Page 128 of Kept in the Dark

What a coward, using a woman for a shield.

For her part, Eleanor understands what is happening and renews her struggle. In a move that leaves me nearly breathless with pride because I recognize my own maneuver, she twists, spinning under his arm, breaking his grip, and shooting away before he can grab her again. The instant she sees me, she sprints in my direction.

I meet her halfway, tucking her behind me and adjusting my grip on the knife, hiding it in my palm when I hear a car drive past the alley.

We are alone back here, but it is still bright enough to be seen and not so late that I can be sure no one is watching.

Felix holds up his hands in surrender. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa there, Ghost.”

The man in the driver’s seat gets out and points a gun at me. My vision sharpens, and I tighten my grip on my knife, but Felix cuts his man a look, which causes him to lower his weapon.

“Hold on. Look,ese. We can do this dance as long as you want, but you’re wasting time you don’t have. Timeshedoesn’t have. You shoot us, we shoot you. All the while, she’s up there alone with Kyle,” he jerks a thumb behind him at the building, “and I promise you, he’s pissed. And he’s got reinforcements on the way.”

“He’s right,” Eleanor cries, tugging at my arm. “You’ve got to go get Nicole!”

I do not lower my arm. This may be my only opportunity to kill Felix before he disappears, as he did before.

“What’s it gonna be, Ghost? Her or me?”

The choice is easy. “Get the fuck out of my sight,” I demand, voice low.

“Wise decision,” he nods, wrenching open the car door and disappearing into the back behind tinted windows and bulletproof glass. The car peels away.

I turn, and Eleanor envelops me in a hug. She is sobbing, shaking us both. “Thank you. Thank you. Please go save her!”

“Wesley’s van is over there.” I jerk my chin in that direction and watch the steel form behind deep blue eyes. It was the same when I came for her at the restaurant many months ago—I believed she would crumble under the pressure of danger and panic, but she is tougher than she looks.

She nods, scampering away, and I assess the maintenance entrance in front of me. Luckily, it appears to be secured with a physical deadbolt instead of a keycard reader. I can pick that.

“Eleanor’s secure.”

“Good. I need all cameras off and alarms disabled.”

“Give me 30 seconds.”

Crouched, I wait for Wesley to cut the power to the building so the alarm will not go off when I pick the lock. Once I see the entire block go dark, I get to work. It is a simple lock—even in the dwindling light, it takes no time to pick. The door opens into a maintenance stairwell that I know from the blueprints will bring me to the 11th floor, one below the penthouse. I take the stairs three at a time, picking up speed. My woman is close.

Be strong, Nicole. I am coming.

The door opens into a U-shaped hallway that smells like wet paint, with a carpet that is completely devoid of stains. I hug the wall until I reach the elevators, then pry open the doors of the one markedP.Then, I curse. The floor of the elevator is blocking the shaft. Even if I could get inside the car, I would still need to force open the doors to enter thepenthouse, which would alert Kyle. I could have Wesley create some kind of distraction to draw him out, perhaps, or I could keep going up until I got through to the ceiling and drop into the apartment somewhere, though that also bears the risk of—

“Dimitri, you’ve got company. Oh, fuck—you’ve got a lot of company.”

“How many?”

“Six, and they’re headed straight for the front doors. Looks like… yeah, they’ve got a key fob. Must be Kyle’s reinforcements that Felix was talking about.”

“Fuck,” I whisper.

I am so close. Nicole is just a floor away, in pain and terrified for her life, and hoping I will come… but now I must go down and deal with a different threat instead of continuing up. Every second I leave her with that fucker is another second she is in an unacceptable state of fear and anguish. But I must go.

I will carve her retribution into his body when I am done.

Running down stairs is an awkward waste of time, so when I get to the top of the staircase, I grab hold of the railing and leap over. I land a story down on soft knees, though the impact still rattles my bones. Going back and forth between leaping down the stairs and controlling my fall down a story at a time, I arrive at the ground level in mere seconds.

“Any weapons?”

“Two with guns drawn. They’re waiting for the elevator, crowding around it.”