Sean and the others watched the news report with grim fascination. The television displayed dozens of police cars, several fire trucks and ambulances, and emergency crews rushing around the outside of a tall building.
"That's awful," Adriana said in a hushed tone.
The screen switched to a man in a suit with his tie slightly loosened. He had dark circles under his eyes and rubbed his head as he spoke. "I… we just adjourned a board meeting," he said, choking on some of the words. "I went back to my office to finish up some work, and I heard a loud explosion. A minute later, I heard the crash. I… I had no idea what had happened at first." The guy fought hard to keep the tears from gushing. "I can't believe they're all gone. It doesn't make any sense. Who would do something like this? Those men have families, friends. And now they're gone." He pushed the microphone away. "I'm sorry. I can't right now."
The camera went back to the reporter, a blonde woman wearing a ruffled purple blouse. "That was the company's chairman, Bernard Holmes, just minutes after the attack. We'll bring you more on this story as it develops."
"Crikey," Reece said. "Maybe Sean is onto something with his whole fear of heights thing."
Sean absently nodded.
"Whoever those terrorists were, they knew exactly where those men would be, and when they would be there," he said.
"What?" Tommy asked, still staring at the television.
"If it was a random terrorist attack, they would have hit in the middle of the day. Why bomb an elevator at night when no one is in the building?"
"I guess they knew someone was in the building."
Sean pointed at the screen. "See that?"
There were images coming in from the basement where both sets of elevator doors had exploded when the cars hit the bottom.
"Both elevators fell. Why two?"
"I don't know," Tommy shrugged. "I suppose you're going to enlighten us?"
"It's just weird, is all. Seems awfully strategic, taking out the entire board of directors of a major company like that. Not a terrorist's style."
"They attacked corporate America in 2001."
"True, but the timing of this one had to be absolutely perfect. Whoever did this knew those men would be on the elevator when they were. And they knew all of them would be there."
"Well, they missed one," Reece said. "That crying chairman sure is a lucky bloke. Good thing he's a workaholic; otherwise he'd be at the bottom of that wreckage."
Sean stood up and walked over to the blankets he'd piled on the floor in the corner. "Turn that off. We need to get some rest, and watching that isn't going to help. I'll take first watch. Tommy, you're next."
They'd rented two rooms, but with the events surrounding the sniper earlier, the group decided it would be best if they all stayed in one place.
Tommy switched off the television and climbed into his bed. Reece was already lying down and shimmied under the covers. Both men had offered their beds to Adriana, but in spite of their insistence, she declined, instead choosing to sleep next to Sean on the floor.
Reece reached over and turned off his lamp, plunging the room into darkness. Adriana curled up next to Sean and put her head on his chest. Within minutes, everyone was asleep, leaving Sean alone in the dark with his thoughts.
He'd done this sort of thing many times in the past. Some of his missions required him to stay up twenty-four hours, and more than a few of them put him in places where he had to fight off sleep to stay alert. Now it seemed like more of a struggle than before. He wasn't twenty-six years old anymore.
Gravity tugged at his eyelids, and several times he had to shake his head to keep himself awake. Thirty minutes into his shift, Adriana rolled over, turning her back to him. He felt around next to him until his fingers touched the familiar cold metal of his Springfield's barrel.
He grabbed the weapon and stood up. Sitting down wasn't helping. Since everyone was asleep, he figured moving around a bit would keep the blood flowing and force him to stay awake for the next ninety minutes.
Sean tiptoed over to the desk against the wall and set his weapon down on the surface. He'd cleaned it earlier while everyone else was getting ready for bed — an old habit from his days with the government.
Might as well walk around out in the hall, he thought.
He took a glance back into the pitch darkness and then padded toward the rim of light surrounding the hotel room door. Something clicked, and he froze in place. The noise came from out in the hall. He crept over to the door and looked out through the peephole. The corridor immediately beyond was empty. But he'd definitely heard something. Maybe it was one of the neighbors coming in from a late night of partying at one of the resorts.
Sean had slipped into a pair of cargo shorts and a T-shirt earlier, so he wasn't worried about being indecent if he stepped outside. Curiosity got the better of him, and he reached for the door handle. Just to be safe, he twisted it down slowly, careful not to make a sound.
The door latch was well made, and the bolt slid out of the housing without even the slightest squeak.
Sean eased the door open and poked his head out the door. A black combat boot disappeared into the room next to his. It was the other room he'd rented. Someone knew Sean and the others were there.
He swallowed and made a split-second decision. If he stayed there, he might be able to get the jump on the men when they realized the room was empty and decided to check the second one, but it could also jeopardize the safety of his companions. If he went on the attack, however, he'd have the element of surprise.
Sean went with the second option.
The best defense is a good offense, he thought.
He pulled the door closed, twisting the outside handle as he did so that the bolt wouldn't click when it shut. It would also lock automatically and buy his friends some time in case they heard anything and woke up.
He crept over to the other door and waited. The men inside had closed it behind them keep any light from the hallway from spilling in and to prevent any potential witnesses from happening on the hit. Sean had seen this sort of thing before. Heck, he'd done this sort of thing before — except when he did it, it was to rid the world of horrible people.
He stopped on the other side of the door and waited. They'd use sound suppressors if they were smart, or possibly knives. Guns were easier, faster, and much more effective. But even with the silencers attached, they produced a muffled pop that could potentially draw unwanted attention.
Sean pressed his back against the wall and waited. Something made a noise inside, like one of the guys had bumped against a dresser. Sean imagined they were rummaging through everything to make sure no one was there, though it would have been pretty obvious as soon as they stepped through the door.
The door latch started turning and brought Sean's attention back to the hallway. When the handle was pointing down, the door started to slowly open. The long black tube of a sound suppressor was the first thing that inched its way out. Mistake number one for the assassins. The killer wouldn't be anticipating an ambush, and their grip on the weapon would be somewhat relaxed.
Sean's hand snapped out and squeezed the barrel. He twisted and yanked it with the full force of his muscles. The movement caused the assassin's trigger finger to pull back, and the muzzle puffed, sending a round harmlessly into the floor. Sean wrested the weapon away within a second because holding on would have broken the other guy's wrist. He flipped the gun around to fire, but the man lunged at him and smacked his hand to the side. In the same movement, the villain twisted his torso and smashed Sean's cheek with a roundhouse punch.