“Stay behind me,” he says.
I reach for the door latch.
“We both know I won’t.”
He looks at me again — not annoyed but aware.
“Then don’t get ahead of me.”
I open the door.
Cold city air rushes in. The mission waits below. So does danger. And now … so does something neither of us planned.
I step out of the helicopter without looking back. Because if I do, I might hesitate. And hesitation is the one luxury I’ve never been allowed.
Chapter 9
Hawk
The rotor winds down behind us. Kat steps onto the rooftop without hesitation. Me? I’m dealing with that kiss still surging through my bloodstream.
She’s not manipulating me. I’ve already given her what she wants — a return ride to the diamond fiasco and probable chaos.
Kat didn’t have to kiss me. That’s what unsettles me.
Engaging into protection mode, I move ahead of her, sweeping the access door to the stairwell. Initially, it appears locked. I test the handle anyway and it opens.
“After you,” she says, not mocking.
I step inside first finding the expected concrete stairwell. It’s narrow and I signal back to her with two fingers over my lips to be quiet. Echoes carry too easily here.
I move down two steps at a time, checking corners on reflex. Kat follows closely, not crowding or lagging. Halfway down, I pause.
“What?” she whispers.
“Nothing,” I say. “Just a feeling.”
We exit onto a secondary service level that connects to an adjacent building through a skybridge. It’s high-end architecture with glass walls, steel beams and will make us visible … unfortunately. Exposure disguised as elegance. Kat slows slightly as we approach the bridge.
“This is where they expected me,” she says.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Why here?”
“Because this building has plausible deniability.”
I glance at her.
“Of what?”
“Of who actually owns it.”
That makes sense. It must be owned by a corporate shell company. Probably a private buyer with layered legal insulation.
We step onto the bridge. The city street spreads below us revealing traffic moving and people unaware. Everything appears ordinary. Too ordinary if someone is expecting her here.
