Rett
Walking around with a plug in your butt was kinda weird. In a good way.
Walking into a seedy warehouse where you were getting the location of some drugs and a hostage from a person only known as “the associate” was probably the kind of weird that would make theGuinness Book of World Records.
Not that I’d be calling to tell them about this.
Focus.I resisted the urge to search the shadows for Hiro. I knew he wouldn’t be far but hopefully not too close either.
If something happened to him because of me, I would never forgive myself.Ever.
The second I cleared the doorway and walked deeper into the building, the panic I’d been holding back tried to break free.I’m completely alone now. They can’t see me now that I’m inside.
Hiro wanted to sneak into the building before the meeting, but Enzo said he thought it was being watched, and no one wanted to risk my safety by being seen.
That meant I was on my own for this part.
My feet stuttered on the dusty floor, and I sucked in a deep breath and exhaled.I can do this.It was literally getting an address and then leaving, a piece of cake considering the stuff I’d already been through. Once I was out, I could give everyone the address and let Enzo take over. It was risky, not going to get Wyatt myself, but just getting Hiro to allow this was a feat of epic proportions.
Also, Enzo promised he’d make sure Wyatt made it out okay. And Enzo was a crime boss. Surely, he was capable. Right?
Pushing forward, I went to the end of the hall and pushed through a heavy wooden door. Behind it was a stairwell. A sign with the number of the space where I was supposed to be was on the wall with an arrow pointing down.
This is probably what descending into hell feels like,I thought as I gripped the railing and made my way down. My knees protested with every step, and the joints in my fingers ached.
Finally at the bottom, there was another one of those heavy wooden doors, which I pulled open and peered through. The hall was empty, but there was a slight glow at the end to the right.
I headed toward it. An eerie feeling of being watched crawled up my spine, and my skin prickled. It was so quiet. The light sound of my footsteps seemed loud, and my heart thumped so hard it hurt.
At the door, my fingers curled into fists, and I stepped forward before I could talk myself out of it.
The room was large and abandoned-looking. Old, dingyyellow wallpaper lined the walls, some sections peeling up or missing. Now this was how I’d imagined wallpaper would look. A fluorescent light buzzed overhead, but only half of it was lit.
It was all I managed to notice because my attention immediately went to the man sitting on one of those metal folding chairs in the center of the room. It was the only furniture in the place, and honestly, it seemed a little dramatic. I mean, all this for an address?
“You alone?” the man lounging in the chair asked.
He was manspreading. You know, thighs apart and back sprawled out so he took up so much space that the chair looked small. It was probably an intimidation tactic.
It didn’t work at all.
Okay, fine, it did.
Despite the intimidation factor, I looked straight at him. “Does it look like I have anyone with me?”
“Pat him down,” the man in the chair announced, and I was grabbed on both sides from behind.
Surprise rippled through me. Surprise and fear. I hadn’t even noticed the men standing there in the dark corners of the room.
The men lifted me off the ground and carried me forward, the toes of my shoes scraping along the old tile floor.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “Just give me the address and let me leave.”
“You think I’m gonna give you an address before I check you for wires?” the man in the chair asked. “You really are green.”
He sat there smug, draped in an open brown bomber jacket that looked like it came from the eighties. His hair was scraggly and unwashed, and there was a poor attempt at a beard growing on his chin. I didn’t like his eyes. They were shrewd and marred with dark circles.
The man on my right shoved me down by the shoulder, and I grunted when I hit my knees. “Stay down,” he ordered.
