Page 114 of Intrepid

“Dane, if you would …” Kutscher tossed something through the air, and it landed beside Dane, who kept his eyes and gun on me as he lifted it from the ground.

I only caught a glimpse of the key, before he swiped it up and nudged me into the cage. Once I was inside, he slid the lock in place on the outside, trapping me within.

Dane took off toward the roof access, stumbling along with his gimp leg and missing fingertip.

Minutes ticked off in silence. Karl paced in front of me, while my mind raced to figure out how to Houdini myself out of the fucking cage.

His pacing stopped, and he looked around, almost casually. “I know you probably had some elaborate scheme to kill me. In some way, I’m almost curious to know how you planned to do it.”

“Cage. A hole. And a drill bit.”

Arms crossed behind his back, he nodded. “Creative. I’m feeling a little shown up by this .” He looked up to the crane and back. “Not quite as theatrical. Though, I did make a point to add a little tension. Literally. The cable on this thing is quite frayed. I’m not sure exactly how much weight it’ll support before it snaps. Of course, I did have Dane thin it out a bit more, too.”

“Why? Why did you do it? Why kill Eli?”

He snorted a laugh, and paced again, coming to a stop in front of me. “Why, indeed. Perhaps the first question you should ask is why he continued to accompany his mother to my home? Strange, don’t you think?”

The implication of his words kept my jaw locked in rage. “Sera is the only reason.”

“Yes, of course. Sera. And do you see my dilemma? Why would I allow a dirty street rat anywhere near my daughter? An insolent little prick like him.”

“Don’t act like you did this for her,” I gritted out. “You don’t give a shit about her. You never did.”

He stared back at me, a feigned troubled expression on his face. “You’re right. I never did. You want to know the real reason I killed Eli?” A crack sounded, seconds before his body slumped to the ground, revealing Sera standing behind him with a shovel propped into the air.

“Happy Fucking Father’s Day, assho—”

Before she could finish her moment of celebration, the cage lurched on a creak and rattled as it lifted up off the ground.

Eyes wide, Sera rushed forward, her fingers brushing the bottom of it as it lifted skyward. My body felt light, flying up about fifty feet higher than the building, and it jerked horizontally, until I was dangling over Lafayette.

It came to a stop there, hovering over the traffic about three hundred feet below.

From inside the crane’s control cab, Dane waved, before he stepped out onto the ladder. He dangled the key I’d seen earlier and tossed it.

My heart caught in my throat, as I watched it land on the jib’s catwalk.

“Fuck!” I shook the cage and felt it lurch again, the screeching sound of the frayed cable telling me it could break any moment.

“No!” Clutching the edge of the building, Sera stared across from me. The worry etched in her face matched the grim thoughts in my head.

37

Sera

Heart slamming against my ribs, I stared out over the almost two-hundred-foot drop that separated me from Ty.

“Where is that ledger, Sera?”

I spun around, to find my father rubbing the back of his neck, gun aimed right at me, and pulled my robe to cover as much of myself as I could. “I’m not saying a word until you set him back on this fucking roof!”

“Perhaps I haven’t been … persuasive enough with you. What happened to the trust between us, hmmm?”

“There never was any trust between us.” I tore the necklace from my throat with one wrench of my hand. You destroyed my trust, just like you destroyed my innocence.” I threw the necklace at him, watching it fall to the ground beside him. “And Dane? He works for you now?”

“He’s hopeful. Something of an internship, I guess you’d call it.”

“You had him watch me. Stalk me. You knew I’d never suspect anything, because he’d done it before.”