Page 31 of Guarding Truth
She had to get the people out of the burning building, but Caleb was one step ahead of her, running toward the lobby entrance, directing people to the parking lot across the street to get them out of the debris fallout area.
“I need to go in,” Juliette yelled over the cacophony of shouts and sirens. “People might be trapped.”
Caleb had one arm supporting a coughing woman to keep her upright, and he halted Juliette with the other arm.
“The building might not be safe. You’re not a firefighter. The sirens mean they’re close. Wait for backup.”
He ushered the woman to a bus stop bench. Her once white outfit now had black stains. Juliette could smell the smoke from her hair, but she didn’t appear to be injured.
No way would Juliette stand by if people needed to get out of the building. “I’m not going to wait around for the fire to spread, trapping more people. I’m going in.”
Caleb looped his arm around hers. “Wait. For. Backup.”
Traumatized soot-covered people clustered a safe distance from the office. Black smoke clung to the air, billowing from the crater that was once the site of Caleb’s office.
She wriggled out of his grip. “What happened to your Army training, Caleb? We need to get the people out.”
He spun her around to face him, placing both hands on her shoulders. “You don’t think I care? That’s my office. My employees.” His voice was barely a whisper with the wordsmy employees. “But you’re not a firefighter or a Ranger, you’re a bodyguard.”
His words hit their intended mark, snapping Juliette’s head back to reality. Caleb was in danger. If he’d been in that office when it exploded…
“You’re right. I can’t leave you unprotected. Because you need someone to watch your back. This attack was personal. I’m calling Agent McGregor to get you and Ivy into protective custody.”
Her heart stopped.
Ivy!
One look into Caleb’s eyes and she knew he’d realized the same thing. If these terrorists had stalked Caleb to his office, they wouldn’t hesitate to go after Ivy to use as leverage.
All of Caleb’s facial features tightened at once. “Ivy. We need to pull her from school, make sure she’s safe.” He dropped his trembling hands to his side while he fumbled in his pocket for his phone.
“They may go after her, Jules. I can’t take that risk. What if they find her at school? We have to do something.”
“I’m on it.” With her phone in hand, she fired off a text to Noelle. “Noelle is at the school. I asked her to tail Ivy, and last time I checked, she was waiting on the school’s security officer to clear her to be on campus.”
“We need to go. I have to make sure she’s not in danger.”
Caleb swiveled his head, and Juliette did the same. She checked for anything out of place. Could the perpetrators be in the crowd, watching their handiwork? She scouted rooftops of other buildings in the area for snipers. Because someone had declared all-out war against Caleb, and his protection was her top priority.
“Let’s get out of the open.” She led Caleb to the side of a building across the street, away from the paramedics. She caught sight of Agent McGregor and Decia Slaton making a beeline for them.
Before Agent McGregor uttered a word, Juliette pounced. “Can you get Caleb and Ivy into protective custody? They aren’t safe.”
“Slow down, Ms. Montgomery. I’ll see about protective custody if there’s a reason for it. But we all need to sit down and have a conversation about this. We still don’t know what the hackers want or why they’ve escalated to this kind of violence.”
Juliette huffed. “They’ve already kidnapped one of Caleb’s employees.” She waved her arm in the direction of the smoldering building. “That’s Caleb’s office. I’d say these are pretty good reasons we need to get Caleb off this street to somewhere safe. You even said that Caleb might be instrumental in your investigation. If the FBI knows this, so do the hackers.”
They both gave their version of events to Agent McGregor and Decia.
“Excuse me, but I see Michelle from my office.” Caleb raced across the road before Juliette could stop him.
She glared at Agent McGregor and gritted her teeth. “Help me protect him. Find us a safe house.”
Juliette dashed after her client and found him with his arm around Michelle, whose tears ran streaks through the soot covering her face. “It was so awful,” Michelle sobbed. “There was a big rumbling sound, and black smoke filled the whole floor. If anyone had been in your office…”
Caleb nodded to Juliette. “My office was empty. They’d moved the meeting to a conference room on the other side of the floor to use the bigger screens and to accommodate more of the staff. The casualties might be minimal if no one was in the direct blast area.” Caleb morphed into a soldier right in front of her. His clinical descriptions harkened back to their Army days. All business. Assess the situation. Check for survivors.
“That’s a relief.” Juliette didn’t see any wounds on Michelle, but she could have inhaled a significant amount of smoke. “Will you get checked out by a paramedic before you leave? Also, you’ll need to give a statement to the police.”