And then it dawns on me that I can't be in this building alone because somebody has killed the power. While I know it's not likely, I pray silently that the person who killed the power is Zane.
Just as I'm about to make my way down the first flight of steps, I cock my head to the side and notice that there are stairs leading up. Now, I know for certain that the 70th floor is the top floor in this building so I imagine if there are stairs going upwards they must be leading to the rooftop.
That's where I decide to go.
I wrap my sweaty palm around the railing and begin to ascend the stairwell. One careful step at a time, I climb the twenty or so stairs until I reach a landing with a steel door that's cracked open at the top.
# # #
I peek through the cracked door and manage to get a good view of the rooftop. Almost in the exact center, Zane is tied to a chair much like I was in the basement. In fact, it’s basically the exact scene I woke up to. The only difference is he’s able to breathe fresh air and I was in a dingy basement.
There’s only one other person on the rooftop. A tall woman with long dark hair, wearing a tight-fitting white skirt and oversized gold bracelets. She has a gun squarely aimed at Zane’s head. Just when I think about rushing onto the rooftop and making a move, I force myself to remain steadfast and allow myself enough time to think.
After all, if this is the woman who hired Mitch, then she’s certainly not going to kill him. Not right away, anyway. She must have a greater plan for both me and Zane. I refuse to believe the grand plan was to get Zane to the rooftop so she could shoot him herself. It’s too simple and, quite frankly, too stupid of a plan to be worthy of all the commotion that has transpired today.
I push the door forward gently to open it just enough so that I can sneak out without being caught. Once I’m outside on the rooftop, I twist on my feet to push the door gently to a close and then I’m off to stalk behind a tall planter where I can see through the empty spaces between branches of a tree.
With a closer inspection, I can see that the woman has a severe expression on her face and though Zane is awake, she doesn’t say anything. They’re basically just passing each other death glares and while that might be entertaining in a comedy or a sketch show, it’s more than a little unsettling in person.
She crosses her arms over each other, allowing the gun in her hand to hang from one hand as she begins pacing back and forth. I duck down beneath the planter when she passes her gaze towards me.
My heart races, skips a beat. I’m breathing so loud trying to calm myself down that I’m terrified she can hear me. I know I’m probably being paranoid but I kind of figure being paranoid is good in this particular situation. I’ve always been worried about being paranoid, but if it keeps me safe, I’m all for it now.
No shame in the game.
I decide that it’s probably a good idea to check the clip in my gun before making any sudden moves. I wrangle the gun in my hand and struggle to release the clip—I don’t have nearly enough experience with these things given the profession I work in. I finally manage to drop the clip into my hand and take note that there are five bullets before shoving the clip back into the gun and steadying myself on my feet.
“What are you waiting for?” Zane spits out angrily. “Just do what you’re going to do and get it over with. We’ll both be better for it.”
“You don’t get it, pretty boy.” She hunches over and squeezes each of her hands tightly at his cheeks, indenting her fingers into his face. “It’s not the right time.”
“When is the right time, huh? What the hell are you waiting for?”
“You’ll know when the time is right.” She rises back to stand up and straightens her skirt, prim and proper. “Until then, I’m going to need you to shut your mouth and play along like a good boy.”
“I’m not playing your games,” he growls, to which he receives the butt of the gun against his face. It lands with a crack and I wince in place, trying to imagine the pain he must be in. It’s not something I want to imagine, but I just can’t help myself.
The thought of her hurting Zane is enough to make me want to take aim and fire this gun right where I stand, but there’s a morbid curiosity racing through my mind. I need to know why this has all transpired today.
I don’t know why it’s so important for me to understand. It’s not like it’ll change anything, I’m sure. But it’s just the way I’m wired, I guess. I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths before deciding that the moment is as good as any other.
I jump to my feet, spin around, and aim the gun squarely at the bitch’s head as I step around the planter and expose myself. My eyes shift to Zane as he cocks his head over his shoulder. I swallow a nervous lump when I see his face is beaten and bloodied. Rage courses through my veins and my finger flirts with the trigger.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ZANE
I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not happy to see her because I am happy to see her, but that’s about the point where my happiness ends. She shouldn’t be here. If she had the means to escape, she should have gone back and got help from the team at Ford Security. She should be safe and sound at the factory, but instead she’s on this rooftop with me and I’m terrified that her need to be a hero is going to get her killed.
I can live with dying.
I can’t live with watching her die.
I’d sacrifice myself if it meant saving her, but I’d rather if we both survived so we can have our shot at a happily ever after of our own. I’m not going to lie though. The odds of that happening are slim, and they’re getting slimmer by the minute.
No doubt, Anna has learned so much today about herself and the world she lives in. She has learned that she’s stronger than she ever thought she could be and on some level, she’s learned how to take care of herself in ways that most people could only dream about, but I fear it’s not going to be enough to save her life when it counts.
I shake my head furiously at her, trying to tell her nonverbally to leave.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she exclaims, taking one careful step after the other as she approaches the woman from a comfortable distance. “Not without Zane.”
“You poor lovesick bastards,” the woman exclaims with a maniacal chuckle. “Are you really going to risk your life to save his? Now, I know he’d do the same for you, but he’s built for this. You’re not and that’s the key difference that’s going to get both of you lovebirds killed.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” Anna swallows a heavy gulp and takes another step forward until she’s right behind me. She shakes the gun at the woman. “Put the gun down and just maybe you’ll get out of this tower alive.”
“No, no, no.” She laughs again, this time heartier than before. “That’s not how this is going to work.”
Anna raises the gun slightly and pulls the trigger. A bullet passes just over the woman’s shoulder. “That was a warning shot.”
The woman just continues to chuckle. She’s really lost all of her marbles and then some. “Do you have any idea who I am, young girl?” She takes a step forward as if she’s not afraid of Anna or the gun. “Let me tell you something. If I come up missing, you might as well kiss your asses goodbye.”
Anna moves to speak, but I move to intercept her and take the lead. “And who the hell are you?”
She scoffs as if I should already know the answer. But I don’t. I have no damn idea who she is or who she could be. She’s obviously not as important as she thinks. And if we’ve met before, she’s certainly not memorable either.
She sways slightly from side to side, cocking her head with a wide, shit-eating grin. “I am Lola Grimm.
“No, you’re not,” I grind out between gritted teeth. “I’ve met her before and you most certainly are not her.”
“Excuse me?” She leans forward and questions me incredulously, still holding her gun at her side. “Boy, you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
&
nbsp; “Who in the hell do you think you’re trying to fool?” I can’t help but to laugh even though the circumstances are rather dire. I’d recognize Lola’s face any day of the week and with the exception of having the same color of hair, they don’t even share any similar features. “The last time I saw the real Lola Grimm, she was disappearing into a warehouse to go perish with her father.”
That seems to take her aback. She pushes her tongue against her cheek and shakes her head. “You’re lying.”
“Yeah, it would seem like you’re the one who doesn’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What the hell is going on?” Anna questions from behind me with her gun still aimed at the woman’s head. I don’t know if the question is directed at me or the fake Lola standing in front of me. “This is what this is all about?” she continues, her voice cracking in disbelief and agitation. “You’re pissed off because your father was a bad man and he died in a fiery explosion?”
“Anna, stop it,” I grit out, my eyes twisting backwards to try and meet her gaze, but she’s standing behind me now, working quickly to untie my binds while she still tries to aim the gun squarely at the woman. “You need to stay out of this,” I warn her, but I know that she’s already in it. She’s in it about as deep as she could possibly be. “Just leave me here and get out of here before it’s too late.”
“I’m not leaving you,” she scoffs right against my ear just before I feel the binds slip free from my wrists. “Now stand up.”
I rise to my feet, slowly as to not agitate the crazy woman any more. I take a step back and circle around the chair so that I’m standing behind Anna now. The woman’s eyes follow me intently, watching my every movement.
Good.
She can watch as I reach forward and gently grab the gun out of Anna’s hand and move to step in front of her, to shield her and protect her like I swore I’d do. Like I’ve failed to do. I take another step forward towards the crazy woman who is most certainly not Lola Grimm. I want to shoot her where she stands and end this right now, but I still need answers and I can’t get those from a dead body.
“You have taken everything away from me,” she seethes and jerks her wrist so that she’s able to point the gun right back at me. We’re now in a war of attrition. The first person who shoots is going to be the one to survive the night.
She has every motive to shoot and I’m trying to hold her off long enough so that I can at least get a few of the numerous questions circling through my head answered. “Why don’t you put down that gun and we can talk,” I suggest.
To which, she simply shakes her head and says coolly, “Nah, I think I’m good.”
I let out a heavy sigh and step sideways. With my free hand, I reach back and push Anna gently and then whisper to her, “You need to get out of here.”
“Not without you,” she seethes, and I realize that there is no way she’s going to leave me behind. It’s honorable but it’s incredibly stupid. She should want to be as far away from this as humanly possible. “Just kill her,” she howls into my ear.
The crazy woman cackles when she hears Anna say those words. “You better watch that girl of yours. She’s got a fire in her soul that will not be easy to put out. Me thinks you’ve awoken the monster inside her.”
“Shut up,” I scream and shake the gun at her. “You’re either going to tell me who you really are or I’m going to shoot you in the head and they’ll be scraping your body off the sidewalk for weeks.”
“You can’t threaten me,” she scowls, and I take careful notice of the way her finger is dancing with the trigger of the gun. Even if she doesn’t intend to shoot anytime soon, she’s playing with fire and could accidentally unload her clip if she’s not careful. “There is nothing else you can take away from me.”
“Seriously?” I arch one brow and shake my head again. “Are you really that far gone? Do you really believe that you are Lola Grimm?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” She reaches her other hand forward to help steady her aim. “But I already know the answer. It’s clear to me that you’re not right in the head.”
“Yeah? And why’s that?”
“Because,” she snickers, “You’ve had the chance to shoot me and I’m still alive. If I were in your shoes—”
I drop my aim and pull the trigger.
She drops down, the gun clattering against the hard roof. Her hand trails to the bullet wound in her thigh. She cries out in pain but is still persistent. She lunges forward to grab her gun, but I’m too quick for her. I rush ahead and kick the gun out of her reach.
She lets out a scream that’s torn between a cackle and agony. It’s a weird combination but for a woman as crazy as she is, it’s more than fitting. She pushes herself backwards and cranes her head up to meet my gaze. She forces a smile and exhales sharply. “My men will show you no mercy.”
“That’s the point, though, right?” I shrug. “You don’t have any men. What I’m guessing is going on is that you somehow knew Lola perished in that explosion and knowing that she always stayed hidden from the spotlight, you realized that nobody would know what she looked like. So you thought you could take her place and take over her father’s empire.”
“That’s basically the gist of it, but you’re leaving out a few key details.” She heaves trying to catch her breath. The pain of the bullet hole with no exit wound must be agonizing for her. And though she’s obviously a bad person, I can’t help but to feel some sympathy for her. It’s never easy to take a life, especially not that of a woman’s. No matter how crazy they may be, taking any life will leave a mark on one’s soul.
My soul is already heavy enough for all that I’ve done in my life. And though I’ve never done anything out of malice, and though I’ve never been evil for the sake of being evil, it doesn’t do much to change the equation.
“The only thing you’re missing,” she continues with ragged breaths, “is that I am Lola Grimm.”
I step to her so that I’m standing just above her head. She cranes her head upwards and practically pushes her head against the barrel of my gun. I swallow a gulp in my throat as my entire body almost goes numb. I lose touch with my emotions because that’s what I have to do in order to do what has to be done.
It’s easier when I’m numb.
“I… am… Lola… Grimm.”
“No, you’re not.”
I pull the trigger once, ending this once and for all. And though I’m numb, I’m relieved because this nightmare is finally over for Anna.
The crazy woman’s body drops dead against the hard surface and out of the corner of my eye, I can see Anna recoiling. I twist to face her and drop the gun beside the woman’s dead body.
“I didn’t want you to see that,” I say lowly.
She nods, trying to take it all in. “It’s okay,” she says in almost a whisper. It’s like she’s trying to convince herself just as much as she’s trying to convince me that she’s okay with the events that have transpired here today, culminating in this woman taking a bullet to the head.
I did what had to be done and I’m okay with that. This woman orchestrated our kidnapping. I imagine that she did it to prove to her father’s minions that she was a capable leader but she was anything but. She was a complete and total fraud and I pity the idiots who blindly followed her thinking she was somebody she wasn’t.
Now that she’s dead, I’m hoping Seth Grimm’s empire will crumble. And if it doesn’t, I just pray that this is the last time I ever hear that name. I pray that when Anna and I return back to our homes that this nightmare doesn’t follow us.
“Do you want to take a vacation to the Caribbean?” I question Anna half-jokingly, but if she says yes, I might have to take her up on that offer. After the nightmare that was today, I’m definitely going to need a break. Hell, it might even be time for me to retire.
“That sounds amazing,” she says, her shoulders relaxing with relief for the first time since this nightmare began. Her response makes
me perk up, but she destroys any hope I had when she continues, “But I think the only vacation I want right now is to go to sleep in my own bed and perhaps never leave my apartment again.”
“Don’t do that.” I step to her and drop a hand to either side of her waist. “Because I feel like I would never see you again and I don’t like that idea.” I lower my head and tilt her head by the chin. When her eyes meet mine, I somehow manage to forget the carnage that we’ve left in our path.
“You’re cute, you know that?”
“Yeah.” I flash a cocky grin. “I do know that.”
“But…” She pushes me firmly against the chest, hard enough that I force myself backwards. “Can we wait to be all cute with each other until we’re not standing beside a dead body?”
I pass a quick glance back over to the dead crazy woman behind me and nod in agreement. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”
“We should get out of here before the police arrive.”
“You just keep surprising me,” I say as we begin to head towards the stairwell, leaving the deadly scene behind us. “If you surprise me anymore, you might just give me a heart attack.”
“Then there’s something you should know,” she says as we walk side by side. “I’m pregnant.”
“That’s obviously a lie.”
“Yeah, it’s a lie.” She drops her hand and her fingers rub against mine. I take her hand into my hand and offer her a tight squeeze. “Are you hungry?”
“I’m starving.”
“You’re so weird,” she chuckles. “How could you be hungry right now?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Because I’m a man?”
“That seems like the most logical answer.”
It’s okay that we’re joking around with each other right now. It’s a defense mechanism, and that’s something she’s going to need in order to move on from the events that have transpired today. But like I said, she’s stronger than she ever could have believed. Stronger than I could have ever pegged her for.
Ford Security Page 44
