Page 114 of The Enforcer's Revenge

They were either crashing to the basement.

Or they were getting shot and then crashing to the basement.

Brianna managed to catch herself again, only because her foot caught on a ledge. She used her other foot against the wall to stop her fall, but gravity still left her responsible for a lot of Carina’s weight, too.

It was a fucking miracle and, more likely, five hours of dance practice a day that let Brianna keep them balanced and alive.

The gunfire stopped, but Brianna and Carina were struggling in the laundry chute. It was so dark, it felt like Carina was all over the place, smothering her. Brianna had to turn her head to find a small space for air.

Some of the weight eased up, and Brianna realized Carina was using her arms to help keep herself balanced. Brianna thought she felt one of Carina’s knees near her ass, bracing against the wall, but it was impossible to tell.

At the same time, voices drifted like echoes from upstairs.

“Dumbass, what cop just fucking blows away the closet like that?”

“Yeah? And what Moretti wouldn’t gun down NYPD if they’re feeling trapped? I’m not risking it for this little charade. Crazy motherfuckers. Everyone knows it.”

“There’s no one up here. Just our guy and the other one we found on the ground floor,” one of the men said over the screech of clothing hangers being pushed back and forth. “Whoever was in here probably crawled out the window, but check under the bed to make sure.”

“Call Gus and tell them to go around the outside again. Maybe we’ll catch one on the run,” a voice suggested over the thump of someone obviously falling to the floor to look under the bed. “I knew this was a mistake. I have a sense for these things.”

“Let’s just get it done. I’ll double-check the other rooms while you finish in here.”

“No way, man. We’re staying together. I hate being in this dark, creepy house. It freaks me the fuck out.”

This house was built so solidly that it was hard to hear more as their voices drifted away. Brianna was mostly focused on not slipping again. She dropped her other foot down to the ledge that saved them, and having a place to rest her feet helped a lot.

“I’m going to move my other leg,” Carina whispered.

Brianna nodded. “Okay.”

Carina shifted her foot and ended up sliding down more, so she sat straddled over Brianna, with one leg on either side of Brianna’s hips, using her knees against the wall to stay balanced.

Brianna was trying not to black out. The pain in her arm pulsed a dangerous warning behind the adrenaline. Her heart was beating hard and fast, and she kept her head turned toward the corner to breathe because she was so suffocated. She rested her cheek against the wood and tried to think clearly, knowing they needed help.

Nova’s burner!

“Why’re your shorts all wet?” Carina was still wiggling and jerked when she touched Brianna’s elbow, which was dripping. “Oh my God.”

“Shh,” Brianna whispered as she tried to grab Nova’s burner phone in her pocket, only she had to use her injured arm, and it was slippery and awkward. “I can’t reach it.”

“Why are you bleeding?” Carina’s voice was barely a whisper.

“Shh, don’t worry about me. Get the phone. It’s in my right pocket.”

Carina shifted her weight and leaned forward, feeling blindly around Brianna’s bloody shorts. She grunted and had to dip her shoulder to slip her hand into Brianna’s pocket.

“Got it,” Carina whispered. “God, it’s a fucking flip phone. I hate these stupid burners they all carry.” They both flinched when she opened it, the light making Carina look ghostly and shadowed as she took a shaking, terrified breath. “This’ll take forever.”

Carina turned away from her, leaning her forehead against the wall to concentrate on texting with the flip phone.

They heard a door being kicked open. This time, it was much closer than the one above them. Brianna realized the ledge she was resting her feet on was another laundry hatch in the room beneath Carlo’s on the first floor.

The two of them fell one full story down.

She tried to remember which room it could be, but the pain was all-encompassing, making white spots dance in the darkness of her vision.

Carina worked at texting Tino, and Brianna could tell her hands were shaking by the way the light was flickering. She heard the chime of a text being sent, but Carina was still typing.