She pocketed the pen, then grabbed Dade’s bag, quickly going through its contents. Mostly clothes, almost all in black. She dug into the side pockets. The first two yielded nothing, but the third contained a pack of nicotine gum, a Muni ticket stub. She tried a fourth. Empty. One small pocket on the inside left was zipped shut. She glanced at the bathroom door, still hearing the water run. She unzipped and stuck her fingers inside. Cool metal greeted her, and she pulled out a silver pendant on a chain. No, not a pendant, she realized as she held it up. Dog tags. Two silver metal ovals on the end of a ball chain. So he was military trained.
Anna quickly memorized the info on the tag.
DADE
NICK W. O POS
601811982
USMC M
She quickly shoved the tags back into the zippered pocket, setting the duffel back on the bed just as she’d found it.
“Food here yet?”
Anna jumped, hoping guilt wasn’t as etched on her face as it was her psyche.
“No.”
“Good.” Dade came out of the bathroom and sat down on the double bed opposite hers. His hair was wet, curling around his neck, and his shirt was left untucked. But even in this casual pose, he seemed ready to strike, to jump to attention at any second. She wondered if he ever relaxed.
Dade flipped on the TV, scanning different news stations. It didn’t take long before he landed on one broadcasting the shelter shooting story. According to the reporter, it was still being investigated as possible gang activity, a random shooting as part of some initiation rite. There was no mention of either Anna or Shelli.
Anna wasn’t sure if she found that comforting or not. On the one hand, the fewer people looking for her the better at this point. On the other … it was an odd feeling that you could disappear so easily and no one would miss you.
Anna started as a sharp knock sounded at the door.
Dade was up and across the room in one swift movement, his gun drawn.
“Who is it?” he called through the closed door. Anna watched him put an eye to the peephole.
“Hungry Panda,” came the muffled reply. “I have your Kung Pau.”
Dade pulled away from the door and turned to Anna. He put a finger to his lips to indicate her silence, then opened the door a crack.
“How much?” Dade asked.
“Twenty-two fifty,” Anna heard a young man with a heavy accent reply. She was tempted to cry out, alert him to her presence. But then what? He was an unarmed delivery boy. Most likely, Dade would just shoot him, too. So she sat in silence, watching as the man handed Dade a paper bag in exchange for cash. Dade then quickly shut the door and pulled the chain lock shut behind him.
They ate in silence, watching the news, then a debate between two politicians vying for their party’s nomination in the upcoming election. Anna only halfway paid attention, closing her eyes, lying back on the pillows, feeling the exhaustion of the day seep into her bones. She consciously forced each muscle to flex and unflex, letting tension drain.
Two hours later Dade turned out the light, plunging the room into sudden darkness. She heard him shift on the bed, could imagine him stowing his weapon nearby as he laid his head down on the pillows.
Anna waited in the darkness, listening to him breath, listening to the sounds of a muted television in the adjoining room, people laughing outside on the sidewalk, cars pulling into slots in the parking lot. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, Anna glanced at the other bed. Dade lay on his back, his hands clasped over his chest, looking almost as though he’d been staged by some mortician. She waited, forcing her eyes to stay open as she listened to his breath. Finally it slowed and deepened, coming in long, rhythmic waves. He’d fallen asleep.
Now’s your chance.
Anna moved slowly at first, eyes on Dade’s still form. He was fully clothed, sleeping on top of the pastel spread. She prayed he was a deep sleeper as she reached her free right hand down her leg, slipping it inside her front pocket. Dade didn’t move, didn’t stir, his body completely still, breath still coming slowly and steadily. She pulled the pen from her pocket, bringing it up to her mouth. She bit off the top, letting it drop onto the blanket beside her. Next came the tip, which she dropped into her lap, then dumped the lose ink cartridge next to it. She put the cartridge into her mouth, using her teeth to bite at the plastic end. It took several minutes, but she finally had it molded into a sharp point. She slowly transferred it to her right hand again, inserting the pointed end into the keyhole of her handcuffs. They jangled against the metal bed frame, and she froze, eyes darting to Dade.
His breath shifted, stuttered for a moment.
Anna closed her eyes.
Please stay asleep.
She waited for what felt like an eternity, but Dade didn’t open his eyes, didn’t move. Instead his breath once again slowed and fell into a deep, steady rhythm.
She said a silent thank you, then put a pillow between her wrist and the metal headboard, hoping to mute any further noise as she worked at the lock. The plastic was more pliable than she’d hoped, bending when she would have liked it to stay rigid, yet too rigid to fit all the way into the hole. She didn’t know how long she quietly worked the lock, but sweat was trickling down the side of her face by the time she finally heard the telltale click and felt the metal ease on her wrist. She slowly pulled the cuff open, sliding the remaining bracelet down the metal headboard to rest silently on a pillow. She rubbed at her wrist, shaking circulation back into her hand.
“What are you doing?”
Anna spun around in the dark to find Dade staring at her, eyes open and alert, gun in hand, aimed at her heart.
Adrenaline coursed through her as she opened her mouth to response.
Just as the window beside her bed shattered.
CHAPTER 10
Anna dove for the floor, covering her head with her arms, as glass rained down on her. A series of sharp gunshots followed, ripping into the bed where she’d just been tethered, feathers and tufts of polyester batting flying into the air.
“Jesus.”
She felt Dade hit the floor beside her, his body rigid, weapon held close to his chest. He put two rounds through the shattered glass, then ducked back down behind the bed.
Lenny barked from across the room, as startled awake as his human counterparts had been.
“Stay!” Anna yelled, hoping for once the dumb animal listened to her. “Do not move. Stay!”
The TV shattered as a bullet hit it, sparks flying across the room. Anna moved closer to Dade. Not that he was any better than whoever was shooting at her now, but, once again, she was the only one in the gunfight without a gun.
She’d be damned if that happened again.
“The bathroom,” Dade yelled. His words were clipped, shouted as rapid fire as the rounds hailing the room. “I’ll provide cover.”
She nodded.
He silently counted off one, two, then popped up from the floor and shot through the broken window again. The return fire stopped for a second, and Anna took the opportunity crawl on her hands and knees toward the tiny bathroom.
As soon as she hit the door, she whistled, prompting Lenny into action. He bounded through the room just as the gunfire started through the front window again.
Dade shot back, creeping backward on his butt as he shot out the front of the room. It seemed as if she was watching him in slow motion, but in reality it was only a couple of seconds before he hit the bathroom door.
As soon as he was inside, Anna slammed the door shut. It was wooden, thin. A BB gun could blast through it. They needed to get out now.
“The window.” Dade shot the words out.
But Anna was already on it. She stepped into the bathtub, pulling the small window above the mildewed tiles open. She pried the screen off with her fingernails, breaking two painfully in the process.
The opening was four by three. She was confident she could fit through … Dade was another story.
“Will you
fit?” she asked him.
“Go, just go,” he instructed, lifting her off the ground so she had little choice but to do as he instructed.
She propelled herself through the opening, arms first, followed by her torso, wiggling her feet behind her through the window. She hit the ground hard, scraping her palms in the process, but quickly scrambled to her feet.
“Hand me Lenny,” she shouted.
She thought she heard Dade mumble something derogatory in response, but the dog’s head popped up in the window a second later. Anna lifted him over the sill, grunting under his weight as she pulled him to safety on her side.
Run. Bolt. Leave him. You’re free.
“Grab my hands and pull,” Dade yelled, shoving his torso through the opening.
Anna paused. Dade had been hired to kill her. He was holding her hostage.
But the truth was, men with guns—and just how many she had no idea—were firing at her. And Dade had her gun. At the moment, he was the lesser of two evils and her best bet at getting out of here alive.
“Shit,” she mumbled to herself.
Anna braced her foot on the side of the building, tugging Dade through the opening with both hands. In her peripheral hearing, she realized the gunfire had ceased. Not a good sign. They knew the couple wasn’t in the hotel room any longer. In a second, they’d be running around the back of the motel looking for them.
Dade landed on the ground with a grunt, quickly springing to his feet and grabbing Anna by the arm.
“Go,” he instructed with about as much finesse as he had at the shelter.
“No, I think I’d wait around to get shot at,” she mumbled. But if Dade heard her, he elected to ignore the comment.
They took off, running down the length of the hotel, passing the side alleyway, continuing on toward the back of the next building. There was a door, a service entrance. Dade shot toward it, pausing to jiggle the handle. Locked.
Dammit, that had wasted precious seconds.
As if to confirm her thoughts, a bullet raced past Anna’s ear, lodging into the building beside her. Chunks of plaster flew into the air, followed by more gunfire. Dade shoved Anna ahead of him, ducking around the side of the building. This time he did run the length of the narrow alleyway between buildings. They hauled ass past two overflowing dumpsters. Anna tripped on an empty take-out box, but Dade still had her by the arm, half dragging her up and onward. Lenny barked, running alongside them, his breath coming in hard snorts as he tried to keep up.
Ahead of them, the alley gave way to the main street again. They’d made it two buildings down from their motel. An all-night liquor store sat across the street, two dark office buildings beside it, and a coffee shop with a metal gate drawn in front of it to their right.
Sirens sounded, signaling that one of the hotels’ other occupants had called the police at the sound of gunfire.
From their vantage point, Anna could clearly see the motel’s parking lot bathed in streetlamps. Two shadowy figures ran past the pool area, assault rifles in hand, climbing into a black Tesla Roadster. They were both dressed in black pants, black tops, and black baseball caps, blending into the night. As soon as they were inside the vehicle, the engine roared to life, tires spinning as they peeled out of the parking lot.
Anna scanned the back of the car for any distinguishing marks. The license plate had been smeared with mud. Clearly deliberate, considering the immaculate condition of the rest of the vehicle. The only marks she could make out were a seven and a B. The windows were tinted, so it was impossible to see inside even if it hadn’t been dark. A white clean-air access sticker graced the bumper, though those were on half the cars in the city.
“Let’s go,” Dade said, grabbing her by the arm as he turned back toward the motel. “We need to get the car and get out of here.”
She squared her shoulders. “No.”
He turned to her. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”
Anna took a breath. “I mean, I’m getting sick and tired of being told what to do.” Which was the truth. And she had a far better chance of changing that here on the street than she did back in his car again.
“You don’t have much of a choice,” he said, gesturing with the gun in his hand.
She paused. Took another deep breath. “I could have killed you in your sleep.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Excuse me?”
“You may have the big bad gun, but I’ve killed without one before, and I could do it again. Before the gunmen arrived you were sleeping. I could have killed you then. So don’t think you have all the power here.”
It was a brave speech. Far braver than she felt, to be honest.
He took one menacing step toward her, gun first. “I wasn’t asleep,” he countered.
She swallowed, not sure if he was telling the truth or trying to intimidate her.
“I don’t like being held a prisoner, and I don’t like putting my fate in the hands of some guy who won’t tell me anything about himself except that he’s been hired to kill me.”
“I don’t care what you like,” he said, his voice coming out in short puffs that heated the air in front of his mouth.
“Fine. Then I’m out of here,” she said. She spun on her heel, quickly walking in the opposite direction. She steeled herself for the sound of his gun, the heat of the bullet ripping into her. They were on a main street, in full view of dozens of windows. The police were already on their way to the scene. Odds were on her side that he wouldn’t kill her here.
She hoped.
She heard him mutter an oath under his breath, then felt his presence behind her, jogging to catch her. He did, grabbing her by the arm and spinning her roughly to face him.
“We don’t have time for this shit. The police are on their way.”
“Let go of me.” She wriggled in his grasp, but, as always, it was iron tight.
She retaliated by kicking him in the shins. He winced, but didn’t let go. She tried again, lifting a knee to his groin, using all the force she had.
This time he moaned, doubled over, and let go of her arm.
She bolted, running down the block. She got as far as the next building over before he was on top of her again, grabbing her by the shoulder and slamming her body up against the wall.
“Rape!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
But at this time of night there was no one else out on the street to hear her but the man currently grinding her into the gritty brick wall.
“Get off,” she yelled, kicking backward. She connected with his shin, but he didn’t let up the pressure on her from behind, his fingers digging into her upper arms, his breath hot on the back of her neck.
“Try that again, and I will shoot you,” he ground out.
She spun around, her face so close to his her nose was almost touching.
“I don’t think you will,” she challenged, forcing herself to meet his eyes. They were dark, angry, dangerous. “I think you need answers, and you need me to get them.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” he shot back. “I’m tying up loose ends, and I can do that with or without you.”
She leaned forward until she could feel his breath on her lips. She saw something behind his eyes shift, cloud over, almost soften as her breath mingled with this.
“Then do it without,” she whispered.
She lifted her foot and brought it down with force, scraping down the inside of his leg, hitting the instep of his foot. He winced, lifted it, eased off the pressure on her.
She shoved at his right shoulder, pushing past him, and he fell backward against the wall, gritting his teeth together as he crumpled to the ground.
Way too easily.
Anna looked down at her hand. It was covered in a wet, sticky substance. Her gaze shot to Dade’s shoulder. A red stain was darkening the sleeve of his T-shirt.
“You’ve been hit,” she said to him, almost as much as to herself.
CHAPTER 11
She looked into his fac
e and saw beads of sweat gathering on his forehead and not, she now realized, from the exertion of chasing her down.
“They shot you,” Anna said.
He nodded. “I’m fine.”
“You need a doctor.”
“What I need is for you to get in the damned car and get the hell out of here,” he said, his breath coming hard as he struggled to an upright position again.
“You need medical attention. You need a hospital.”
He let out a short bark of laughter. “Questions about a gunshot are the last thing I need.”
She pursed her lips together. He was right. This kind of wound would definitely beg a call to the authorities from emergency personnel.
“I’m fine,” he repeated unconvincingly. “I can take care of it myself.”
“No, you can’t.” Which was clear as he swayed on his feet, leaning into the brick wall again. He was in pain, losing blood, not to mention that even if he were in the state of mind to operate on himself, he’d have to close the wound one handed.
“We need to get the car,” Anna said. She realized she was echoing the very words she’d protested against a moment ago, but with the sirens growing closer, their window of opportunity to disappear was shrinking.
Dade nodded, letting her lead the way the two blocks back to the motel in silence. They navigated the parking lot, Lenny bounding along at their side, and quickly slipped into the SUV. As much as she would have liked to grab their bags from their damaged room, the sound of approaching sirens was loud enough to tell her there was no time for that. A fact that was confirmed as Dade turned the engine over, pulling out of the lot just as flashing red and blue lights appeared around the corner. Dade drove slowly past them, pulling over to the right to let them by as any law-abiding citizen would. As soon as they screamed past, he slowly drove the rest of the block, waiting until they took the corner to push down on the gas, speeding through several lights.
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