Cloud Dust: RD-1 (R-D #1)(28)

I moved aside so Rafe could help the PM and the others out of the ventilation shaft, while I leaned against the wall and attempted to even my breathing.

"They're coming," August said when he dropped out of the vent last. That's when Rafe and the PM's guards took stock of the hallway around us—there wasn't any furniture or anything heavy to shove against the vent and slow our pursuers.

"Which way, cabbage?" Rafe asked softly. I peeled myself away from the wall, lifted the skirts of my evening dress and took off at a run. The others ran behind me.

*

President Sanders blinked in disbelief. Another news report interrupted the one she and her cabinet watched concerning the Secretary of State and the British Prime Minister.

"It is now confirmed that the Tower of London was breached during the confusion after the attack on 10 Downing Street, and an anonymous source reports that the Imperial State Crown and other valuables have been taken. It is not known as yet whether the two incidents are connected."

"Holy f*cking hell," the Secretary of Homeland Security cursed.

*

Corinne

The Pindar Citadel beneath the Ministry of Defence might have been worth the enormous price paid when it was finished in the '90s. The facility housed a huge warren of rooms, bomb shelters, sleeping quarters and everything else one might require in the event of a siege. We didn't have time to stop and appreciate it—our pursuers were catching up.

I hoped the door we ran toward would hold them back for a few minutes; it was nearly a foot thick and surrounded by concrete. The problem? It wasn't meant to hold off a direct attack—it was meant to keep government officials safe in a bombing crisis.

We raced through it, and August and one of the PM's bodyguards manned the spokes of the locking mechanism, turning them as quickly as they could.

"Go on," August snapped while he and the guard worked. "We'll catch up."

I took off again, while Rafe and the others followed. They probably weren't going to like what lay ahead of us, but it might give our pursuers pause and I hoped they'd think we'd gone another way.

The passage was beyond a service door, which was locked. Rafe and Maye managed to kick the steel door down, since we didn't have a key and it didn't have a keypad. The small, square room was for maintenance workers only—containing a six-foot, round airshaft in the floor, with a huge fan whirling inside the shaft. Why did I take them that way?

Beyond the airshaft lay another door that hadn't been used in a very long time. It led to the abandoned site once known as the Chancery Lane deep shelter and Kingsway telephone exchange.

"We have to cross the shaft and get to that other door," I shouted over the noise of the fan and pointing at the door beyond. "Rafe, we need the door placed over the shaft so we can cross, then we need to carry it through that other door when Auggie and the guard get here."

"His name is Dave," the PM said.

"Dave and Auggie," I corrected myself.

"I'll make sure it happens," Rafe nodded.

Carefully, he and Kevin lifted the door and laid it across the shaft. Blocking the air caused newly created winds to swirl about us, lifting my skirts and attempting to blow my dress over my head. Grabbing expensive fabric, I tied it in a makeshift knot so I wouldn't endanger myself or the others.

The door barely fit over the shaft, and the PM's second guard made the first trip to test its safety before allowing the PM across.

The Secretary came next, with Ken, Dalton and Maye close behind. I could hear running footsteps in the hall outside by that time.

"Go, Corinne," Rafe urged.

I pulled Kevin with me, and halfway across the door, with forced air whipping hair and clothing, I heard muted gunshots outside.

Hurry, Auggie, I thought at him before Kevin leapt off the door, sending it scraping across the opening and almost dislodging it with me still on it.

Rafe shouted before grabbing the door and keeping it from sliding off the shaft. I fell to my knees and teetered for a moment on the door's edge, almost coming face to face with whirling fan blades.

August ran in, supporting a bleeding Dave—he had a shoulder wound where an enemy's bullet had hit its mark. Standing as quickly as I could, I took two steps and almost fell off the end of the door, leaving it empty for the others to cross.

Dave had managed to kill two of our pursuers, but he'd been wounded in the process. It didn't matter that two were dead; more were on the way. Dave had to be helped across the chasm by Rafe and August—he'd already lost a lot of blood and was far too unsteady on his own.

"Maye, we need this door down, too," I gasped for breath as I came to a stop at the second door.

"We'll get it," Kevin and Ken said together. I moved aside to allow them room. In unison, they kicked, sending a not-so-heavy door crashing into a round tunnel beyond.

"I hope you know where you're going," the PM said. "I have no working knowledge of these tunnels."

"I think she knows," Rafe said, grabbing my arm and pulling me through the door. "Buck up, cabbage. We need you to get us out of this. We still have eight behind us, and they're armed to the teeth."

I took off, Rafe beside me, with the others following. Ken dropped back to help August support Dave; we didn't have time to stop and give the poor man first aid. At least the wound was in his right shoulder, but it had to hurt and he was bleeding badly. Ken had a hand over the wound, attempting to slow the blood loss.