabbed his pants hung over the chair and searched the pockets to no avail. He moved back to his computer, flipping through the images once more, counting the men. One at the front desk, two at the ventilation units, three with the girls and three more rushing through the office that's nine total. Taking a closer look, he realized one of the three men in the office was twenty feet outside of his door and closing in.
Brock moved to the door and unlocked it, then rushed to the bathroom. After placing the rifle down, he pulled the dead man up and onto the toilet seat, positioning him and draping a towel over his head. He turned on the faucet then grabbed the gun and moved behind the partially closed door.
Peering through the hinged opening, he waited with a clear view of his office door. Seconds later the door swung open slowly and the barrel of a rifle poked through. Then the man appeared scanning the room before walking slowly toward the bathroom door. Brock grinned as the man hunched down tilting his head with his eyes widened as he no doubt spotted his supposed toilet sitting target.
Brock took aim, pulled the trigger twice and the man dropped to the floor in a heap. Running out of the bathroom, Brock moved to the outer door and peered out just as the other two men were ten feet down the hall. "Shit," he whispered before gritting his teeth and spinning out from the doorway firing bullets at both men's chest. Brock nailed the lead man right in the heart with multiple shots and he dropped down hard. Struck once in the shoulder, the second man returned fire and Brock took off down the opposite hall in his bare feet and wearing nothing but a towel as bullets sprayed all around him. Turning the corner, he stopped then peered back around quickly, spotting the man he tagged with a bullet and now also another man he recognized coming for him. It was Akbar.
Thinking quickly, he ran down the hall to the stairway and slipped through the steel door. He hurried down the steps, opened the door at the bottom slightly and peered out. It was clear, so he opened the door, scanned the hallway of darkened offices and narrowed his eyes. Hearing footsteps rushing down the steps, he moved into the middle office and pressed his body against the wall pointing the rifle toward the doorway.
Out in the middle of the plant, Nasir paced around angrily. The women were still tied to the rack as the two other men
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