Marcus handled the bike well for a first-timer, but parking skills still eluded him.
Adelaide smiled beneath her helmet as she made her way across the well-kept grass and closer toward the east side of the building. Keeping to the shadows, she spotted the only door along the side and crept closer.
The guards made their rounds every ten minutes according to Christian’s intelligence, and she hoped the team had enough time to get inside before the next sentry came into view. Armed with rifles, the guards wouldn’t think twice before shooting a trespasser.
Why don’t you just kill them all? her monster asked, jogging to keep up with Adelaide. You’re so good at it.
Short memories of the fight in Christian’s office flashed before her eyes. She couldn’t remember everything, she’d tried, but bits and pieces haunted her dreams. She’d never felt so vulnerable and weak as in those violent seconds, and never so strong.
Could have fooled me. Another memory burned in front of her eyes. Harlow’s skin burned to a crisp as she looked down on him, watching him cook to death.
Her delusion stared directly into Adelaide’s eyes as they jogged closer to their goal, its electric blue stare boring into her. Obviously not to death, it said. You messed that up, too.
Seconds later, the east entrance became visible as her monster evaporated into thin air. It wasn’t permanent. Footsteps echoed loud in her ears.
One by one the rest of the team rounded the corner.
Adelaide punched in the numbers Christian had made her memorize the night before and watched as the keypad flashed green. She dropped her pack onto the cement, crouching down to open it. She reconsidered her part in the heist, remembering the numerous trials she’d gone through for this mission, and shivered.
She still hadn’t perfected the routine, but time had run out.
Dropping her helmet into the bag as the men around her dug through their own, she slipped into her climbing shoes, chalked up her hands and wrapped the chalk bag around her waist as she surveyed the distance to the sixteenth floor.
She’d been training for this moment, subjecting herself to Christian’s disappointed looks, to his harsh words, to the hope of getting out of his grasp just to get it right, to get the money and medication she deserved in order to finally escape him. Simply robbing a bank, stealing the sedative she needed, would have solved her problem, but caused so many more.
Christian would discover her plan.
Adelaide counted the windows above her, moving closer and ready to begin.
She had no other choice.
“Adie,” Christian whispered, catching her attention as he stepped toward her. Naked from the waist up, he pressed his skin against her. His expression didn’t change. He hid his emotions, but disappointment flashed in his eyes for a brief moment when she didn’t react. “Be careful.” He swept his hand through her ponytail and turned away, pulling a shirt on and a mask over his head. “Let’s go,” he told the others. Picking up her bag, he started toward the back of the building.
Adelaide didn’t waste any more time, shoving her hands inside the window creases. She had a good grip, she was light and agile, but the chance she’d fall to her death loomed in her mind.
* * *
Adelaide Banvard consumed his thoughts. She climbed without a harness or ropes of any kind, but at least he knew she’d made it safely up the side of the building and in—the internal security system had been disabled. Marcus turned his thoughts from her to focus on the job at hand. He made his way down the small aisles, laying the charges he and Adelaide had constructed under each cubicle desk, out of sight. Only one variable changed: he’d switched them all for clay.
Over and over again he continued down the rows of desks, placing the packages and moving on to the next.
Taigen and Wren had disappeared and he could only assume their jobs required them on the other floors. The boss didn’t want any evidence of his presence in this building and Marcus knew why: criminals didn’t like government buildings.
He moved on, coming to the last desk in the last row. He placed the last package then started his exit plan, but slowed when something caught his attention.
Movement.
Someone else was on this floor.
He crept closer to the sound of rustling papers. Turning the corner at the opposite end of the row of cubicles, he froze when he realized the disturbance came from an office. He made sure to keep his step light as he moved closer and peered around the corner through the half-opened door.
He’d been assured the building would be empty, that no innocent bystanders would be killed. They lied to me.
A large mahogany desk took up most of the office, surrounded by a few random paintings on the wall. He studied the office chair behind the desk but he couldn’t get a full visual on its occupant.
A hand rested against the arm of the chair with vibrant blue fingernails.
Marcus knew only one woman who painted her nails blue.
Captain Howard didn’t move as he crept past the door, but then suddenly stood, her back to him. Her wavy blonde hair encompassed her shoulders and half of her back. With a slender frame, she looked elegant in her tailored pantsuit.
“Yes, I understand,” she said, her voice soft and sweet against her cell phone. The exact opposite of what he’d expected. He’d only ever been privy to the animalistic side of Beth Howard. “No, I haven’t seen him yet,” she continued. “I think he’s still planting the charges.”
She’s part of Wren’s team. He pushed himself inside, ready to confront Howard for the traitor she’d become.
She shouldn’t have a badge. She shouldn’t have a job and she sure as hell didn’t have his respect. This woman had known just how deep the shit was that Scott fell into and did nothing to help one of her own.
He’d made it two steps inside the office and three steps away from her when Howard turned around.
Keeping the phone close to her ear, she spoke. “I’ll let you know when I find him, sir.” She lowered the phone, flipping it closed as she nodded in greeting. “Agent Grant.”
Marcus remained motionless. He didn’t know how to respond. He’d known Beth to be in Wren’s pocket, Christian had said so himself, but he never thought he’d get the chance to call her out on it.
“I expect you’re wondering why I’m here.”
He opened his mouth, letting his anger and the most colorful words he could find wiggle their way into his accusation. “You son of a—”
“I see you kept an eye on him,” a voice interrupted.
Marcus turned in surprise, facing off with Wren.
Christian made his way to Beth’s side without another word, without any kind of expression to give away what he thought of the situation.
“As much as I could,” Beth said, smiling up at Christian.
He stared at his captain and wished she could hear exactly what he thought of her. She’d been directly involved with a criminal, doing his dirty work and God knew what else.
She stared back, still smiling and amused.
“You obviously know Captain Beth Howard, Marcus,” Wren said, pulling Marcus’s attention away from her. “And from the look on your face, I imagine this comes as quite a surprise.”
She placed a hand on Christian’s arm gently as she revealed a set of perfect white teeth. “It’s complicated, as I’m sure you know. Agent Grant and I go way back.”
Chuckling, Wren went on. “Well, you might want to stay away from her, Marcus. She bites.”
“Nice to see you again, Marcus,” Captain Howard said, stepping forward with her hand outstretched.
Marcus took her hand, crushing it before she abruptly pulled away. He hoped it hurt. He hoped he’d broken something. The expression of pain on her face nearly made him smile.
“I think everything is in order.” Beth glanced at Christian in expectation.
“You two known each other long?” Marcus asked as a single tile crashed on top of the mahogany desk. It h
ad fallen from the ceiling and pulled everyone’s attention to the pair of boots landing on the desk in the center of the office.
Adelaide lowered herself gently onto the desk, pushing a lamp to the floor with her foot. It fell with a thud against the carpet as she waited for the rest of their plan to commence.
“Time for me to go.” Wren hoisted himself up onto the desk where Adelaide waited and wrapped an arm around her waist. Strapping his belt to her harness, he gave one last command. “Beth, make sure Marcus gets out. We don’t want him in the building when it goes up, now do we?” A pulley lifted their bodies back through the ceiling tiles and out of sight.
Marcus didn’t say a word as his eyes snapped back to his captain.
They stared at each other for a few moments, each determined not to speak first, but Marcus wanted answers. “I knew you were involved.” He pushed himself away from the desk and out into the hallway.
“Oh, please, Agent Grant,” Beth said, following him out into the hall. “Did you honestly think he’d trust you completely? I pulled strings to keep him from killing you on sight.”
He turned abruptly. He got up in her face again, a spot he found himself in frequently these days. “Brent told you, didn’t he? I should have known that fat bastard couldn’t keep a secret.”
“Brent thought he was doing it for the right reason, to protect you from ending up the way Scott did. And I would have found out eventually, Agent Grant. You are a part of my team, aren’t you?” Captain Howard gave him an innocent smile, as if there were still a piece of her who cared. “Christian needed to believe you were there for the right reasons, not your own.”
“And just what are the right reasons? Did he tell you that? Because I don’t know what I’m still doing alive!”
“You are to help control that little bitch of his,” she said with a bite, her hands on her hips. “It seems she’s getting more out of control each day, and I can’t have him distracted. It just happened to be a coincidence that his pet takes to you. I honestly thought she would actually kill you first.”
Marcus couldn’t take the sight of her anymore, lunging toward her. His fingers wrapped around her throat.
Her eyes widened in fear when her back hit another desk, but he didn’t pull away as he bent her over backward.
“Did you send Scott in? Were you the one who sent him to his death?” Marcus wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer.
Beth only smiled up at him as she tried to breathe. “Scott got cocky.” She tried to push him away but he managed to balance his weight. “I needed him out of ATF and Christian needed a fall guy for this job. But it all worked out in the end.”
A fall guy? His best friend had died because of a damn job? “This is unbelievable,” Marcus spat, throwing himself off of her before he did something he’d regret. “It didn’t work out for Scott, did it?”
He rubbed his chin with one hand, the other on his hip as he tried to think to the next step in this game. Would he end up dead just like his best friend? Was he the new fall guy? “So what went wrong? Why did Christian have him killed?”
Beth straightened, brushing her pantsuit free of wrinkles before her hand rubbed her neck gently. She would have a bruise with the pressure he’d used, but Marcus wasn’t sorry for it. “Scott got his hands on Christian’s ledger. He was going to expose us all.”
“You could have warned him,” he whispered.
“I’m here to make sure Christian’s plan is followed to the letter, Agent Grant. But,” she said, her hand dropping to her side, “I have a feeling it won’t work that way. You changed the explosives, didn’t you?”
Marcus wasn’t going to dignify her question with a response. Of course he’d changed them. He was an officer, an agent of the federal government. His duty to serve and protect, not destroy and demolish, commanded him since he’d signed up for the Marines.
“I couldn’t help him, Marcus. My hands were tied.”
He scoffed at her remark, pointing directly at her, but lowered his hand when no words would express exactly what he wanted to say. She couldn’t help him? “That’s it?”
“Christian Wren helped me land one of the largest drug busts in history when I was with Narcotics. I have this job because of him.” She straightened, running her hands over her pantsuit again, but he guessed more out of nervousness.
“And you couldn’t help one of your own?” he asked. His anger hadn’t subsided, but Marcus needed answers and he turned it down to a simmer. “Scott died for this cause. What makes you worthy of that badge you carry?”
She smiled at him with closed lips, staring directly into his eyes. “I’m not, but until my debt is paid, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Debt?”
“Narcotics is a dangerous road, Agent Grant, and this conversation has ended.” Beth Howard pushed her way past Marcus and he let her go, adding one more name to his list of many. He’d make her pay for her decision and he’d take that badge from her to do it.
* * *
Darkness. The cold shaft surrounded him, but Christian felt more at home than ever. Pressed against Adelaide in the small space, he felt her just on the other side of his black T-shirt. The harness supported them both, but soon the ride would be over.
Adelaide unwrapped herself from around his body, pulling herself over the ledge and onto the roof.
The wind blew through his hair. He couldn’t make out shapes close to him. Too dark.
“Do we have everything we need?” He already knew the answer, having checked the bags, but he wanted to hear her voice, wanted her to give him some type of response.
She nodded. Adelaide untied the rope from his harness and reconnected it with hers.
Once she finished preparations, he watched her the way he had during their now-ended nightly routines, studying her long legs, the way her feet caressed the floor as she walked to the edge of the roof. She looked down and with a single glance told him she was ready.
Glancing over the edge, Christian tried not to let his fear of heights overcome him. The ledger copy would be his soon. They just needed to find it. “I know you hang from buildings by your fingertips, but I don’t know how.” He smiled, but it went unseen. He patted her backpack, his fingers lingering on the material of her jacket, and gave her the go-ahead.
Without warning, Adelaide jumped over the edge, swinging her arms wide as she fell.
He watched her, sure the rope wouldn’t snag or break as it slipped around the air-conditioning unit and through his hands. Christian silently counted the seconds as they went by, calculating each story with one second. He counted to six and pulled the rope tight, willing it to stop. The rope jerked him forward, but he regained his balance quickly and looked over the edge to make sure she’d gotten into position.
Chapter Eighteen
The wind rushed up to meet her body, pulling Adelaide’s hair free. It floated around her as she fell, but then the rope tightened, throwing her body against the window.
The collision didn’t hurt with the amount of drugs pulsing their way through her body, but it’d leave a mark.
The bruises and cuts were familiar from when her body screamed for the torture to end, but they still surprised her as she undressed each night. Her body had been through so much, she couldn’t fathom why it hadn’t given out on her yet.
Because I won’t let it, her monster said, showing itself in the window’s tinted glass. No ropes, no wings, just the reflection of a killer.
Adelaide centered herself over the window, moving on with the job. She didn’t have time to stroke the monster’s ego. Just another job, another thing to steal, but her last, and she forced her mind to relax into the familiar mode to strategize.
Reaching behind her, she grabbed the bars and bolts from her bag. She inserted a bolt into each corner of the window, giving her the ability to pull the window right out of its frame when the apparatus had been assembled. A few seconds later, it slid out far enough for her to squeeze through. She plante
d her feet on the window’s ledge, supporting herself with one arm as she released the harness from the rope above.
Adelaide waited a moment before entering. She had to be sure nothing waited for her in the dark, despite the silence inside.
Lowering herself into the office slowly, she kept her weight on the balls of her feet. A single noise would alert the guard outside of her presence.
He’d be dead in ten minutes anyway.
The office seemed larger than Christian’s, the walls littered with paintings she didn’t recognize, fake ferns placed around the perimeter as decoration and a plain wood desk in the center. Nothing looked out of place or suspicious, but Adelaide had the instinct to get out as fast as she could.
She saw the guard’s shadow underneath the door, reminding her of the shadows beneath her cell door in the compound as a child. The memory knocked her back toward the window. She gripped the ledge with all of her strength to prevent falling to her death, and after a moment the memory went back into the hole it’d come from, history. Situating herself, Adelaide brought herself back to the present.
You should know better by now, her delusion sighed, running its fingertips over the wood desk. You can’t forget where I came from. Ever.
The office would remain dark.
She made her way toward the desk, pushing her monster out of the way as she pulled out the chair. Adelaide tried the drawers in turn. No safes in the desk. No files holding secrets.
Nothing.
Rising from the chair slowly so the leather wouldn’t protest, she looked around the room and then at her watch. She had six minutes before the explosives detonated and she had to get the hell out in two. The desk had no backing, leaving the owner’s feet visible to all who entered. The plants were too small to hide behind and no other furniture decorated the large space.
She had to find the safe Christian assured her had been installed recently and get out as fast as possible. Her freedom depended on it.
Adelaide made her way to the nearest painting on the wall. She imagined what the colors looked like as only the shapes jumped out at her in the dark. Slowly reaching upward, she held her breath and tilted the frame by one corner.
Let Me Out (For Me, #1) Page 18
