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“Let me look,” Gia said, peeking around a clerk.
Max yanked her back.
“Maximillian,” she admonished.
“Mamma, you have to be more careful.”
“Those men don’t know me from Adam’s house cat. I’ll just walk past the counter with the clerk to see if those men are still there. Wait for my little wave to give you the ‘all clear,’” Gia said.
“I guess you would draw less attention,” Agent Perez agreed.
Max wasn’t happy but nodded.
Once Gia strolled past the clerks’ stations and was no longer exposed, she frantically waved her arms for them to join her.
The agent went first, keeping his head turned away from the lobby. He was halfway to Gia when a bullet whizzed past his head, slamming into a cabinet behind him. Everyone dropped to the floor. Screams rang out. Then, it was pandemonium in the lobby. People pushed and shoved to get to the doors. Some stood frozen in terror. The counter clerks dashed past Max, heading to the back offices. He ducked low and used the chaos as an opportunity to move through the open space. When another shot rang out, he dove for the concealed area where Gia and the agent waited.
Gia grabbed the clerk’s hand when she began to cry. Gia spoke calmly. “Dear, we need you to get us out of here. We’ll keep you safe.”
“O…okay.”
More shots were fired as they made their way to the back door. With trembling fingers, it took the clerk four tries to enter her code correctly. They hurriedly made their way down the back steps of the dock and around the postal trucks to find Sam Barrett in his SUV with the engine running. He was a welcome sight.
“Get in!” he screamed out the window.
Max practically threw the two women into the backseat. He looked up at the agent, who now held his gun firmly in his right hand.
“Aren’t you coming?” Max asked.
“I have to help those people,” Agent Perez growled.
“You’re outgunned, Perez. Get in the vehicle till we can get some backup,” Sam said in a calm voice. “My men and I will help until the police get here.”
The words had barely left Sam’s mouth when shots blasted against the back loading dock door, holes appearing on the outside. The agent jumped in the backseat while Max slid in the front. As Sam was turning left toward the front of the building, a bullet shattered the back window. The clerk screamed.
“Get in the floorboard,” the agent yelled.
“It’s going to be okay. We’re out of range, but stay down,” Max assured them.
When they reached the front of the building, they realized escape wasn’t going to be easy. The front parking lot resembled a scene from an apocalyptic movie. In their panic to leave, drivers were recklessly slamming into each other, blocking the exit. Terrified people abandoned their cars and fled the parking lot. Some ran screaming down the sidewalk. Others headed across the street to the city park.
Sam opened his door. “This is as far as we can go. Everybody out. Max, my men are parked on the street to the left of the exit in two silver SUVs. If you can get the women to the vehicles, my men will get them to safety. We are going to need the others for backup.”
“What are you planning to do?” Perez asked Sam.
“I’m coming with you,” Sam said, reaching into the console and pulling out a .45.”
“You can’t have that on federal property,” Agent Perez huffed.
Sam raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes to slits. “Minutes after Morgan advised me there were dead bodies in a car down the street, I observed two armed men get out of a black van and head toward the front doors. I had my team call the local police for backup but found there were only a couple of deputies at the station. The other three on duty are 50 miles away with the sheriff at an officer’s funeral. My team is all you’ve got for at least another 30 minutes. From what I understand, there were four DF members in Georgia. If those are the men we are dealing with, you just met two of them. The other two could be anywhere, probably in the black van that sped off. Now you want to quibble about my gun? Plenty of innocent bystanders need protection unless you want hostages.”
“Don’t you guys coordinate with the local police when you’re working a case in their jurisdiction?” Max asked, not masking his irritation.
The agent shook his head. “As I said earlier, this wasn’t even my case. I got minimum information. It was supposed to be low risk.”
Max resisted the urge to ask him how that was working out for him.
The agent turned to Sam. “I guess I don’t have any choice but to accept your help. At least until I know everyone is safe,” the agent sighed with resignation. “Do you know if anyone inside is hurt?”
