“I’ll park down there,” Ace says. “We’ll go in on foot.”
He finds a spot behind a closed auto body shop, where the street is empty, lit only by a few streetlights. We sit for a moment, watching Maddie’s dot move on my screen. It’s shifting slower now that she’s inside the building.
“Give her a few minutes to set up,” Ace says. “Let her get comfortable.”
Rhodes reaches down to grab the bag at his feet with our masks. He pulls his out first, hands Ace his, and I take mine last.
“Ready?” Ace asks.
Rhodes grins. “Let’s go.”
We move through the darkness easily. The chain-link fence around the factory has a convenient gap where people have pushed through, and we slip inside with ease. We silently traverse the ground floor, following the sound of her footsteps.
At Ace’s signal, we pull on our masks, ready for the chase. I hate the thought of lying to her, but I know it’s the only way I can have her. My priority will always be to keep her safe, regardless of how she makes me feel.
Rhodes moves left, Ace right, and I take the stairs. We position ourselves on the fourth level, all looking down through a massive hole in the floor where the machinery used to be bolted down.
Below us, Maddie moves through the quiet space with her camera, completely focused on her shots. She’s photographing the way moonlight comes through the broken windows, creatingpatterns on the graffitied walls. There’s a rusted catwalk across one section, and she’s heading toward it despite the obvious danger. The thing looks like it will crumble beneath a speck of dirt.
My hands clench. She’s going to get herself killed one of these days, and it’s going to be my fault for not keeping her safe.
Ace’s voice crackles in my earpiece. “Vander, south stairwell. Rhodes, block the north exit. I’ll take the main floor. On my signal.”
I move into position and wait. Below us, Maddie has climbed onto the catwalk, which sways slightly under her weight. I force myself not to move.
She stops in the middle, adjusting her camera settings. Then the shutter clicks rapidly as she captures the view.
That’s when Ace kills the one small light that is still working.
Maddie gasps at the sudden darkness and spins around, and I catch the moment she notices movement in the shadows.
“Who’s there?”
Ace steps forward and flicks on his mask.
Maddie stumbles backward, her camera banging against her ribs. “Fuck, you scared the life out of me. How the hell did you know I was here? Only Riley knew my plans—well, shit. I just answered my own question.”
“I would run if I were you,”Ace says.
She descends the catwalk and runs deeper into the building. It is exactly what we knew she’d do. Panic makes people stupid. It makes them choose the unfamiliar path over a known exit.
I drop through a gap in the floor, landing in a crouch and moving before she even realizes I’ve cut off her escape route. She rounds a corner and slams into my chest. The impact drives us both backward, and I reach out and grab her by the arms to steady her before letting her go.
“Gotcha,”I say.
Her eyes go wide. For a second, I think she might actually be scared. Then I see it—a spark of arousal.
She ducks under my arm, making it three steps before Rhodes jumps from a doorway. Maddie pivots again, but Ace is already there, boxing her in.
“Running just makes it better for us,”Rhodes says, and I can picture his stupid smirk beneath his mask.
Maddie takes a step back, hitting a wall covered in peeling paint. She darts a glance between the three of us, her mind working as she frantically tries to figure out her next move.
Her tongue darts out to wet her lips. “You caught me.”
“Did you think we wouldn’t?”Rhodes asks.
Suddenly, she breaks left, finding the gap we deliberately left for her.
