Page 95 of Armed ’N’ Ready

Beside him, Saxon walked up the steps, his nails clicking on the painted concrete.

“Almost there, boy,” he said, although he was really trying to reassure himself that he was making headway.

Gripping the railing tighter, he picked up his pace, not stopping until he made it to the roof level. As he flung open the door, a strong gust nearly slammed it back in his face. He held fast to the knob, using it for balance. Men’s angry shouts came to him. Not the Feebs who’d taken point on the roof. They’d long since stood down after Myer was safely ensconced inside.

An angry female voice shrieked. Meera.

He eased open the door and was nearly blinded by sunlight. Squinting, he looked to the edge of the roof, and his heart nearly stopped.

Andi stood on the ledge of the building. Meera’s gun was pointed directly at her head.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Blustery wind whipped Andi’s hair in front of her face. She trembled, and it was all she could do not to lose her balance on the ledge.

Looking down, she swallowed the rising bile in her throat. A six-story fall would crush her bones and probably kill her instantly.

So would the gun pointed at her face.

“Get in,” Meera shouted over the screaming wind, motioning with the muzzle of her gun to the empty window washer’s cage dangling beside the ledge.

Even with the gun aimed at her head, Andi hesitated. The metal cage was about ten feet long and two feet wide, surrounded on all sides by metal railing but open on top. It swung violently back and forth, screeching as it scraped against the concrete wall. An even stronger gust caught the cage, twisting it and slamming it repeatedly against the building.

“Don’t do it,” a window washer warned. The man, along with his partner, stood with their hands in the air. “It’s way too windy. You’ll get thrown over the railing.”

Meera whipped her gun around, aiming at the two men. “Get out of here or die.” Her accent was thicker now, and Andi was amazed at how well she’d concealed it all this time.

Both men threw their hands in the air, backing away a few steps before taking off running.

Meera spun and turned the gun on her again. “I said, get in. And fer fuck’s sake, be quick about it.”

She swallowed, and her heart beat furiously as she took in the shaking contraption that didn’t appear sturdy enough to withstand gusts of this magnitude.

Two heavy metal davit arms bolted to the roof and extending over the top of the parapet seemed strong enough, but it was the light aluminum cage that sent a shaft of terror through her. The only things that kept the cage secured were two twisted steel cables.

Taking a deep breath, she lowered unsteadily to her knees, scraping them on the ledge as she clambered backward. She grabbed one of the metal cables, clinging to it before heading backward down the short ladder.

No sooner did her feet hit the cage’s platform than a blast of wind slammed the entire contraption against the side of the building. With shaking hands, she grabbed the top rail, barely able to keep her balance. The empty handcuff dangled from her wrist, clinking against the metal rail. Any second now she expected the cables to break free, sending her plunging to her death on the courtyard below. She tried unsuccessfully to swallow her fear.

Meera’s crazy, and we’re both going to die.

“Move to the corner.” Meera stood above the ladder and flicked the barrel of the gun to the far corner of the cage.

Without letting go, Andi shuffled her hands along the rail, scooting to the end of the platform, a good six feet from the base of the ladder.

The wind suddenly quieted, as if they were in the eye of a tornado. Meera clambered awkwardly down, somehow managing to hold on to the gun and keep it aimed at her the entire time.

She held her breath. Wait for it, wait for it. The second the wind kicked up again, Meera would have to grab on to the ladder with both hands, or risk falling. That one moment of distraction might be her only chance of disarming the woman.

Her pulse raced as she waited for the wind to kick up again. C’mon c’mon.

The cage started to rock. Every muscle tightened as she readied to launch at Meera.

“Cuff yerself to the railing,” Meera shouted, a sneer twisting her face into a mask of ugliness.

Damn.

“Quit fucking around and do it!”