Once Shaw locked the door, he made his way back along the corridor and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He leaned against the wall and took some deep breaths. His Wucker training had taught him to remain calm, to detach and assess the situation, to maximise the best response.
He was panicking.
Where was Mary? He had used the same main staircase but not passed her. Time was running out; they would storm the building soon. There would be ten elite fighters in a Black Crow unit, and they’d have spent some time fully assessing the building and its access points. His best hope was that they’d have ruled out the rear as too inaccessible or overgrown. Once he started shooting, it would probably be all over for him with ten against one. He had to use his advantage of knowing the building and his training with his hands and knife.
However, all this was pointless if he was searching for Mary or if they found her first.
He crept quickly up to the ground floor and peered carefully out into the hall. There was a little moonlight, and in it, he saw Mary standing in the doorway of his office. But he also saw the doorknob of the front door turning very, very slowly.
Quickly he ran across the floor, grabbing Mary’s hand and pulling her to the stairs. Getting behind her, he grasped her waist and started propelling her up.
‘Don’t say anything. They’re here,’ he whispered.
She seemed to grasp the urgency of the situation and moved with him until they got to the first floor.
The Black Crows would be right behind them. As soon as they secured the hall, they would split up and start sweeping the floors one by one.
Shaw opened the door to the laundry room, and they went in. Indicating the huge washing machine, he helped Mary up into the drum and grabbed some sheets from the floor. Crumpling them up, he went to push them in front of her. ‘Whatever you hear, stay put. I’ll come back for you, but you must stay here and not make a sound. I promise I’ll be back.’
She smiled and looked directly at him. ‘I know.’
He tucked her in, arranged the sheets to cover her and gently pushed the door to, ensuring there was a crack in the door to let air in.
He was tempted to stay close to protect her, but he knew that he had to start picking off the Black Crows if they were to stand any chance of getting out.