Page 29 of Freedom’s Inferno

The truth of it sank into me like a stone. My body ached with the kind of exhaustion that penetrated bone.

“All right,” I said. “After the office, we’ll find somewhere else. Somewhere public. Somewhere…” I trailed off, thinking. “Somewhere high-end. A place where the staff notice everything, where they’d call security before asking questions. If anyone tries to come for us, they’ll have to walk through marble floors and concierge smiles to do it.”

Charlie’s lips twitched, the closest thing to a smile I’d seen in days. “Trust you to think hiding in plain sight involves luxury linens.”

“Call it strategy,” I said, crossing my arms. “You think Costa’s men are going to storm a five-star hotel lobby in broad daylight? They thrive in the shadows. We take that away from them.”

“I didn’t see any shadows at Byre’s gala…”

I gave him a hard look, the kind of expression one didn’t argue with.

He rolled his eyes. “All right. We’ll check into something downtown after we’re done, but if we’re doing this, we go in and out fast. No hesitation. No nostalgia.”

The way he said nostalgia told me he’d already been thinking about it. The office, the memories it held. The ghost of Richard hanging over both of us.

I turned back to the cluttered table, the papers spread like the aftermath of a storm. “When do we go?”

He didn’t hesitate. “We’re going now. Let’s get this over with.”

I glanced at the clock on the microwave: 9:30 pm. The office was closed, no employees would be lingering at that hour.

I nodded. Neither of us moved. Somewhere upstairs, the old pipes groaned, a weary sound that matched the mood pressing down over us. The air thinned once he left the room.

I gathered up papers, forcing order onto chaos, but my hands shook. My mind kept circling back to the shadows outside, and the thought of eyes in the dark. If we found that ledger tonight, maybe we’d finally have something solid. The shell company, Longcast Trust, might lead us somewhere when paired with the correct numbers.

And if it didn’t… then I had the sinking feeling that tomorrow would be the day everything broke.

Chapter 13

Chuck

Taking the bike was stupid, but the part of me that craved control won out to common sense. I didn’t care how tired I was, I needed to feel the machine roaring beneath me like something alive, all muscle and hunger and heat. I always thought of my bike as a creature, something ancient, forged from thunder and metal; I commanded a beast. When the world blurred in streaks of light and wind, when every pulse of the engine answered to me alone, I wasn’t confined to expectations or judgments. I wasn’t Richard’s shadow, or Costa’s target. I was untouchable. Invincible. I was alive.

Lana clung to me with less tension than she had on our first ride. Her hands were linked around my chest, the side of her face pressed into my back to hide from the bite of the night air. Something about her grounded me, anchoring me to Earth when so much of me wanted to speed off the edge.

Blackwell Sterling was about a forty minute drive into New Haven, but somewhere around the thirty minute mark something shifted. The weight changed.

Lana’s hold slackened, her head tipping against my shoulder.

My heart kicked.

Shit.

I eased back on the throttle, cursing under my breath. I hadn’t thought about how exhausted she was. How she hadn’t slept, hadn’t eaten, hadn’t had a single moment to come down from the chaos. I’d thrown her on the back of a machine that demanded attention to stay alive.

Brilliant.

“Lana!” I yelled, but my voice vanished into the wind, swallowed whole.

I couldn’t risk turning. One wrong move, and we’d both be roadkill. I reached down, one hand still on the throttle, the other groping for hers. Her fingers were loose against my stomach.

I caught them, pulling them tighter, threading them together and gripping hard enough that she might feel it in her sleep.

“Stay with me,” I muttered, my voice lost in the rush of air.

I shifted my shoulder, trying to jolt her awake with enough movement to keep her upright without throwing her balance.

How can she sleep like that?