The lighted numbers above the lift flashed one floor up and stopped.
“Ihadher. She washere,”Ueli argued. “She dropped and was like the rock, and then she went away?—”
Lexi was out there in the streets.My Lexiwas out there on the streetsalone.
The lift was taking too long. I sprinted for the stairs.
The bang of the heavy door slamming behind me echoed on the concrete of the empty stairwell and steps leading down too many floors.
The imperative drummed in my head:get to Lexi, get to Lexi, get to Lexi.
Expedience warred with caution for I would be no good to rescue her with a broken leg, but Ihadto reach her.
I stuffed my belt in a jacket pocket.
Boarding school trains one’s liver for drinking, but those years were also an excellent opportunity for adolescent daredevils to hone their skills with no adult supervision.
I swung over the metal railing, hung from the slanted bar for an instant while I scoped my target on the next floor-level down, and undulated my body, swinging out as I released and sailed.
Falling was a rush.
The landing jarred me from the soles of my feet to my hips but nothing cracked, so I swung over the next rail and the next and the next, and then only seconds later, I was standing on the ground floor before the elevator had descended even one stop, dragging open the lobby door, dodging through the crowd, and running toward the sunlight.
Get to Lexi.
From the corner of my eye, Nechtan and my Delta Team were staring at the lifts as I sprinted past them.
Ruoxi saw me, pivoted, and gave chase. The others followed.
People thronged the lobby: men in suits or sloppy athleisure wear, women in professional outfits or sundresses, uniformed bellhops and concierges and waitstaff, and twitchy security personnel with guns under their jackets.
Against the other wall, Lexi’s bright blond hair fluttered, and I spied her bobbing gait amidst the crowd.
I diverted, sidestepping and weaving between oblivious hotel guests and their very alert security staff whose hands hovered nearer their weapons than usual.
A few steps, and I was in front of my Lexi.
She ran straight into my chest, looked up at me, and threw her arms around my chest.“Nicolai!”
Instinct gathered her into my arms, but training took over and I twisted, shoving her against the wall behind me. One arm fenced her in. My other hand hovered near my new handgun poking into the small of my back. “Stay there.”
“Ueli was forcing me into the car, and I didn’t know where you were!” she exclaimed.
“It’s all right now.” My attention scoured the crowd for the Russian intelligence agent from my suite or anyone examining us too closely. “Stay behind me.”
Her hands alighted on my waist from behind as I assessed the situation.
“I didn’t know what to do. You weren’t in the car, and Ueli was going toleave with meto gosomewhere else.”
“It’s all right now.” Even though it certainly wasn’t.
“Ueli wouldn’t tell me what was going on.”
I didn’t take my eyes off the throng. “Minor situation. It’s handled.”
From the dozens of faces in the lobby, a bulbous face, the Slavic pout of his mouth, and his sharp gaze jumped out at me.
The SVR officer who’d materialized in my suite was sitting at the bar, sipping a clear cocktail despite the early hour. His knowing eyes met mine through the crowd, and he swiveled back to his drink.
