“Wait.” Tiffany felt along the wall. “It could be spring loaded.Push.”
My hands leveled next to Tiff’s and we threw our weight forward. At the pop, I nearly cried out. The back of the closet opened, and a light flickered on, giving view to more guns than I’d seen in my entire life. The fact that a shelf was already cleared sent my stomach twisting.
“Fuck taking guns to the living room. Get in. Let’s shut ourselves inside. I doubt they’ll be able to break in, but if they do, maybe they won’t find us in here.”
“What if they do?”
I helped her push the door back in place. “If so…” I reached for a gun, holding to it like a lifeline. “We shoot.”
Tiffany quickly reached over, grabbing a handgun almost identical to the one I held. Where I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, she had no problems ejecting the magazine to check to see if it was loaded.
“They’re ready. We should be good.” She leaned over, checking my gun. “Safety is off. Don’t pull that trigger until you have to.”
I nodded, pushing Jase’s number on my phone. Nothing happened. I jerked it back, checking the screen.
“Shit. There’s no service in here.”
“Of course there’s not. Do you think they got in? I don’t hear anything.”
“Cameras.” I jogged to the back, taking in the positions. There was the living room, the bedrooms, the kitchen…the entrance area.
“I don’t see them. Did they leave?”
“No way.” I moved in closer to the small monitor, squinting as I peered into the different rooms. A loud alarm had me shooting my feet.
“What is that?”
Tiffany’s hand grabbed my bicep as we lowered back to the screen. Swift movement in the corner of the entrance had my breath catching. It was towards the roof, almost just out of sight. The color couldn’t be mistaken.
“Fire. They’re trying to burn us out.”
The other men stormed passed the blaze, coming back to the door. He was on the phone, appearing to yell to whoever he was talking to. The other two were both huddled over the keypad, doing their best to get inside.
“Tiff, I have to go out real quick. I have to call Jase.”
“You can’t go out there. What if they get in? Look at them! They just set a fucking fire.”
“Which is why I need to call Jase. The only way out is past them. If I don’t call him, we’re fucked. I think we’re fucked anyway. I don’t know what to do.”
I put down the gun, turning back to the screen. They were still outside, still trying to get the lock open.
“Stay right at the entrance and leave the door open,” Tiffany snapped. I’ll let you know if they get in.Hurry.”
She helped me open the door, turning and racing back to the cameras as I entered the closet. I hit Jase’s number, trying to stop the shaking that was taking over. After three rings, the voicemail kicked on. I hung up, calling back again.
“Come on.Come on. Answer the phone.”
“This is Jase. Leave a message.”
Beep!
“Jase, we’re in trouble. Dominguez and the other guards are dead. There’s five men outside. They’re trying to get in. They set a fire and the alarm is going off. Jase, I don’t know what to do. They’re banging and shooting at the door. I think they’re going to get in. Please—”
A hand fisted my shirt, ripping me back so fast, I screamed and lost my footing. I fell into Tiffany, barely managing to hold onto the phone as she dragged me back to the room and threw her weight into shutting us in.
“What are you doing?”
“Shhh. Shhh.” She was shaking as tears fell over her cheeks. I ran for the cameras, not making it a few steps before I realized nothing was there. The video was gone. The screen was black.We were blind.