ZANE

 

Room by room, I'm doing a full sweep of the 70th floor. I've already checked at least twenty rooms and all of them have been empty so far. It's not looking good right now. And though I hate being a pessimist, it's looking more and more likely that Anna is no longer in the building.

And that doesn't make sense to me, because if this really all goes back to the Grimm family, then they would want me. Not her. That's why my suspicions are raised.

Red flags are flying everywhere and it's enough to make me second-guess all of the events that have unfolded today. I try to piece all of the pieces together, but I just keep coming up with an unsolved puzzle. I try to think of what they could want with Anna. The only thing that comes to mind is that they know that she's close to me. And that weighs heavily on my soul because before today we weren't that close.

I mean, we have been associates for years but when people take hostages for ransom, it's usually a loved one, someone intimate. For all these people know, Anna and I don't have that kind of relationship. Or at least we didn't until today.

Again, I can't help but feeling that by dragging her into this mess, I've signed her death warrant. I exit a conference room and pull the door shut behind me. And then I make my way to the next room by entering a door to my left. I flip on the lights, because at this point I don't care if they know where I'm at. I'm half considering going down the hallway screaming at the top of my lungs just so they can find me. If anyone is left in this building, that is.

I close the door behind me and make my way to the next room on the left. But it's empty just like all of the others. When I leave that room behind I throw myself forward against the wall and punch it as hard as I can. I scream out with a potent combination of rage and sadness.

After all of my years on the job, I've never wanted to quit. I've always seen the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. I've always thought that the good that I do outweighs the bad, but then again I've never lost anybody close to me. Not since I came home from the war. Not since this all first began with Dom, the other boys, and myself.

I land another hard blow against the wall, putting a hole in it. Seeing as how this is a bank-owned property, I know that someone is going to have to come in here and fix all of this damage before the building is actually sold. Thinking about that, I remember back when we first found the conference room and Anna had wondered out loud whether or not this place was even technically for sale. That's when it dawns on me that to figure out what is actually going on here, I need to figure out who owns this building. Which is easier said than done given that there are no means to communicate with anyone outside of this building.

Realizing that most likely I'm not going to find Anna in this building, I resolve myself to get the hell out of here, go back to the factory, and have Marcus do some digging. And when he finds the answers I need, I will enlist the help of my brother, Dominic, and Chase. God, I wish Luke was still here but he's gone. Left without so much as saying a word to any of us. Given the bond that we all share, his sudden disappearance is more than out of character.

I decide to check the last few rooms on this floor before I climb back into the elevator and to descend to the first floor so I can get out of here and get the help that I need.

It's never easy to admit that you need help. Especially not for someone like me, who prides myself on my own independence. But I simply can't risk Anna’s well-being for the sake of my own ego. After I've searched the last few rooms and they've all come up empty, exactly as I expected, I march back towards the elevator with a newfound purpose and willpower to end this once and for all.

But as I draw closer and closer to the elevator, my eyes shift to the digital panel beside the shaft doors. And I see that the elevator is climbing one floor at a time.

Until the number reads 70.

And the doors slide open. And for the brief second that comes between the number 70 showing up on the monitor and the doors opening, I pray silently that it’s Anna who’s about to walk through those doors.

But it's not.

It's two men with handguns, both aimed squarely at me. I'm not in the mood to deal with these simple henchmen, hired hands without an agenda of their own. They're only purpose in life is to make money off the misery of other people. And their employers are people like Seth Grimm and Mitch.

But like I said, I'm not in the mood.

I squeeze the trigger and pop the first guy in the head. His head jerks back as a bullet impacts his skull and he fumbles backwards into a sitting position, dead in the elevator. The other man fires his gun, and just as I think I'm about to die, I don't.

He wasn't aiming at my head. He was aiming at my gun, and he hits it with perfect accuracy, sending the gun flying out of my hand. He aims the gun now squarely on my head and that's when I know I have no choice left.

I do the unthinkable.

I raise my hands above my head.

And I surrender.