I hide in the bathroom so the cart can be brought inside, then pick at the pancakes on the cart and sip at strong coffee while Eckhart waits outside with the rest of his group. There’s no time to shower, but I brush my teeth and manage to wash all the important parts with a washcloth and soap, conscious of the men just outside my door. I stare at myself in the bathroom mirror and wonder if this is worth it.
Doesn’t matter if it is or not—it’s too late now.
“It’s only a short flight to D.C.,” Eckhart informs me as I leave the sanctuary of the hotel room behind. I can’t look him in the face now that he saw me in that sheer getup, but at least he’s acting like nothing happened. “We’ll have you there quickly.”
“Fantastic.” I don’t even bother to hide my morose mood. The closer I get to the destination, the more surreal it all feels. My heart is beating too fast in my chest, and I feel like I’m going to start hyperventilating. I consider asking Eckhart for a paper bag, but I don’t think he’d find the humor in it. This guy is all business.
The elevator shakes once during the fast descent from the twenty-first floor, and I have to grab onto the railing of the car to keep my balance. Eckhart starts to reach out for me but pulls his hand back when he sees I have a hold of the railing. He looks from me to the lighted display at the top of the elevator car and scowls.
As soon as the elevator doors open, it’s obvious something is going on. In my paranoia, I think it’s about me, but I quickly see that it’s not.
There are about thirty people in the lobby, all pressed up against the glass doors.
“It must have been an earthquake,” someone in the crowd says. Others seem to agree.
“That wasn’t an earthquake,” a man argues. “Not enough to shake the building. Not around here.”
“A fire?” a woman questions as she holds a school-aged boy’s hand tightly. “Did a plane crash?”
“I don’t see anything outside.”
“Get out of the way and let me look!”
Hotel security appears and tries to move everyone away from the doors as they quote fire codes. Eckhart sends one of his guys to get information from the hotel security group before he brings me off to the side.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“No idea,” Eckhart says with a sharp shake of his head. “Let’s just give everyone a minute to clear.”
He takes position behind me and slightly to the right. He keeps his right hand hanging close to his hip, and when I look down, I can see the bulge of a gun there.
I close my eyes. I have never liked guns, have never been around them, and don’t know anything about them. Knowing one is so close to me makes my skin crawl, and I can’t help but wonder how many times Eckhart’s used it.
There’s a rumble from outside, and the floor shakes. It is what I would imagine an earthquake feels like, but in Atlanta? Don’t those only happen on the coast or something?
“Do you think it’s an earthquake?” I ask dumbly. Eckhart obviously has no more of an idea than I do and doesn’t bother to respond. He keeps his eyes forward, watching the short interaction between hotel security and the man he sent over to talk to them.
The conversation ends, and the security guard from Eckhart’s team turns to head toward us. As he turns, he makes eye contact with Eckhart and shakes his head slightly. Eckhart starts to speak, but I never hear his words. They are drowned out as a massive explosion rocks the building and sends me crashing into him.
Chapter 2
My ears ring and my head throbs. I’m barely aware of Eckhart’s arms around me as he helps me back to my feet. I hear screams, but they’re muffled. People are pushing past us, and Eckhart’s team is trying to steer them all away from me as they scramble past.
A large wooden support beam falls from the ceiling of the lobby, crashing onto the marble floor. More people scream, and I think I see someone trapped underneath the rubble.
What the hell is going on?
“Outside!” I hear Eckhart say as he pushes at my back, directing me toward a shattered glass door. “Be careful.”
He keeps his hands close to me but not quite touching as I step over the glass and out of the hotel. Eckhart stays near me as we head out into the street with many of the other hotel patrons. There are people everywhere, running around the cars and heading to our left. Eckhart looks to the right and the mass of people running in our direction. There’s another blast from that vicinity though it’s not as close as the previous one.
In the distance, there’s a massive rumbling sound, and we all look up as a twenty story building collapses a few blocks away. There are more screams from the crowd, and Eckhart grabs my arm.
As soon as he comes in contact with me, I tense everywhere. He had only touched me lightly on the back before, but now his fingers grip my arm as he pulls me off to the side near the brick wall of the hotel.
“Sorry,” he mutters as he releases my arm. “Just stay close to me.”
I nod, unable to answer with words. People are running everywhere—screaming. There’s another explosion in the distance, and the ground beneath me shakes.