Page 35 of Broken
“Okay. Let’s do this.” I slid the hoodie over my head. It was kind of chilly outside, so it wouldn’t be weird to go around with a scarf. God, I really hoped this would work.
Chapter 20
ONCE WE REACHED THE parking lot, we hid behind one of the cars. Theo peered over it and quickly ducked down.
“We have a problem,” he said. “Too many people around.”
“We can’t stay here either,” I whispered. Sooner or later, someone was going to spot us because cars were constantly coming and going. Besides, thiswas the only part of the parking lot that wasn’t full of cameras.
He glanced over the car again. “I have an idea.” He crouched next to me. “There’s a van parked not far away from us and the driver just got out. If we run for it and pass right next to it, the cameras won’t see us. Then all we have to do is keep our heads down and hurry to the nearest wall. If someone’s watching the camera feed,they’ll assume we got out of the van.”
I gave him a small nod. That van had better not move before we got to it. We hopped to our feet, then strode across the parking lot with our heads down. I stuffed my hands in my pockets as we passed next to the van Theo had mentioned.
We hurried toward the hotel, and it took all of my willpower not to lift my head and look up when someone shoutednot far from us. The man was calling for his friend, and I hoped he hadn’t seen us. As soon as we reached the wall, I breathed out a small sigh of relief, but we weren’t safe just yet. Theo indicated for me to keep moving, so I followed him around the corner.
Two people were sitting on one of the benches, and their gazes immediately shifted to us. Before I could do anything, Theo turned towardme, placed his hands on each side of my face, and pulled me in for a kiss. My lips responded to his, and I let him tug me aside until his back was to the people who were probably still gawking at us.
When we broke apart, he held me close. “Can you see them? Are they still staring?” he whispered into my ear, and I glanced over his shoulder at the couple.
“No. They turned away.”
“Good.”He grabbed my hand, and then we were rushing down the stone path. The back door came into view, and my pulse sped up as we headed toward it. If someone was waiting for us there... I didn’t even want to think about it.
Theo held his hand close to his gun, but we’d spent most of our bullets when the Spiders had attacked us, so that wasn’t going to be of much help if a bunch of Spiders cameat us now. They had nothing to do at a fancy hotel, though, and someone would’ve already called the cops, so it was unlikely they’d ambush us here.
Theo was the first one to reach the knob, and when he pushed at the door, it opened, just as Vix had said it would. He gave me a small smile, and we headed inside. Too bad whoever Vix had hired couldn’t mess with the cameras too, but that wouldbe too suspicious anyway.
We entered a well-lit lavish hallway with a rich red carpet on the floor. The cream walls were ornamented with golden flower patterns and paintings, but we didn’t have time to admire any of it. The stairway for the staff—or for those who didn’t want to use the elevator or the main stairway for some reason—was just down the hallway, but there was a camera lookingat it.
“Lower your hoodie and follow my lead,” Theo said as he pulled down his. I let him take my hand again, and we started down the hallway. When we were about to get into the view of the camera, he turned toward me and laughed out loud. No one was around here, and Theo snaked his arm around my waist and took my hand, pretending that we were dancing—or, well, trying to—but that I was resistingand wouldn’t let him spin me around.
Once we reached the stairway, we broke apart and turned our backs to the camera that was now behind us. We climbed upstairs, turning our heads when a camera came into view, and when we reached the third floor, we entered a spacious hallway. The room at the end of it was supposed to be ours, and I held my breath when Theo pushed at the door that seemedto be a little ajar.
It opened, and he entered the room, pulling out his gun. I lingered at the door while he turned on the lights and inspected the room. When he waved at me that it was safe and tucked away the gun, I walked inside, closing the door behind me, which immediately locked. The room was huge and it was mostly in beige colors.
In the middle of it was a king-size bed, whichwas covered with lush beige covers and multiple big and small pillows. The nightstands and the closet had golden flowers painted on them, and the chandelier that hung from the ceiling had been made of hundreds of small crystals. The closet door was open and I could see some clothes inside it. Vix must’ve realized we’d need that too.
“This is nice. Really nice,” I said. My muscles ached, andI wanted nothing more than to wrap myself in the covers and go to sleep.
“Get some rest,” Theo said. “I’ll keep watch.”
I made my way to the bathroom, and when I emerged, I threw myself onto the bed, which was as soft as it looked. Oh God. “If we ever get a chance, we should go on a vacation to some nice beach and stay at a hotel like this one,” I said as I nestled in the pillows.
“Sure.” A smile tilted his lips.
“Mm-hmm.” I closed my eyes, and a second later, I drifted off to sleep.
“YOU CAN’T STAY THERE forever,” Vix said, and I almost groaned. Theo and I had remained at the hotel for a few days, and Vix had arranged for food to be brought to us, along with a burner phone so that we could contact her.
“I know.” I squeezed the phone in my hand.
“The Spiders are looking all over the city for you. That’s all we managed to find out, but there’s no sign of Walter anywhere.Either he’s in hiding, or he’s that good at moving around unseen. The Cobras have a plan and a safe place for you that won’t be so easily discovered, but it’s out of the city, and you’d have to meet with us somewhere safe first so we can take you there.”
“Out of the city?” I didn’t like the sound of that, but I supposed we didn’t have a choice.
“Yeah. If you stay here, Walter will findyou, but if you leave the city and we’re careful about it, he won’t know where you went. It’ll be hard for him to track you down if he believes you went far away from here. Mick thinks we can fake that you actually went across the country.”
“Okay, but my family isn’t going to like this. How are they?” I didn’t want to risk calling my family since I wasn’t sure if the Spiders were watchingthem or listening in on their phones, so I’d tasked Vix with making sure they were fine and letting them know that I was okay but couldn’t contact them at the moment.