Page 165 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

“These aren’t even numbers. It’s just a damn mess. Go get her.”

“Yeah, all right.”

Siena quickly darted into the women’s bathroom. Holding that pan back as far as she could over her shoulder, she waited for the bathroom door to open.

When it did swing inward, she closed her eyes and let the pan go.

The sound it made when it cracked against Darren’s forehead was sickening. It nearly matched the way his body slumped forward, and fell head first into the tiled floor.

“Darren?” Kev called.

The bathroom door wouldn’t shut completely. Darren’s body—he was knocked out entirely—was in the way.

Siena stepped over her brother, not sure if she should be happy that he was still breathing, and moved into the hallway. She took a couple of steps until she was just outside the office.

Kev appeared in the doorway.

She swung the pan again. Kev wasn’t like Darren. She had to hit him twice before he stayed down. She didn’t bother to check if he was still breathing, too.

Siena made sure to grab both of their cell phones, and cut the wires to the landlines before she left the restaurant from the back exit.

How much of a head start did she have?

That was the million-dollar question.

Siena had too much riding on it to lose.

The taxi driver glared when Siena tossed a handful of bills over his shoulder to pay for the ride. She wasn’t even sure if it was enough money to pay the man. She didn’t particularly care at the moment, either.

“Don’t leave yet,” she said. “I may need you again.”

His shout echoed at her back when she jumped out of the back of the car, and to the sidewalk. She took the stairs leading into the entrance of a familiar restaurant two at a time.

Andino Marcello’s restaurant.

The place looked like it was closed. The business hours hung from a sign on the door, taunting her further. Not one single light was turned on inside, and she could see the tables had been cleared. The chairs were all upturned on the tops of the tables, too. The front door was locked when she tried to pull it open.

Shit.

She yanked and yanked on the door until a sob broke through her chest.

Fuck.

Why did it have to be like this?

Why couldn’t one single thing go right for her tonight?

“Siena?”

Siena turned fast on her heels to face a blonde she recognized. Haven. The woman climbed the restaurant steps quickly until she was just a foot away.

Salvation stared Siena in the face.

“What are you doing here?” Haven asked.

“Where is Andino?”

She didn’t have time for small talk.