Her mouth opened, but whatever she’d been about to say died on her lips.
We both heard it at the same time.
Several men were heading our way, and it sounded like they’d regrouped and come after us as a complete unit. We were back to five against two, but this time it worked in our favour, making them easier to control.
I stood and moved over to the door to listen in on their conversation. Liv joined me, and together we waited as footsteps pounded on the carpet. The men rattled handles and banged on doors on both sides of the corridor, trying to generate a moan from a corpse or, if they were lucky, a human scream. It was a repeat of yesterday morning when we'd hidden in the office building, and if all went well, it would be the last time we'd ever have to deal with these idiots.
When the banging finally came on our door, Liv jumped, but she didn't make a sound. I locked eyes with her and mouthed the wordbreathe.If we gave away our location while we were unprepared, we'd be at a serious disadvantage.
“She’s gotta be on one of these floors,” a man said. “No one can just disappear.”
Liv’s features tightened and her skin paled. She kept her eyes on me.
“It’s going to be all right,” I whispered.
She nodded quickly and closed her eyes.
“What about the other asshole?” someone piped up from outside the door.
“Haven't seen him. That pussy-whipped fuck’s probably back with her by now.”
His comment would have made me laugh if the situation hadn’t been so serious. I waited for her eyes to open then murmured, “Youdohave me wrapped around your little finger.”
Liv gave me a faint smile and trailed her thumb down the length of my forearm until she reached my wrist. She circled the bone there then slipped around to the more sensitive skin on the other side. I had no idea if she was trying to distract herself or me, but the way her eyes stayed connected with mine tugged at something deep inside me, bringing me closer to her in ways that had nothing to do with the physical.
I cupped her cheek and stroked her temple, hoping the men would share some information with us that helped to plan our next move.
Footsteps thudded away from our location as if a couple of them had gone off to search elsewhere. “If Trav hadn’t lost the fucking key," one of them said, "we could have gone back to the arena and grabbed some more guys. That motherfucker’s probably got it by now, and if we leave here without her, he’s gonna take the girlandthe car.”
“They’re not getting near you,” I promised with a whisper. They weren’t making it easy to reassure her, but at least we knew we had their key.
Jackson, the guy who had the biggest hard-on for her, went on to describe what he planned on doing to her when he finally caught up with her. His descriptions were so vile and over the top that I figured he had a hunch she was holed up somewhere nearby. He wanted to spook her so she’d run or scream, but the only thing he'd achieved was making me care less about putting a bullet in him.
“He’s talking bullshit to try to flush you out,” I said in a low voice, “but he’ll need to go through me to get to you. I won’t let him touch you.”
She turned her cheek into my palm and kept quiet, but my words must have calmed her a bit because her body seemed to relax against me. “When they're gone,” I said, whispering, “we’re getting out of here. You and me, and any others like us we find along the way, we're making a stable life for ourselves. It’s going to be good.”
Liv nodded her agreement despite both of us knowing we couldn’t be a hundred percent certain of our futures. One thing I knew for sure, though? I wouldn't be spending another night in the city. With a gun, a few hours of daylight left, and access to a fully operational car, we were leaving this place one way or another.
We waited for ten minutes as they moved around the building. Some went up higher while the rest thumped down the stairs and headed out to the street. They shouted back and forth to one another while they searched, not giving a shit about whether we could hear them. They were so sure they had the upper hand despite knowing nothing about us. Our pasts, our capabilities. I’d dealt with people like them during my years on the force. All mouth and fake bravado. The minute they met any kind of real challenge, they crumbled under pressure.
When it sounded like all of them had left the building, I stepped back to give Liv some space. Without the outside distractions to focus on anymore, I turned my attention to her, checking for signs that she was struggling. Her features were tense, but when her gaze lifted to mine, the resolution in her eyes made me hopeful she had enough left in the tank to finish what we’d started.
“You hanging in there okay?” I swept my thumb over the bump on her forehead, wishing I could have put some ice on it to ease the swelling.
“It wasn't easy hearing them say those things about me," she said. "I’m in more danger than I ever thought I would be when I left home—and it scares me because I know what they're going to do to me if they catch me.”
We both knew a future like that wouldn’t be pretty, but when I told her they’d have to go through me to get to her, I meant every word. “It’s not going to happen,” I said. "It’s okay to be scared. Youshouldbe, but don’t let that fear derail you. Stay focused on the goal even when you're frightened—especiallywhen you're frightened.”
She glanced away as she appeared to be processing the circumstances and the risks involved. We were both in danger, only for different reasons. They wanted to kidnap and imprison her, but when this day came to an end, they needed me dead. If they dragged her back to their compound and left me out here, there was an unspoken understanding I’d come for them. They'd be stupid to leave a loose end like that behind, and we all knew the state of play.
"I'm not going to lose it out there," she said. "I'll do what I need to do to get through today."
She believed it, I could see it on her face, but saying it while we were in a locked room and backing it up out on the streets were two different things. For a woman who until yesterday had stuck to a strict routine, it would have been a lot for her to take in. We were about to encounter situations she'd never dealt with before, and having to think on her feet meant she wouldn't necessarily make the best decisions.
“Why don’t we work on a plan?" I suggested. "We’ll go over it again and again until we both know for sure what we’re doing.”
And when she thought we'd gone over the plan enough, we'd run through it one more time.
