Ten minutes later, Phil and Leslie found themselves on the seventh floor with Fisher, four of his men, Gabi, and Charley unaccounted for.
"I almost feel sorry for that last one," Phil said as he checked the hallway.
"You hit him over the head with the gun," Leslie replied. "All I did was distract him." She checked her watch. "I wish these sons of bitches would just all materialize at once so we can get this over with."
"Leslie," Phil said to her, "forgive me for being less concerned than you with the time your plane leaves, but I'm trying to keep people alive here, ya dig?"
Leslie nodded.
Phil's eyes widened as he stepped out into the hallway. "Holy shit," he breathed. He paused. "Sorry."
"I hear ya," Leslie said. "Now this is a construction area."
Charlene had definitely gone to work. There were nails sticking out of both walls - and two unconscious MAW agents duct-taped together on the floor. Each had a handful of nonlethal but painful-looking wounds, as well as the telltale patch of burned skin left by a powerful taser gun.
Phil slowly crept over and inspected the two agents. Both had their hands cuffed behind their backs and were missing their guns and ammunition. He looked around but couldn't find anyone else on that floor.
"Nobody?" Leslie asked.
"Just me," Charley said as she walked out of one of the rooms. "There's two more in the stairwell. Your Gabi isn't too bad with a stun gun."
Phil frowned. "Where did she go?"
"To look for you," Charley answered. "After she gave me my taser back, of course. We make a pretty good team."
"Fisher and one of his agents are still out there," Leslie said. "Not a very good idea to be running around looking for people."
Charlene shrugged. "She looked like she had things under control."
"We'd better go find her," Phil said.
"Where would we even look?" Leslie asked. "She could be anywhere." She looked at Phil. "What?"
Phil didn't answer. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to be listening to something distant.
"What's he doing?" Charlene asked.
"I've learned it's best not to ask," Leslie answered.
Phil snapped to attention. He turned and headed for the elevator without another word. Leslie and Charlene shrugged and followed him.
