She slid the chair across the hall to Grayson. “It’s been eleven minutes since I talked to Egner. He was fine.”
“This wasn’t emotionally induced suicide like Owens,” said Grayson under his breath. “This was done by someone else.”
He jammed the chair under the doorknob of Frodo’s office, barricading Reece in. The doorknob was still shaking, and Reece was still yelling, but empath strength wasn’t breaking through that chair.
Grayson bent to his ankle holster and then tossed something her way. “Here.”
She caught it. A .44 Magnum. They didn’t carry these on the force.
Grayson moved away from the door, another gun in hand. Jamey stepped next to him, heart racing. There had been two huge men found dead on the yacht with Hathaway: one with deep bruises on his throat, the other with a shrimp fork embedded in bone. And now, whoever had stabbed Egner had done it with enough strength to splatter his blood up the walls. “I can still call the department.”
“No backup. Just us.” Grayson glanced at her. “Can you evacuate?”
She nodded once.
“Evacuate?”Frodo’s voice hit a new level of shrill as Grayson disappeared into the crowd. “Will one of you please explain what on earth—”
“Blondie looks like he’s on a mission.” Diesel appeared behind Frodo, holding a glass of something red and fizzy. “Is some unlucky bastard about to get their ass kicked?”
“I’m sure I don’t know!” said Frodo, high and panicked. “I don’t know anything tonight. Why do you have a Shirley Temple?”
“I told Ben that Reece was back.” Diesel looked around. “WhereisReece?”
The pounding came again from Frodo’s office door. “Frodo! Jamey! What’s going on?”
Diesel blinked.
Jamey nodded at Diesel’s arms. “Are those muscles just for show or do they work?”
“They work?” Diesel said slowly, making it a question.
“Great.” She pushed him in front of Frodo’s office door, drawing a breath of surprise from Diesel, who probably wasn’t used to other people being able to move him. “You guard this door.”
There was pounding intensified. “Jamey!Let me out!”
Diesel looked at the door, and his eyebrows drew together. “Is that—Reece?”
“Guard it with yourlife,” said Jamey.
“But why is Reecebarricadedin the boss’s office?”
“No one in or out,” Jamey ordered. “Don’t open that door, no matter what you hear Reece try.” She grabbed Frodo by the arm. “With me.”
“But what’s happened?” Frodo protested, as she dragged him a few steps down the hall. “I don’t understand what you and Agent Grayson are—”
Jamey bent down to speak quietly in his ear. “Egner’s dead.”
Frodo gasped.
“Murdered,” she clarified. “Violently. And the killer may still be in this club.”And have the ability to change emotions like a radio dial. She left that out.
Frodo had gone very pale. “But I just spoke to Mr. Egner thirty minutes ago,” he stammered. “How could he be dead?”
Grayson or Stone Solutions could come up with an explanation for this one. “We need to prioritize the living,” she said. “We need to evacuate before anyone else gets hurt. I don’t care if you have to promise everyone free shots in the street, just get them out of the club. You understand?”
Frodo wiped at his brow with one hand. He shot a glance down the hall, at Diesel leaning on his office door. “What about Reece?”
Diesel was guarding the door, and there was no other way in or out of Frodo’s office besides the second-story window. Reece would be safe while they evacuated. Pissed, but safe.
