"But...I...ca-"

She wanted to say that she wouldn't...that she couldn't...but the words stopped, suddenly sticking in her throat as her mind slowed. Lashes fluttered as blue eyes blinked, her gaze coming back into focus after an eternal moment. Dahlia shifted, her movements halting and stiff as she let Marcus go, leaving propped only against the grand edifice of her desk.

Standing, she hesitated as she gazed down at him before the compulsion to leave overwhelmed her last reservation.

There were people dependent upon her for more than their livelihoods tonight.

Fingers clasped tightly around her cell phone, she turned and stumbled out of her stilettos and her office, watching the few people stumbling about the far end of the hallway towards the stairwells and elevators. They were panicked and fearful, glancing over their shoulders in expectation of further violence. These were her people...the ones she'd hand-picked to come with her in this new venture.

She paused as she reached them, searching the faces. "Lucy, is anyone else on this floor tonight? Did Hector go home already? I don't see him here..."

"He left early...the four of us are the only ones up here tonight...at least...we were...until the shots started..." Dahlia grasped the woman's shoulder with her free hand and shook her before the shrill tone of her voice got any higher.

"Stop it...hysteria won't help. Let's get out of here first, ok? Stay with me, Lucy. We'll be fine. Rob, give her a hand, would you?" Thankfully, the man nodded and took Lucy's arm in his grasp. Turning, Dahlia pressed her palm to the nearby panel and forced open the secure emergency stairwell door. That action would silently alert the police and the fire department, she mused as she ushered people inside and closed the door behind them.