73. Victor

Chapter seventy-three

Victor

“ H ere is a list of the house specials for the next month.” I hand out the stack of papers with the list to one of the servers so they can pass it out. “The holidays are coming up and we’re already getting reservations for private parties. The only person who should schedule the parties is Kat. She has a system, and I promise you don’t want to mess that system up.” I’m about to turn it over to Kat so she can talk about holiday hours and overtime when a loud explosion happens.

Several people jump, one of the girls screeches, then everyone turns to face the windows. My heart drops and my ears start ringing because without being told I know whatever that explosion was has to do with Donovan somehow. Everyone’s phones blare, including mine. I reach into my pocket, still trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

“Oh my god,” someone gasps next to me.

Emergency alert: There has been a bombing. Please remain calm and remain where you are currently located. More details will be released soon.

I read the alert over and over again. It doesn’t click that this is actually happening until a few people run past my pub looking like they may have been close to the location. The ringing in my ears intensifies. It feels like I’m in a scene in a movie where all the sounds are muffled and panic has seized me so hard I’m momentarily paralyzed.

“Boss!” Leo’s voice snaps me out of my stupor and I look in the direction his voice came from. He’s standing in the doorway. “We have to go. Now!” I immediately go into action and run outside with him.

“What the hell is going on?” I ask loudly over the sound of the sirens. I hear people screaming and shouting in the distance.

“The Holloway building has been bombed,” he replies.

We both run in the direction of the smoke rising in the sky. I don’t respond as every worst case scenario flashes through my mind. Lincoln just finalized the purchase of that building. Although, it’s been called The Holloway building for decades because that’s where his father had his practice.

When his parents died, they left the fourth floor to him, but the other floors were sold or given to business partners. “Where’s Olivia?” I ask Leo. I haven’t asked until now because the thought of getting bad news would make me die inside. We both come to a stop when we reach the block The Holloway building is on.

Leo looks at me, and I see fear in his eyes too. “She’s in the building,” he replies and I take off again. I don’t care that the police have it blocked off. The building is still standing, so there’s a chance she’s in there and she’s safe. The closer I get, the more damage I see the building has sustained.

Leo is right on my tail and grabs me before I’m able to push my way through the barricade. “There’s another way,” he says when I round on him, ready to knock him on his ass. “Arden is already in there attempting to get to her.”

“Victor!” I turn at the feminine voice and come up short at the sight of Ansley. She runs to me in a dress and heels, not caring the least if she might trip and fall. “Lincoln is in there,” she says. She’s out of breath, frantic, and crying.

“Have you talked to him?” I ask. Reaching for my phone, I unlock it and pull up Olivia’s name.

“Cell phones aren’t working,” she says. “He was able to call me from one of the office phones before those stopped working. He said him, Olivia, and a few other people were going to try to get down a back stairwell that looked clear.”

I still try to call Olivia, but like Ansley said, it doesn’t work. “Do you know where that’s at?” She used to work here, didn’t she? I’m sure I remember Olivia telling me that.

She grabs my arm and pulls me in the same direction I’m sure Leo was about to take me. Why didn’t Olivia try to call me? Maybe she had planned too, but the phones went down before she was able to. We follow her as she tries to jog without bringing the attention of first responders to us. Then I see it. Donovan’s black Mercedes Benz, at least what’s left of it.

Concrete has fallen on it from the explosion and destroyed it. I’m torn between finding Olivia and going over to his car and seeing if I find his dead body. That thought lasts a millisecond before I continue to follow Ansley and Leo until we’re in the rear of the building where the parking garage can be seen from the sidewalk.

Normally there’s an iron gated fence stopping people from jumping down into the garage and tampering or breaking into any of the cars, but the explosion twisted it so there’s a space big enough that each of us could climb down into it. Leo immediately drops through the space.

I turn to Ansley. “You stay here. Lincoln will kill me if anything happens to you,” I tell her. She looks like she might argue, but decides against it.

“I’ll keep watch.” She puts her hand in her pocket and hands me a whistle. Why the hell does she have a whistle? “Take that and use it if you need me to get one of the first responders,” she says. I’m still wondering about the whistle, but now’s not the time. I drop into the opening.

When I do, I’m met with the realization that this parking garage could go at any moment, but I don’t focus on that. I focus on getting to Olivia. Leo is already at a door trying to open it, but it doesn’t budge.

He bangs on the door. “Is anyone there?” I run over to where he’s at to see if I can help him yank it open or do something. Anything. There’s pounding on the other side, but we can’t hear their voices, to know if Olivia or Lincoln are with them.

Then I’m pretty sure I hear someone yelling to get back. I don’t know if they’re talking to the people inside or us, but Leo and I both move out of the way. As soon as we do the door slams open and if we had been where we just were we both would have been knocked unconscious by it.

Six or seven people run out, including Arden, Lincoln, and Olivia. The relief I feel at seeing Olivia is visceral. She barrels into my arms and we both slump to the ground. I hold her to my chest as she cries. “Victor, oh my god. There are people still in there.” I hold her tight as I look over her head and give Arden and Lincoln grateful looks.

“Ansley. She’s waiting for you,” I tell Lincoln. Leo points to where we came in at, but when he does, we all notice what’s there. Donovan and about five or six of his men.

“I’ll be taking back what is mine now.”