Haunt [Aidan Hunter series book 2] [RE-WRITING]

Chapter 15

I reached for my flashlight lying nearby, pointing it around to find the others. To my relief, they were alive, despite a little stunned. Henry sat up slowly, coughing out dust. Charlie and Louis were near the stairwell, along with Jason and Martin. Robert had taken cover behind the front desk. 

I couldn't see Parker.

Against the dim light seeping through the windows, I spotted a silhouette of someone darting across the lobby, followed by another. Then two more appeared.

"We have company," I said.

A barrage of gunfire came at us. I scrambled to my feet and rushed to Henry, yanking him up. Bullets ricocheted all around and I flinched, my heart jackhammering in my chest. Henry and I rushed behind a wall near the elevators.

I tried to peek out of our hiding place to look for Parker, but withdrew quickly when shots fired at me. I cursed under my breath. Taking another chance, I peeked out again, catching sight of her hurrying to the control panel. A bullet hit in close proximity to where I was, breaking a small chunk of the wall. A tiny piece of debris flew into my eye and I pulled back.

"Ah, goddamn it!"

"You okay?" Henry asked.

I blinked a few times. "I'm fine. We need to cover Parker."

The silhouettes proved to be difficult targets, their beams of light darting all over the lobby. I fired a couple of random shots at them to keep the intruders at bay. At the very least, I wanted to it to be enough so Parker could reach the power panel.

Some of the dark figures stood near the exit, most likely to make sure none of us escaped. I wanted to know how many of them were there, and where Vincent was, because I was damn sure he was present. I'd take the risk of getting shot if I leaned out with my torch again.

Guess I had to.

I shined the light on the lobby and caught a glimpse of Ninja Assassin sprinting past before gunfire sent me withdrawing again.

"God! Can you be more careful?" Henry scowled.

"There's about four of them," I said. "Including him."

"Who?"

"Our friendly neighborhood assassin."

Henry huffed. "Was I right about Vincent? Is he there?"

"Didn't see him, but I know he is."

That ninja didn't know how to give up. One of the other men had to be Vincent. After all, he was always present at the worst times. I doubted his wounded leg would stop him, either. Sticking together was our best advantage, that is, if the explosion didn't force us to split up. Vincent knew exactly how to hit us and where. 

The guy's got a lot of balls breaking into our HQ, I'll give him that.

The others engaged in the firefight, though they could only do so much. The darkness proved to be our biggest disadvantage. None of us could see the enemy properly, even with flashlights. Vincent's men knew better than to stay in one spot too. They proved to be tough targets, constantly moving about and changing positions.

Henry fired, and we heard one of the gunmen yelp.

"I think you got him," I said.

"That wasn't me," he replied.

Martin reloaded his gun, speaking from across the hall, "That's one down."

"Good shot, chief," I said.

"We can't keep this up. Can somebody get the goddamn power back on?"

"Where the hell is Parker?" Louis asked.