But she couldn’t help but wonder what a better solution was. This was good in the moment. Better than nothing. Could she do something systemically to help, though?
Maybe that was what she was supposed to do in life. Perhaps she’d found her calling.
It was something to ponder later. Right now, there was an immediate need she could meet, and she was happy to do so.
She was still holding three bags of food when they finished distributing them on the sidewalk.
“There were a few folks down there,” one lady told her after thanking Annika again for the food.
“Thanks! I’ll go see if they want some,” Annika said as she trotted off down the alleyway.
“Uh, Annika,” Iris called out, “remember what Matteo said.”
“I’m not going that far,” she replied over her shoulder. “Just going to drop these meals off?—”
She stopped short after rounding a corner where one of the buildings jutted out, blocking the path. On the other side were three people who appeared as if they needed the meals. But talking to them were two men dressed too nicely to be hanging out in a back alley.
Annika froze in terror. It was them! The men from the other night! The ones who worked for Edward Marlot!
One of them had his arm extended, showing the three his cell phone. The three people shook their heads.
That’s when it hit her: they were showing pictures of her! They were out there hunting for her.
She was suddenly acutely aware that she’d disobeyed Daddy. Was she still close enough for him to hear her scream?
Should she even do that? Or was it better to turn around and try to creep away as silently as possible?
That’s what she decided to do. But as she was backing up, she bumped a metal trashcan. The bottom scraped loudly against the concrete beneath it.
Everyone looked her way.
“That’s her!” one of Marlot’s men yelled.
There was no point in being stealthy now. She spun around on her heels and pumped her legs furiously. “Help me!” she screamed as she ran.
She didn’t have to yell because Daddy was already there. Annika almost collided with him but he side-stepped her and kept charging forward.
She couldn’t leave Daddy behind. This was all her fault! So, she turned back around to see Daddy barreling toward the men with a raised fist. The two guys must have recognized him from the night before and didn’t want a rematch.
With the fierce look she’d seen in Matteo’s eyes as he’d run past her, she didn’t blame those two henchmen.
Daddy looked as if he wanted to rip them to shreds!
It probably didn’t give the guys any extra resolve that Jack, Ace, and Isaiah were running toward them now, too. She didn’t see Kendrick, but it made sense that he stayed behind in the van to offer support and be ready in case they all needed to make a fast getaway.
The two guys hurried the opposite way. Annika had been in that alley and knew it opened up in the rear, leading to a parking lot that rested behind the buildings of Hollywood Boulevard.
The Guard didn’t pursue. Instead they had Annika drop her meal bags for the people and then they surrounded her like Secret Service agents around a protectee, moving her toward the van.
Annika knew she’d messed up.
And she knew she was in big trouble.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Back at the mansion, in Matteo’s room, Annika awaited with trembling knees.
Downstairs was a house full of people. She was excited to see who all had shown up at Stryker and Harrison’s call for help. They were going to plan the heist that evening. Or start planning, at least. She assumed it would be a multi-day process.
