Ashes - Book 1 Read Free Page A

mentally go through my schedule. I have to remember to complete my final paperwork to begin my master’s degree in the fall.
    Pushing open the door, I jump when a hand falls on my shoulder and I whip around, keys raised in defense.
    “Help me, please,” a young girl cries. She’s breathing hard and twisting her hands together. She looks barely fifteen years old, even tinier than me. “Please,” she whimpers again, her breathing coming in great gasps. The eye that isn’t swollen shut is imploring me. She looks terrified and is shaking all over. There’s blood covering most of her face.
    Before I can respond, a man yells, “Get back here, bitch!” The voice is loud and cracks the air, followed by what sounds like boots pounding the concrete in our direction. I don’t yet see the man wearing them.
    The girl screams, her good eye widening in fright. She’s terrified and tries to push past me and into the center. I move to the side and hustle her through the door.
    “Shut the door!” she cries out. I don’t.
    I wait, wanting to see the guy, to be able to identify him, and pull my phone from my pocket. The girl is screaming, begging me to close the door, but I hesitate a little longer. I need to see. I must see him. Record him if I’m able. Put whoever did this to her behind bars.
    He rounds the corner of the building. Shit. The guy is huge. Bald. Jeans. Black t-shirt. Big as hell. I fumble for the camera on my phone. He’s twenty yards away and moving fast, faster than a big man should be able to run. I tap video and hold the phone up, recording him. Fifteen yards.
    “I’ll fucking kill you!” he roars and lifts an arm, running with his hand in front of him, shielding his face from the camera.
    Ten yards. The girl is hysterical, clutching at me now. I move backwards and the two of us push the door closed; I turn the lock just as the brute plows into it with what must be his shoulder.
    We both scream, but the door holds. I test the lock, making sure it’s turned all the way and move back as the door shudders again. I jump as the alarm system begins to wail, its voice pulsing through the building. I haven’t had time to disarm it, thank God.
    I thrust my phone at the girl, unwilling to wait for the alarm center to call us first. “Call 911.” Then I run to my office for the can of mace I keep hidden there. I run to Stephanie’s office and grab the stun gun from the bottom drawer. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Why didn’t I listen to Gage and get a real gun?
    The girl’s screaming into the phone, not making sense, crying in great heaves. The office phone begins to ring, adding to the noise. I grab my cell from her hand and yell at her to answer the other phone. The alarm company will know the address. I just need her to pick up the extension.
    The girl turns around in circles, not seeing it hanging on the wall. Her nose is bleeding harder now, dripping onto her clothes. I push her in its direction.
    “I have an emergency at the HEAL Center,” I yell into my cell and give them our address. The door shudders again and, good God, do I hear something crack? Impossible; this door is steel, isn’t it? Plus, I can’t tell over the girl screaming, the alarm wailing and my heart thundering in my ears. The dispatcher is asking me additional questions. I can barely hear him. I try to concentrate.
    “A guy is breaking down our door, right now. Please hurry.” Another crack. It’s not the door. “He’s got a gun!” Another crack and the lock on the door explodes. “He’s in!” I scream in the phone and grab the girl by her arm, pulling her after me.
    Where to go? Shit. I don’t know.
    Behind us, the door bangs open, the force slamming it into the wall. The girl screams again; so do I when the sheetrock two feet from my head is punched by a bullet.
    The closest office is mine and I pull her behind me, just as she screams and falls, taking me down and nearly pinning me beneath her. I manage to roll and get to the door,