of gas had been tossed through the smashed windows and were spurting thick plumes of chemical smoke into the room.
A moment later, four men clad entirely in black with full-face gasmasks climbed through those broken windows with guns drawn. More fool, them. They should have waited longer for the gas to do its trick because all four of them were dead before they’d even taken two steps into the kitchen.
"MK, get to the panic room!" Kody barked, covering his face with his T-shirt and holding his gun steady as he waited for more attackers to enter.
The gas was getting thicker, making my head swim and my vision blur, but I staggered in the direction of the foyer. I needed to get across the garage to the hidden panel.
"Here!" Anna shouted, tossing me a wet washcloth. She had one clasped to her own face and a heavy skillet in her other hand.
I followed suit, breathing through the wet fabric to filter the gas somewhat, then watched in shock as a gas-masked man appeared from the corridor and grabbed for Anna. She was ready for him, though, and smacked him so hard in the face with her skillet that blood splattered the wall as he collapsed.
"Fuck," I exclaimed as she smacked the man one more time before collapsing herself.
"Run, girl," she croaked at me, then dissolved into coughing as her eyes rolled back.
Tight fingers circled my upper arm, and I almost lashed out before recognizing Steele behind me. "Hurry," he told me in a strained voice. His face was deathly pale, his lips turning a weird shade of blue, but his eyes were determined.
I dragged a lungful of air through my washcloth and raced out into the foyer, leaving Kody and Archer shooting at people behind us. Fucking hell, how many attackers were coming for us? But more to the point, why? The hit had been canceled. Kruger was dead. What the fuck was even happening right now?
Steele ran with me through the marble foyer to the garage, but jerked me out of the way a fraction of a second before I passed through the doorway. Not a moment too soon, either. Two gasmask-wearing men came through the doorway, and Steele dropped the first one with a shot. Then his gun clicked empty. Thinking quick, he charged at the second man, shoving him back through the doorway, and slammed the door shut and locked it.
"Shit," he wheezed. With a panicked look, he pushed me in the direction of the stairs. "Other entrance," he ordered me. "Run, don't stop. They must have gassed the AC."
That was all he managed to tell me before several gunshots fired through the flimsy door and narrowly missed hitting him.
"Go!" he roared, ducking out of the way as the door burst open in a shower of splintering wood.
I stumbled, coughing, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins pushed me forward. Taking the stairs three at a time, I barely even breathed, not wanting to inhale the gas and succumb to unconsciousness. Shouts and gunfire echoed through the house below me, but I didn't look. Anyone who'd watched a slasher flick knew the second you looked, you'd trip, fall, and ultimately die a painful, gruesome death. No thanks.
The guys had said there was a panic room access point from the second linen closet; I just needed to get there without being caught. Or, fuck, was it the third linen closet? On the left or the right? Who the fuck had so many closets anyway?
Taking a gamble, I went with my first instinct and yanked the door open as my vision swirled dangerously. I needed to hurry the hell up, or I'd pass out.
Someone had to be smiling down on me, though, because it only took a few seconds to pop open the hidden panel and slip into the darkness of the narrow staircase. I descended so fast I practically tumbled the last few steps, then slammed my palm onto the biometric scanner.
The door slid open immediately, and I threw myself forward. My vision was almost entirely black and my limbs felt like they were moving through custard as I reached up and pressed the button to close the door.
It slid closed silently, but not before I saw a gasmask-wearing man storming down the tight corridor toward me.
"Too late, fucker," I croaked as the door sealed, cutting him off from me as securely as Fort fucking Knox.
There was a moment of dead silence, then a soft whirring started up and