Page 119 of A Matter of Time

“Detective Kairov?”

“Yes, what’s⁠—”

But I cut him off, told him where I was, what had happened, and asked if maybe he could send, like, a squad car or something to scare the van off.

“Where are you right⁠—”

“Jory!”

I groaned as Sam’s voice came over the line. I hung up and peeked over the edge of the roof at the street below. No van. I was going to go to the roof door when it was thrown open and two guys came through. They both had guns drawn.

It was a lesson learned. Never stop moving until you were certain the threat was gone. I scrambled over the side, and lucky for me they were more than fifty feet away. I was down the ladder faster than I had come up, dropped the few feet to the lid of another dumpster, and rolled off to the pavement. I was on my feet as the wall beside me exploded before I took the corner. I ran down the sidewalk as fast as I could, crossed two streets, and hailed a cab. Once inside, I directed the driver back to my apartment. I ducked down in the back and saw the van fly out into the middle of the street and blow by us going in the opposite direction. I sat up and put my head back and closed my eyes. I tried to catch my breath.

“You all right, man?” the driver asked.

I exhaled long and loud. “Perfect.”

Maybe I could skip the gym the following day.

Once I was inside the outer door at my new place, I felt completely safe. Nobody knew I’d moved, and when I was under the hot water ten minutes later, I concentrated on not passing out. When adrenaline leaves, it just sort of deserts you in a hurry. At least I managed to change into my flannel pajama bottoms and hit the bed instead of my couch when I passed out.

The pounding on the door woke me, and when I looked at the clock in the kitchen as I shuffled to the front door, it was two thirty in the morning.

“Jory!”

I winced. Even his voice through the door sounded like a hammer.

When I cracked the door, I left the chain on and peered out. “Yes, Detective?” I yawned loudly. “What can I do for you?”

“Open this goddamn door right fucking now!”

The volume was seriously too much for the hour. “I have neighbors,” I reminded him as I closed the door to unchain it. “Could you keep it down, please?”

When I opened it again, he stormed in, slamming the door behind him and grabbing me in one swift motion. He had a hand fisted in my hair and the other on my throat as he stared down into my eyes. I was still half-asleep, so my body was much more pliable than it usually would have been. I was boneless.

“You stupid sonofabitch,” he growled at me, his mouth hovering over mine.

I squirmed free of his grasp and crossed the room, putting my couch between us. “What do you want?”

“You’re going into protective custody right fuckin’ now.” His voice was hard and cold.

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m not.”

“If I can find you, believe me, they can find you.”

“Please, you know who my boss is—they don’t. I’m not worried. Besides, if they kill me, maybe you can catch ’em in the act. That would make you really happy.”

“Jory—”

“Just go away. Please. I’ll do anything.”

He stared at me for a long minute before he spun around, stalked to the door, threw it open so hard it hit the wall, and walked out. I was going to clap because it was so dramatic, but I thought better of it. What if he heard me? Bearbaiting was stupid, after all. As I replaced the chain and dead bolt, I hoped I was all done with drama for one night.

FIFTEEN

Dane had to deal with a call from Detective Kage first thing the following morning, which meant that right after that, I got to have an excruciating conversation with my boss about not frequenting places where others might see me and report back to nefarious characters.

“Nefarious what?”