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All except those caught during the initial attack

After setting the fail-safe, Painter had stopped first at the communication nest of central command and had tapped into the video feed He’d found that outside co someone had the schematics to the command structure, but they’d left internal lines open From the top floor’s caather a dozen hostages, their wrists secured behind their backs with plastic ties

It could’ve been worse At this late hour, Sightly staffed Satisfied, Painter had prepared what he’d needed, and once done, he turned his attention to the danger closest to his heart He shoved open the door to the stairwell and almost knocked Kat Bryant on her rear end

She carried Sasha in her arms

He struggled to comprehend

Beyond Kat, he spotted Malcoluard

“What? How?” he stammered out

Lisa shoved past Malcolm and hurried up to him She was covered in blood His heart hammered, but she seeave hi He felt the shudder of her relief, ain

“What happened?” he asked

Kat related in terse, dispassionate thu to evacuate”

“You’ll never make it out with Sasha,” he said “All the exits are surely covered”

“Then what do we do?” Lisa asked

Painter checked his watch “Well, by escaping on your own, you’ve already made ym locker room Secure her in there All of you”

“What about you?” Kat asked

He kissed Lisa on the cheek, turned toward the door, and headed out “I’ve got one last thing to do—then I’ll join you”

“Be careful,” Lisa said

Kat called back to him “Director! Monk’s still alive!”

Painter halted, glanced behind him, but the stairwell door slammed shut What? He had no time to inquire what she had meant It would have to wait He sprinted back down the hall and returned to where he had started, back to the co, he tested the air A sweetness permeated the space, as it should all of central command

It was the first stage of the fail-safe prograaseous accelerant into the air It took a minimum of fifteen minutes to reach critical levels And while it was safe to breathe for at least a couple of hours, they didn’t have that long In another ten hout the base and trigger a firestorm across all levels of central command The flash fire would last only a few seconds, fed by the accelerant in the air, searing every surface within the concrete bunker Then sprinklers would kick in, dousing the flames immediately

Inside the communication nest, Painter checked the row ofvideo feed from cameras on every level

He stalked along the for It showed Mapplethorpe standing beside Sean McKnight He held a pistol to Sean’s back Behind the down an open stairwell door

Painter tapped on the audio from the camera