There was probably only a hundred feet of distance between Cooper and his son, but it may as well have been a continent. Five floors of concrete and steel.
Natalie stepped between the man and their son. And then as Cooper watched, she wound up and slapped him. Then she turned, took their children’s hands, and led them off the elevator and into the hall.
Drew Peters pressed the button to close the elevator doors.
Cooper’s brain was razor blades and electricity. Everything whirling and cutting, crackling and snapping. Distantly, he could hear Quinn saying what he already knew, that they were splitting up.
Peters has a plan of his own.
“Can you shut down the elevator?”
“I’ll try, but I don’t…” The floor numbers continued changing. Sixth floor, seventh floor, eighth floor…
Cooper wanted to scream, wanted to explode, wanted to flex his muscles and shatter the world. His family so close, and him helpless.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do it, not before they…”
Ninth floor.
“Stop trying. Follow the others. Where are they going?”
Quinn gestured frantically, cycling through cameras so fast Cooper could barely process them, elevator, lobby, parking garage, rooftop, landing on an image of a hallway. The shooters moved away, one in front, one behind, his family in the middle. They walked to the end of the hall, turned the corner.
And were gone.
“Get them back!”
“That’s the only camera we have on the fifth floor.” Quinn’s voice grim. “Cooper, I’m sorry. Looks like one camera in the elevator lobby of each floor, but that’s all. Security for the common areas only. The offices would want privacy.”
“How many offices on that floor?”
“Umm…ten suites.”
Ten suites. Each with multiple places to hide.
“Let’s go.” Shannon’s voice sounded pinched. “We can get to the fifth floor, work together. They won’t be expecting both of us.”
The elevator reached the tenth floor. Drew Peters and Roger Dickinson stepped off. They appeared in another monitor, the elevator lobby for that floor, and started walking. Peters transferred the briefcase to his other hand.
Cooper looked at the clock: 9:47. “No.”
“What?” Quinn and Shannon together.
“I’ve got two minutes to get to that office. If I don’t show up for the meeting, if I’m even a minute late, Peters will know something is happening. Best-case scenario, he’ll call his team and they’ll all abort. Worst case, he’ll kill my family and take his chances calling down an army on this building.”
“So…what do we do?”
“I need to you to go after them.” He turned to her. “You have to save my family.”
Her eyes were wide. Scared, he realized, an expression he hadn’t seen on her before. “Nick, I—”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Please.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Meet Peters. I’ll buy you the time you need.” Something dark and heavy slipped inside of him. “Get my family out of here.”
He wanted to say more, to both of them, but there wasn’t time. He just headed for the door. Shannon followed a moment later.
They moved swiftly down the hall to the elevator corridor and paused just before it.
In his ear, Quinn said, “One man by the elevator. The other is in the lobby behind the desk, pretending to be security.”
Shannon said, “Is the elevator guard looking this way?”
“No.”
She slid around the corner.
Cooper stood still, his body raging. The clock in his head counted down. His thoughts whirled, Natalie and Kate and Todd and men with guns and Drew Peters and President Walker.
This ends tonight. One way or the other.