The CEO Above My Desk (Mckenzie Shinabery) novel Chapter 236

Chapter 236

Agent Naomi Bennett

Locke stepped beside me while looking over another screen. “SWAT’s roughly six minutes out.”

I nodded once.

Good. Quiet deployment. No local police involvement. No chance of leaks.

The younger agent from before suddenly hurried toward us again holding a tablet tightly. “Agent Bennett.”

I looked up immediately. “What?”

“We recovered additional footage from the bombing last week.”

I froze. “What kind of footage?”

“The parking garage camera system was heavily damaged, but some files recovered from backup storage.”

He swallowed. Then handed me the tablet.

I stared down at it.

Static flickered across the screen. Damaged video. Broken frames. Distorted colors.

Then the image sharpened slightly.

My entire body went still.

Marcus Hale. Clear as day. No doubt. No question.

Marcus crouched beside one of the underground support columns holding a bag.

He looked around once. Calm. Then reached down and attached something directly to the concrete support beam.

No.

No no no! I grabbed the tablet tighter.

I remembered the structural report from the previous bombing.

Half the underground garage destroyed. Temporary support redistribution. Pending repairs. Pending reinforcement.

Pending Oh my God!

I looked up so fast my chair nearly tipped backward. LOCKE.

Chapter 236

He looked at me immediately. I didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate.

I yelled. “GET THEM OUT OF THE BUILDING NOW.”

The entire room immediately went silent.

Locke grabbed his radio. “ALL UNITS INSIDE ASHCROFT INDUSTRIES EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. I REPEAT EVACUATE THE BUILDING NOW.”

I was already moving toward another station. “Call emergency response.”

“What happened?”

“DO IT.”

Agents immediately scattered.

The younger agent looked terrified now. “Agent Bennett—”

Then the world exploded. The sound hit first. Not a normal explosion. Not a single boom.

It sounded like metal tearing itself apart. Like thunder had detonated directly beside us.

The windows around the command center shook violently. Glass cracked. People screamed. Someone dropped an entire laptop to the floor.

Jesus Christ.

Nobody spoke. Nobody breathed.

Because outside the windows, Ashcroft Industries was collapsing.

Not all at once. Section by section. Concrete burst outward. Glass shattered into the streets below. One corner dropped. Then another. Then

another.

The already damaged lower structure failed beneath the weight above it.

Cars swerved. People ran. Dust exploded into the streets in massive gray clouds. Sirens immediately started screaming from every direction.

“Oh my God,” somebody whispered.

No. No no no!

My agents. My people. They were inside.

I grabbed the nearest radio immediately. “ALL EMERGENCY RESPONSE UNITS MOVE NOW.

“Fire rescue now.

“Get ambulances moving.”

2/6

10:29 am

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“Search and rescue immediately.”

Everything became movement. Absolute chaos.

Locke suddenly grabbed my arm hard enough to stop me. “Naomi.“

I turned sharply. “What?!”

He pointed toward one of the camera feeds.

I followed his hand. Then froze.

Because there… Three blocks away… Marcus Hale and Asher West walked calmly through an alley.

Covered in dust. Covered in debris.

Alive.

Alive!

Marcus looked toward the traffic camera. Then looked directly into it and smiled.

My entire body went cold.

That son of a bitch.

Locke immediately started moving. “We need to go.”

I looked back toward the collapsed building.

Toward the smoke. Toward the screaming people.

Then back toward Marcus.

I made the decision instantly.

I pointed toward another group of agents. “Rescue teams go!”

I pointed again. “Everybody else starts perimeter lockdown.”

Then I grabbed my jacket and sidearm. ‘Locke.”

He looked toward me as I hurried out the door. “We’re ending this today.”

I didn’t slow down. Didn’t stop. The elevator took too long.

Absolutely not.

We took the stairs. Three floors. Two steps at a time. By the time we hit the parking level my lungs were burning.

Locke reached the SUV first. My door wasn’t even fully shut before he slammed the vehicle into drive.

Tires screeched loudly against concrete. Then we were moving. Fast.

Outside looked like complete chaos. Smoke rolled into the sky. Sirens screamed from every direction. Police vehicles flooded the streets while

fire trucks raced toward Ashcroft Industries.

People stood on sidewalks crying. Some recording. Some staring.

Jesus Christ.

Locke gripped the steering wheel tighter. “You calling Rowan?”

I looked out toward the growing cloud of smoke in the distance. “No.”

He glanced over briefly. “No?”

I shook my head. “I need good news first.” My jaw tightened. “Because right now I’d be calling him to tell him his fucking building just

collapsed.”

A few minutes later we pulled into the alley where Marcus and Asher had last been spotted.

The second we stepped out, the damage felt worse up close.

Dust still drifted through the air. Concrete chunks and shattered glass covered the streets. Emergency lights reflected off smoke and debris while helicopters circled somewhere overhead.

The collapse had sent pieces of the structure everywhere. Some parked cars had been crushed entirely beneath concrete slabs. Others sat abandoned with doors hanging open.

People shouted in the distance. Radios crackled constantly.

I pulled my weapon while Locke moved beside me. Slowly. Carefully.

We started moving deeper into the alley. Nothing. No movement. No voices.

Just debris crunching beneath our boots.

We followed the direction Marcus and Asher had been walking based on the traffic footage.

Then circled. Then doubled back. Still nothing.

Locke looked frustrated now. “Damn it.

I scanned the alley again.

Trash bins.

Fire escapes.

Broken brick.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing!

Then my phone rang.

I immediately grabbed it. “Talk to me.”

“Agent Bennett.‘ It was the same young agent from before. I really need to memorize his name. His voice sounded breathless. Excited. 1gr.

hit.

Everything inside me immediately tightened. “What kind of hit?”

“Transit camera.”

I stopped walking immediately.

Locke looked over.

The young agent continued quickly. “They moved three blocks south after leaving the alley.”

My stomach dropped.

“They boarded a bus.” He contiuned.

“What?”

“They used fake names but facial recognition picked up enough structure points from their faces to flag them.”

I looked toward Locke immediately. “Where’s the bus going?”

The answer came immediately. …Texas.

Silence. Then Locke slowly looked at me. And I watched realization cross his face instantly. “Oh fuck no.

“What?”

He looked back toward the SUV. “They te making a run for Mexico

The CEO Above My Desk

Chapter 237