Once Upon a Disaster

by Holly Copella

  “My God, listen to it down there,” Dani gasped while trembling. “It sounds like a war.”

  “If we’re lucky, they’ll kill one another,” Rafael muttered while staring at the barricaded glass.

  The gunfire ceased within the lobby, although shots could still be heard in the distance coming from the city streets. Everyone listened in silence. They could hear faint footfalls of someone within the stairwell. Rafael, who was positioned behind the receptionist’s desk on the front line with Larson, looked at the others behind the second barricade.

  “Someone’s coming,” Rafael announced to the others. “Second-string, if they get through the barricaded stairwell door, don’t shoot until we’re out of the way.”

  They nodded and remained ready but nervous. Rafael, Larson, and Brad focused on the hallway just beyond the glass lobby wall. They heard pounding on the stairwell door. The pounding stopped, leaving an eerie silence. For a moment, it was possible that the intruders gave up and went to another floor. They heard the blast of a shotgun as the door flew open. Everyone jumped and ducked behind their barricades. The three men behind the receptionist desk kept their weapons aimed while remaining shielded behind the tall desk. They didn’t see anyone, and nothing moved beyond the glass. Jade dived through the broken glass over the desk, rolled across the floor, and popped up in a crouched position with her semiautomatic aimed.

  Rafael stared at the armed woman with surprise. “Don’t shoot,” he cried out.

  Jade remained motionless with her gun aimed and assessed the situation. Rafael slowly stood with his hands up while holding the Uzi.

  “Jade--?”

  She appeared relieved and lowered her gun. Rafael ran around the desk, approached Jade, and pulled her into his arms. She returned the loving embrace.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered near his ear while clinging to him.

  Their joyful reunion ended abruptly when Jade pulled away, glared at him, and snatched the Uzi.

  “I can’t believe you took my Uzi,” she lashed out and waved the weapon. “You never touch a woman’s Uzi!”

  “Sorry.”

  Vahn hurried Greg into the lobby then over the second barricade of desks to cubical square. The other employees saw Greg and commented quietly among themselves. Jade climbed over the desk and allowed Vahn to assist her down to the other side. His hand caressed her buttocks as he released her. She frowned and swatted angrily at his hand. Vahn grinned playfully. Rafael saw their interaction and glared his disapproval.

  Greg hurried to his office and barely looked back as he spoke. “I’ll need at least thirty minutes,” he announced.

  Janice and Abby shouted a warning as he opened his office door. Greg stared at the dark, empty space that was once his office and the parking garage.

  “Holy shit! What happened to my office?”

  Jade and Vahn joined Greg in the doorway and stared at the mound of rubble.

  “That’s going to slow things down,” Vahn commented while folding his arms across his chest.

  “It’s gone! My computer is gone,” he cried out. “All the evidence I had on Cody--”

  “Look on the bright side,” Vahn announced and playfully slapped him on the back. “With his billions lost, he has no reason to torture you.”

  “Yeah, he’ll just shoot me instead,” Greg snapped back and pulled away from Vahn.

  “I didn’t say it was perfect,” Vahn casually replied.

  Greg glared at Vahn, obviously not humored, then shook his head and groaned. “I need a minute,” he muttered. “If you need me, I’ll be in the bathroom.”

  Jade and Vahn looked into the vast nothingness that was once Greg’s office. They stared out at the dark city as sirens continued to wail.

  “This is just great,” Jade remarked.

  “Greg!” Larson cried out.

  Jade and Vahn turned in time to see Greg leaping over the desk barricade and taking off for the fire stairs.

  “Damn it,” Jade cried out and was about to run after him and bring him back.

  “I’ll get him,” Larson announced and took off after the fleeing programmer.

  Rafael stood behind Jade and noted her frazzled look. “What’s going on?”

  She turned to face her uncle and groaned with defeat. If she ever got her hands on Greg, she’d almost certainly punch him or worse.

  “Greg had evidence on his computer to put away Cody Riley, but it appears his computer is gone forever,” she informed her uncle while frowning. “The bastard took off in the interest of saving his own ass.”

  “You don’t need the computer,” Rafael informed her with little concern. “All that information is on the main server. You just need to access it from another unit.”

  “I’m afraid not,” she informed him. “Greg didn’t put it on the secured server because he didn’t want anyone else having access to the information. That’s why he needed his computer.”

  “I can understand why you would assume that,” Rafael replied, “but when I was in his computer to do updates, I saved those files to the server.”

  She stared at him with surprise.

  He casually shrugged. “I thought it might be something important, so I took additional steps to ensure it could be recovered if the police needed it.”

  “You can access it from another unit?” Jade gasped.

  “No, you can’t access it,” Brad suddenly chimed in. “If you saved it to the server from Greg’s computer, it went into his account. He did something to his account to prevent anyone including administrators from accessing his work. Untrusting bastard.”

  “How do you know that?” Dani asked with surprise.

  Brad fidgeted slightly. “I may have tried to hack into his account once. I’m telling you, it can’t be hacked.”

  “Maybe you can’t hack into his account on the server,” Rafael announced casually, “but I can.”

  Jade looked around at the remaining workers, her anxiety rising. “Find him a working computer!”

  Everyone searched the office for a working computer. Larson returned a few minutes later, having been unsuccessful in his hunt for Greg. He immediately helped search for working computer parts. They found parts from different computers and piled them on one of the desks. Rafael attached the keyboard, mouse, and monitor to the tower then pulled a chair before the desk and began typing. Everyone watched Rafael’s fingers fly along the keyboard. The monitor revealed different screens that appeared to pop up and vanish rapidly.

  “Holy shit! Look at him go,” Janice gasped.

  “I practically paid for college typing other student’s papers,” Rafael remarked.

  “How can you even see what the screen says?” Vahn asked while staring over his shoulder.

  “I don’t have to; I know what it says,” Rafael informed him without taking his eyes off the screen. He grinned deviously. “I love hacking secured servers.” He continued to work while barely casting a glance at Jade. “What do I do with the information once I retrieve it?”

  “Can you save it to a flash drive?” Jade asked.

  “If you find me a flash drive.”

  Everyone searched the trashed cubicle square for a flash drive. They routed through drawers and sifted through debris on the floor. Dani finally found one and hurried to the desk.

  “I found one,” Dani cried out as she approached, “but I don’t know how much space is available on it.”

  Rafael took the stick without missing a stroke and inserted it into the computer. The flash drive contents appeared then disappeared as if by magic.

  Larson hurried back to the desk with a concerned look on his face. “There’s someone coming up the stairs,” he announced to the others. “With the stairway door wide open, they’re just going to walk right in.”

  Vahn and Jade grabbed their weapons and hurried for Dani’s desk. Someone fired at them. Everyone took cover except Rafael, who was partially shielded behind the divider wall in cubicle square. Dani crou
ched alongside Rafael’s chair and watched him work without appearing distracted by the gunfire. She held her gun and kept watch on the lobby. Jade and Vahn fired back into the hallway. A smoke bomb suddenly flew into the lobby. Everyone screamed and scattered. Smoke quickly filled the area behind the desk. Rafael continued to type. Dani kept her gun aimed despite the smoke filtering from the lobby into cubicle square. Cody, Bruno, and four other men shoved the desk aside and filed into the room like a mini SWAT team. Both sides fired their weapons.

  “You have to take cover, Rafael,” Dani cried out, concerned for his safety.

  “I’m in,” he cried out. “Watch my back.”

  “He’s accessing the files,” Cody shouted from across the room, although he couldn’t get past the second barricade of armed workers to stop him.

  Rafael hit the button and removed the flash drive. He stood and looked at Jade.

  “Jade!”

  She turned to see Rafael with the flash drive. He threw her the stick and tackled Dani to the floor as Cody’s men shot at him. Jade caught the stick, diverting their attention to her instead. Vahn stared at the stick in her hand and appeared alarmed. He pushed Jade across the lobby and over the desk toward the elevator.

  “Go!” he shouted.

  Jade ran for the elevator with Vahn behind her, firing shots at Cody and his men, forcing them to take cover behind the desk in front of the lobby doorway. Jade and Vahn dove into the safety of the elevator. Jade hit a button to release the elevator, allowing the doors to close. The men ran from the office except one who continued to shoot at the remaining workers. The office workers fired back. Larson’s gun clicked empty, forcing him to dive behind a desk. Cody’s man made it past the second barricade and aimed his gun at Rafael, who shielded Dani on the floor. Both stared at the man with horror. A gun fired. Rafael covered Dani. When he wasn’t shot, Rafael slowly lifted his head and looked toward the shooter. Cody’s man suddenly appeared motionless as blood seeped from his mouth. He then collapsed to the floor. Miller stood with his gun in hand on the other side of the second barricade then looked around while lowering his gun.

  “Where’s Jade?” Miller demanded.

  Rafael jumped up from the floor and dove into his chair, riding it in front of the computer. “Running an errand.” He resumed typing on the computer.

  Dani appeared alarmed while staring at him with her mouth hanging open. “I thought you passed it off to Jade?” she gasped with surprise.

  “I’m good, but I’m not that good,” he informed her. “She’s buying me time.”

  “Does she know that?” Dani cried out.

  “That’s irrelevant.”

  Dani considered their situation then straightened and looked at the others. “Find another flash drive!”

  Chapter Forty-three

  The elevator doors barely opened on the fifth floor when Vahn and Jade ran into the corridor. They heard thundering feet on the stairs not far from them and closing fast. Jade and Vahn ran along the hallway to the nearest door and bolted inside. They paused just inside the doorway and listened to the sound of running feet in the corridor. Jade leaned against the wall while clinging to her Uzi and the flash drive. She stuck the flash drive down her shirt into her cleavage for safekeeping. Vahn strained to see down her shirt then looked around the dimly lit television studio and appeared surprised to see the talk show set. Apart from television equipment laying smashed on the floor, the studio seemed to have suffered less damage than the ninth floor.

  “Isn’t this that show where those women sit around drinking coffee and gossiping about stuff no one cares about?” Vahn asked while raising a curious brow.

  “I think so.”

  He frowned, obviously displeased with the response. “I really hate that show.”

  Vahn nudged Jade down the aisle of nearly one hundred stadium seats toward the stage with a desk and several toppled chairs. The show’s coffee mugs with the show logo on them lay strewn along the desk. Jade and Vahn hurried across the stage and toward backstage, where more equipment lay scattered along the floor. The studio door behind them opened to reveal Bruno and another man, Fellows. Cody brought up the rear. Before the men could see them, Jade and Vahn hurried across backstage for another entrance. When they nearly reached the door, it opened. Vahn grabbed Jade and pulled her behind some fallen stage equipment. They both crouched down and silently watched the two men enter through the back door with their guns clutched in their hands. There were two in the front and two to their rear. Both were closing fast.

  “Want to see stupidity at its finest?” Vahn asked while grinning deviously.

  “You don’t need to prove anything to me,” she scoffed, mocking him.

  “Funny.”

  Vahn picked up a ceramic mug from the floor, turned toward the studio door, and threw it across the room. It struck the door with a loud thud and shattered. Both men turned toward the studio door with their guns aimed. The door opened to reveal Fellows as the two men opened fire. Fellows took several hits before falling to the floor. The two men appeared horrified and ran for their fallen man. Vahn grinned and nudged Jade. She shook her head at the pride he displayed regarding the accidental shooting. She followed him toward the back door. While Bruno argued with the two men, Jade and Vahn slipped out. They entered the ladies restroom, seeking shelter.

  Vahn looked around and appeared bewildered. “I thought this was the bathroom?”

  “It is.”

  “No wonder women take so long in the bathroom,” he remarked while scanning the room. “Look at this place. Perfume, make-up, mints--” He looked up with surprise. “My God, you have a television. Hell, I’d never leave the bathroom if I had one that looked like this.”

  “No one has a bathroom like this,” she muttered. “Check out the one at the precinct. It’s pretty disgusting.”

  “I’ve seen the men’s room on numerous occasions, thank you,” he replied. “So what’s the plan? Are we going to hang out in here all night?”

  “No, we need to get as far away from here as possible,” she replied.

  “If we try to make a run for it, we run the risk of Cody getting his hands on that flash drive,” Vahn informed her then drew a deep breath and looked around. “We should just find a quiet place to hide until the National Guard arrives.”

  Jade subconsciously ran her fingers through her mussed hair. “There’s nothing on the flash drive.”

  He stared at her with surprise. “What?”

  “Congratulations, you’re a decoy.”

  “A decoy?”

  “Rafael’s good, but he’s not that good,” she informed him. “There’s no way he got the information onto this flash drive. He needed more time.”

  “You got all that from him throwing you a flash drive?” he demanded.

  “No, but I know Rafael,” she replied and frowned with defeat. “When he accomplishes something he knows no one else can, he gets this annoying smirk on his face. The look he gave me was frustrated.”

  “Great,” Vahn huffed with a look of disgust on his face. “We’re being hunted by the mob, and we don’t even have anything worth bargaining.”

  “They don’t know that,” she informed him.

  “I wish I didn’t either,” he muttered.

  Chapter Forty-four

  Cody paced the television studio stage while his remaining men searched the area. Bruno entered the studio and approached his boss. Cody turned and watched him walk down the steps toward him.

  “Well?”

  “We have the stairs blocked, and the elevator is in our line of sight,” Bruno announced. “They can’t leave this floor without us knowing.”

  “I want him found,” Cody snarled then paced impatiently. “Who’s left? We need additional men. Were you able to contact the others?”

  “No,” Bruno replied. “Phone lines are still jammed. I sent a text, but no one’s responding.”

  “We can’t let them out of this building with that flash drive,” Cody
informed his man with a moderately concerned look on his face. “If Jared finds out I lost his billions, I’m as good as dead.” He eyed Bruno. “I think it’s safe to assume everyone beneath me will go down with me.”

  Bruno frowned at the comment and shifted uncomfortably. “We’ll find them.”

  “Yeah, or we’re all dead,” he remarked. “Kindly mention that to the guys, so they don’t screw up, okay?”

  §

  Jade paced the bathroom while Vahn sat on the vanity and played with the basket of perfume and lipsticks. He checked each shade of lipstick and held a few to her for her approval. She glared at him and shook her head.

  “Give it up,” she snarled and returned to pacing. “I’m not wearing lipstick for you.”

  Vahn groaned and jumped to his feet. “Okay, so we need to leave the building. The stairwell is our best option,” he informed her. “There’s one about thirty feet from here to the right. If they’re not in the hallway, they’re going to be watching the stairwells. We need a plan.”

  “Really? If you’ve got one, I’d like to hear it.”

  “Of course I have a plan,” he blurted out. “You need to buy Rafael time, and they want the flash drive. You give me the flash drive, and we’ll cut them a deal for it.”

  “What? I’m not going to sell them the flash drive,” she softly cried out.

  “You’re missing the point, Jade,” he announced. “We sell them the flash drive; they leave the building. Rafael gets the information, and Cody goes to jail.”

  “And you’re suddenly worth a couple of million?” she demanded with an arrogant look in her eyes.

  “I didn’t say it didn’t have its perks,” he announced while grinning then whined playfully. “Come on. He gives me the million, you come out smelling like a rose, and we dance off to Bora Bora.”