Addie went to the icebox and was pulling out the swordfish when she heard Charlie mention, anniversaries, kids, and houses and she froze.  Her eyes widen widely and her whole body tensed.  She forced herself to breath once before closing the door.  None of those things had even entered her mind before he gave voice to them and they frankly scared the hell out of her.  The though of such things were enormous and Addie was nowhere near ready to speak of them. 

Turning back around she tried to smooth her features and she hoped to hell she did not look like the startled doe she felt like.

"Uh yeah I think you are right," she said a bit breathlessly as she sat the bowl of diced fish on the counter. 

Charlie looked like he was about to say something when the phone rang and interrupted them.  Addie walked to the phone on the wall of the kitchen.  She had no more than picked up the receiver when they heard two short thuds followed by two long thuds.  That meant trouble either in the lobby or right outside on the street.

Addie quickly motioned for Charlie to check out the window as she said, "This is Addie." 

The phone conversation was short, but before she hung up Charlie heard her say, "Find the Don and secure him.  Then get a call to the Godmother.  Find out if this is just an attack on us or on the city!"  Given what she had just been told her voice was amazingly steady and professional. 

 "Headquarters is being attacked.  Do you see anything?"  She started to move towards him to look herself.

Charlie had moved and taken his gun out as soon as Addie motioned toward the window. Truth be told, he had taken his gun out the second he heard the thuds, but that's was neither her nor there. When he did get to the window he could see outside two cars that were running, each with a man in the driver's seat.

"Do you see anything?"

Charlie nodded to Addie in response and motioned for her to get behind him as he made his way to the window at the side of the apartment. As he opened the window and looked down he breathed a sigh of relief. They had not closed them off this way yet.

"You have an extra car? The one parked out front won't help us now, and if the answer is no, well then we are going to have to make a run for it and probably steal something."

He did not wait for her to respond as he started to push her out the window and onto the steel freedom.

"Talk as we move, no time to wait. You wait, you die Addie."

Now was not the time to mince words.

Addie tried to protest, "But my guns!  The stove!"  The normalcy bias was strong in her.  It was perhaps strengthened by the fact that she had literally lost count of the number of times someone had shot at her.  

Charlie would have none of it.  Without even answering her he continued to hustle her down the fire escape.  As they made their way down, Addie could feel the desert heat pulsating against her skin.  In only a couple of flights her face had already started to glisten with sweat.  Fuck why had she chosen the top floor!

Now that Charlie had her moving he asked her again,"Do you or do you not have another car, Addie."  

"Uh yeah the security guys keep one in the back for emergencies.  Do you know where Billy is?  He wasn't at headquarters.  We need to find him and secure him until we can figure out what the hell is happening.  We can't make any decisions without more details!  If I can come across a phone maybe I can make a few calls to some of my contacts."  Charlie interrupted Addie as they drew nearer to the ground floor.  He motioned for her to remain silent and she nodded.  She knew her life was in his hands and she trusted him completely.

Charlie slipped by her and took up point as they came to the last latter down the side of the building.  He went first, making sure the coast was clear.  They could hear gun fire exchange happening inside the building.  It was most likely in the lobby as the would be attackers were trying to fight their way up to Addie's apartment.  The few men that had been left outside as a look out failed to see them.  They really were not all that good at their jobs for they were not even looking in their direction.  It would seem that Lady Luck was with them today.

Addie pointed to the black sedan that sat running just down the block.  She could see several of her men spread out in a cover formation.  They had gotten word what was taken place inside and their jobs was to make sure Addie's path to the backup car was secure should it be needed.

Charlie shook his head. 

"Last I knew of Billy he sent me away from the HQ. He was dealing with some goon who mad a huge mistake. If he's not there anymore it must mean the HQ got hit too. I think we need to find Niki's place and hole up."

He flung the car door open then and climbed into the back with Addie. It was not his usual place, but today was a bit different, today his job was to keep her safe, Billy would have Oscar. God help the poor man.