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Fingers brush through the ends of my hair. Expensive furniture, statues, and priceless paintings all whizz by as I punch my accelerator to the max.
I round a corner and leap over a sofa, catching my shin on the coffee table.
Son-of-a-bitch! That hurt!
I storm into the elevator and just before the doors close, I catch sight of my pursuer. He’s gloriously naked, bathed in copious amounts of light, and looking several shades of turned on. I’m not sure what to do with that tidbit of information at the moment, but the view is sweet.
All that aside, it’s the deadly promise in his onyx eyes once he catches up with me that has the blood in my veins zinging with dread…and hope.
Breathing heavily, I raise my hand. “Tootles, pussy cat. Better luck next time.”
The doors close and I am back to stabbing at buttons. “I definitely need to get better at escape plans. Come on, go faster!”
I take out my phone. I don’t know if he’ll get this, but I pull up the last chat I had with my brother and send off a quick text.
I will find you. Hold on just a little longer.
Wolfe isn’t one to just poof into thin air. He’s the most responsible human being on this planet when it comes to me. He would never leave unless there was no other option, which scares the crap out of me.
“What did you get yourself into, Wolfe?” I flick away the idea pestering the back of my mind with lies. I’ll never accept what my subconscious wants me to believe. My brother is not dead.
The night our parents were murdered in a home invasion he promised he would always be there. As bad Christmases go, that one went down in the books as soul-crushing. I was seven and my brother had just turned fifteen. We spent all of my childhood and most of his teen years in either that damn orphanage or some group home. There were several winters where hope didn’t exist for either of us. It hurt. The loneliness that comes with abandonment, even if involuntary, isn’t something one can just shake off. But we always had each other. Until lately. Wolfe has taken his work with the Lords more seriously lately and that leaves me no more than an afterthought at times.
Back then, no one wanted the traumatized siblings. It was a simple fact of life for both him and myself. One year rolled into two, into three, and soon enough my brother aged out of the system and adopted me. Not at first. He had to get a stable job and a place for us to live. But the first night under our roof we made a second pact to always have each other’s backs no matter what. Easy right?
It was at first because back then I didn’t realize my brother was an enforcer for the mob.
I flip my phone and slip my sim card tray out. Seeing the miniature SD card I lifted from their security system settles my nerves.
The second this metal box hits the lobby all I have to do is get three blocks down to the police station and show them the proof of my brother being shoved to his knees and taken from the Lord’s penthouse by force. If I’m lucky the detectives won’t ask how I procured the evidence.
No one wants to believe me when I say he’s in trouble. Now they have no choice but to take me seriously. All too often people fall through the cracks of life. Well, not this time damn it. Not this time. “Help is coming, Wolfe. Just hold on.” I send up a silent prayer.
The elevator slows and I get ready to make a break for it. Ryth has probably called down to security by now. They’ll be waiting for me.
But the elevator doesn’t stop on the level of the lobby.
“What?” I jab at the stop button, but it continues to descend another floor and yet another. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
It doesn’t come to a stop until we are on… I look up at the digital readout above the door.
“Sub-basement?” I croak. That can’t be good. I don’t remember pressing that button. Then again, I was a little distracted. “Shit!” I push a few other buttons in the hopes of it reversing course, but it does no good.
My skin chills over when a bell dings. Metal doors slide open and my gut falls to the floor. Yawning before me is a large open space. Gray concrete and fluorescent lights are the extent of modern accommodations. If the reaper had an office on this plane, this would be it. Cold, dank smelling, and built for murder without a prying eye in sight. Except mine.
White light spreads out from this side all the way to the far end which seems to expand the full length of the high-rise building. But I don’t care about that because my focus shifts to what really matters. Twenty feet from the tips of my Kicks is a table and two men standing over a bloody body.
I don’t think they heard the bell. Or they think I’m Ryth. That seems more realistic since they are facing away from the elevators.
My heart drops back into place only to try for another escape route through my chest. With shaking fingers, I flick my camera on. Wolfe always drilled into me to find the upper hand in any situation. That bit of wisdom has me tapping the record button.
I slowly reach for the elevator button and press the L circle for the lobby. Or it could be for the laundry floor. I don’t know. Anywhere but this floor is by far the better option.
Another bell dings to my left. From the corner of my eye, I notice a bright light shoot forward as I hear doors open.
Ryth? Has to be. Shit, he knows I’m here. I slowly move deeper into the elevator and try to hide myself in the corner.
It’s no use.
