‘Shit.’ I muttered, nudging Price. ‘We have company.’
A group of Collectors were creeping around in the dark, there were at least six of them. I quickly pulled up my shield and tapped my earpiece connecting the four of us.
‘Guys, stay alert. I’ve got the creeper and six Collectors on the street.’
Ace’s eyes shot up, looking across to the rooftop.
‘Are they heading this way?’ Illarion asked.
‘Hold that thought.’ I kept alternating my attention between the Collectors and the creeper. ‘They’ve stopped.’
‘What are they doing?’ Ace asked.
‘No idea, it’s like they’re waiting for something. What’s our move?’
Illarion turned to Ace, for a moment neither moved and then she looked up at me. ‘Stay in position, keep an eye on the Collectors. Illarion and I will go down and meet the creeper.’
‘You sure that’s a good idea, boss?’
Illarion nodded. ‘The whole idea of this set up was to catch him.’
‘Wait.’ I said abruptly. ‘Stay put.’
‘What’s going on?’ Illarion straightened up.
Both Price and I swung our rifles back to the Collectors, they were moving, quickly and with purpose and I didn’t want to stick around to find out what that purpose was.
‘They’re moving, Ace. they’re headed your way.’
Both her and Illarion shot up, readying themselves.
‘We’re going out on the fire escape.’ She called.
Before either of us could tell them that was a bad idea, Ace and Illarion were already rushing down.
They broke off in separate directions.
‘Cover Illarion.’ I said to Price as I swung my rifle to cover Ace.
As the Collectors caught drift of their move, the creeper ran toward Ace and my stomach dropped.
‘He’s on your tail, Ace.’
‘The creeper?’
‘Yes!’ I called over. ‘Keep moving.’
‘How many Collectors?’ Illarion called.
‘Three following you, three on Ace.’
‘Damn it.’
‘Stay with Illarion,’ I called over to Matt. ‘Keep your sight on the Sensitives, I need the creeper alive.’
‘You got it.’
Ace ran up the fire escape, drawing the Collectors and the creeper her way. She could handle herself, she’d been up against more, but I still didn’t like it.
Price kept his weapon trained on the Collectors, taking them out whenever he got a shot while I took one out that got too close to Ace.
Now that we knew she was in fact the target; it was going to be a lot easier to question them when we caught them.
‘Ace.’ I called over the coms. ‘One of them broke formation, I’ve lost sight.’
‘Okay.’ She called back. ‘The others?’
‘Still on your six.’
‘Good, keep an eye on them.’
‘Illarion, you have one more on your tail, the rest are out.’ Price said.
‘Good work, kid, get your sights back on Ace.’
‘On it.’
Just as we both swung our rifles back to check on Ace, my breath caught. They were gaining on her.
‘Shit. Ace!’ Price called out and I saw what he was freaked about.
One of the Collectors who’d be chasing after her, raised her weapon but neither of us could get a clear shot, the creeper was in the way and we needed him.
‘Ace, you’re about to get shot at.’ I called.
‘Got it!’ She jumped up, gripping the rooftop ladder, pulling herself up. As the female shot, the creeper threw himself into her, making her miss.
‘What the hell?’
‘What?’ Ace called over, hauling herself onto the roof.
‘The creeper just took one of them out.’
‘Let’s not get too excited.’ She replied, and within seconds, the other two Collectors appeared on either end of the roof and trained their weapons on her.
‘These are the same kind from Paris.’ She muttered, keeping her voice low.
‘Demon eyes?’ I spat.
‘Yep.’
Anger shot through me. ‘Where are they getting these people from?’
‘Who knows.’ She narrowed her eyes, stepping back and sweeping her gaze over them. ‘Not really keen to find out. There are some interesting points though.’
‘What do you see?’ Illarion asked.
‘Black eyes, no soul, kind of robotic, military training and formation.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Not sure about the soul thing.’ She mused. ‘Definitely robotic, kind of shut off.’
‘I don’t like this, Ace, get out of there.’ I said urgently.
‘No way out.’ Her eyes darted from side to side. ‘I’m surrounded. Ila, what’s your twenty?’
‘Just coming up the side now.’
‘No time.’ She whispered and I caught movement from the corner of my eye and cursed.
‘What’s going on?’ Illarion demanded.
‘The creeper has joined the rooftop party.’
‘What are you waiting for.’ Illarion shot back.
‘Don’t shoot.’ Ace said quietly, keeping her voice low. ‘I’ve got this.’
One of the Collectors stepped forward and then the full offensive took flight. They were so fast, both of them, taking Ace on and the creeper wasn’t shy to join, only he was fighting by her side, keeping the Collectors off her.
He stopped another one from shooting her, and then when Ace was about to fire off a round at the next Collector, he threw her to the ground. A short burst of confusion swept her features before she looked up and saw that there was a laser pointed at her chest.
‘Fuck guys, we have company.’
‘More?’ Ace called. ‘Seriously?’
‘Snipers.’
‘Where the hell are they?’ Illarion yelled.
‘No fucking idea.’ I spat. Spinning the rifle around, neither Price nor I could see them. ‘Ace, get out of there now!’
She didn’t wait to see what was happening. She jumped up and ran, the creeper close behind. Bullets sped past them, impacting on the rooftop and at the last turn, the creeper pulled her back behind a cooling unit, saving her from getting shot in the head.
‘Got him!’ Price yelled out.
He fired one, precise shot and the sniper went down.
Throwing my attention back to the rooftop, I saw Illarion rushing up the stairs, but the creeper was running, Ace hot on his heel.
Before she caught up with him, he jumped, landing on the adjacent building. For a second, I thought she would stop but she didn’t.
She leapt, throwing all her weight into the sprint and my heart stopped until she landed, picking up the pace. Illarion followed suit and quickly both were running after the guy, but as the edge of the building appeared, he went for it, but there was no way he’d make it.
My heart leapt into my throat. Where he should have hit the wall and knocked himself out, he reached out, his arm tangling through a series of concealed web ropes.
‘Son of a bitch.’ I muttered, turning my sight to Ace. ‘He’s in the wind.’
Ace stopped abruptly, skidding to a halt, Illarion appeared right behind her, pulling her back from the edge.
‘Shit!’ She yelled out, regaining her balance.
The guy looked back at her, catching his breath and saluting her before he ran, taking another roof top.
‘God damnit.’ Ace muttered, holstering her weapon.
‘We’ll get him.’ Illarion said firmly. ‘Let’s go. We need to get out of the open.’
‘Packing up here.’ I called. ‘We’ll be down soon.’
***
Ace
He was so damn close, just a few feet away. But I couldn’t have made that rooftop even with my military training. He was prepared which made me shiver, he’d been planning this for a while. He had ropes and harnesses set up, that wasn’t so
mething you planned a night before.
‘Stop beating yourself up.’ Aurel said sitting beside me, Matt dropped his gear and took the bottle of water Illarion offered him.
‘I let him get away.’
‘You didn’t let him get away, he jumped off a damn building—which by the way, you two are fucking nuts, you know that?’
‘Hardly the worst I’ve done.’ I muttered to which Aurel just scoffed.
‘We will find him.’ Illarion added. ‘We know he’s not working for the Collectors, so that’s a start.’
‘He’s got to be working for someone important, he wouldn’t stick his neck out for me if he wasn’t.’
‘Think it’s someone in the FBI?’ Matt asked.
‘Don’t think so.’ I shrugged, rubbing my thigh. I really needed to remember to stretch before going out on parkour runs. ‘He would have identified himself.’
‘Off the books?’ Aurel supplied.
‘Not likely with moves like that, I’ve only ever seen that kind of training in a few, very specialized units.’ Illarion mused and then turned to me. ‘Let me.’
Stretching my leg out, I let Illarion take over.
‘So, what now?’ Matt muttered, resting his elbows on his knees.
‘Now, we wait for the next opportunity.’ Illarion replied, kneading my thigh. ‘Better?’
‘Yeah, thanks.’ I got up, stretching it out again. ‘How do you know we’ll get another opportunity?’
Aurel raised his brows and looked across at both of us. ‘That’s a good question. Any ideas, boss?’
‘Yes.’ Illarion said with a smile. ‘We do, he left this behind.’
Illarion produced a bullet casing, safely tucked inside a Ziploc bag.
‘Prints. Perfect. Maybe that will give us a lead, link up to the boot print?’
‘I’m counting on it.’ He nodded. ‘When I speak to Belfort about clearing Peyton, we’ll be able to stretch our resources and get somewhere with this.’
Illarion handed Matt the bag.
‘I’ll get this to the lab. See if they’ve got any hits on the print.’
‘Thanks, Matt.’ I smiled.
‘No problem, you should get some sleep.’
‘Not sure I can, after all that.’ I shook my head, walking him to the door.
‘Yeah, know what you mean.’ He gave me a quick hug and left.
Aurel got up and walked over to the door too. ‘Matt’s right, you should get some rest.’
‘It’s late, you can get a room here.’
‘I’ll be fine, I’ll call an Uber, sure they’re just dying to hit me with surges.’
‘Yeah, you’re not wrong. You guys should go.’
Illarion shot me a look. ‘I’m not leaving you.’
‘Yes, you are.’ I nodded. ‘I need rest, you both do too. And that couch isn’t going to accommodate you both.’
Illarion opened his mouth to argue again, but I shook my head. ‘Go, I’ll be fine. No one’s going to make a move tonight.’
Aurel placed a hand on Illarion’s shoulder. ‘She’s right.’
‘Go.’ I encouraged. ‘I’ll be fine. I’m just going to have a shower and crash.’
‘Okay.’ Illarion conceded. ‘Call me when you wake up.’
‘Will do, boss.’ I nodded.
Giving them both a quick hug, I led them to the door and when they were gone, I jumped in the shower and washed my hair of all the rooftop dust and dirt.
What a night. Can’t say that I was expecting that. The man wasn’t coming after me, it was almost like he was protecting me and that made me more uneasy than if he was just a creep.
Drying off, I slipped into a pair of dark track pants and a hoodie and slid under the covers, hoping that my busy mind would quieten so I could get at least a few hours of sleep.
But the more I tried to shut everything off, the more the rooftop soldier’s eyes kept flashing back in my mid…they were cold, vacant and uniform in their approach just like Illarion had been in that dream… no, that was just coincidence, just my mind being stupid and irrational.
I pulled the covers over my head and slipped my hand under my pillow allowing my fingers to curl around the cool steel of Spock.
Chapter Eleven
Ace
Avery subtle sound woke me sometime into the night. It couldn’t have been long since I’d fallen asleep and a glance at the clock confirmed it. It’d only been half an hour. I shot up, immediately alert and aware.
Focusing on blocking out every sound aside from the one that woke me, I concentrated.
Someone was outside.
Would he really have come back? He was a brazen son of a bitch if he had.
Reaching under my pillow, I slid Spock out and quietly crawled out of bed.
Padding silently across the floor, I reached my bedroom door and opened it and slipped outside into the dark kitchen. Nothing was amiss. Shadows crept across the walls as the occasional car from down below sent the light filtering through the still night.
I poked my head around the corner and stifled a surprised gasp when I saw a shadow just a few feet from the window. Son of a bitch. He was on the landing just outside my apartment.
Without wasting time, I moved to the sliding door and silently slipped out stunning him. He wasn’t expecting that, and as quickly as he tried to move, he had nothing on me, I was quicker.
I slammed my palm into his chest, forcing him back and when he stumbled, trying to regain his composure, I threw my weight into my kick and threw him down to the ground.
When he made another move to get up, I released the safety on Spock and knelt, one knee pressing into his forearm and the other, his chest.
‘Who the hell are you?’ I pressed the arrow to his temple.
‘At ease, Soldier.’ He stammered, trying to pull back. ‘I’m here to help.’
‘Who the hell are you!’ I repeated.
‘We’re on the same side!’
‘I don’t know you.’ I spat. ‘Why are you following me?’
‘A mutual friend sent me.’
‘I’m going to give you one chance to give me a real answer.’
‘I’m telling you the truth, a mutual friend sent me.’
‘All my friends are here, or dead.’ I shot back. ‘Get up.’
Pulling back but keeping Spock trained on him, he rose, standing back with his hands outstretched.
‘Not all of them.’ He said firmly.
My eyes narrowed. ‘The Agency is in the past, I don’t—’
‘I’m not referring to the Agency.’
Taking a firm step forward, I lowered my gaze and pressed the bow to his chest, he didn’t flinch.
‘I was advised to make contact only.’
‘I don’t know if anyone ever told you, but you’re overly cryptic, also completely crazy.’
‘So are you, it seems. Didn’t seem phased jumping from rooftops.’
This guy was either completely nuts or incredibly brave—some said those lines were blurred anyway.
His dark brown eyes remained fixed on me, not even a slight tremor of fear or apprehension coursed through him. This guy was wild, reckless, good at what he did and incredibly cute.
His tousled hair fell in an organized mess giving off a bad boy vibe. It wasn’t far off; this guy was crazy. I’d only seen those moves on highly trained agents, people who were special forces or something more secretive.
‘My contact told me you were brilliant, I’m not disappointed.’
‘Did your contact also tell you I’d kick your ass if I caught you?’
He chuckled and shook his head.
‘My contact said you’d know whether you were meant to shoot me or not. Something about a really good bullshit radar. So, Ace, what’s your radar telling you now?’
My curiosity piqued, and I focused on his mind, trying to get a read on what he wasn’t telling me, but whoever his contact was, was a Sensitive, that was for certain and he was shielding his mind, he was s
trong, and I had issues breaking through, but there were slivers of information I could find—Military, male, special ops.
‘So, yes or no. Do you think you need to kick my ass?’
Well, at least the military angle kind of made sense now.
‘Who is your contact?’
To that, he smiled and lowered his hands, ‘I’m going to make a call, is that okay?’
When he reached down for his pocket, he held one hand up and kept his eyes firmly glued on me.
‘You should meet face to face.’ He said softly. ‘That was my express instruction when I made contact with you.’
Most people in my position would have run, fought like hell or called for backup. Not me. No, I stood with my eyes on his, weapon out. There was no way I was going to let him walk out of here without giving me the answers I needed.
This had been going on for months and whatever his deal was or his contact’s, it involved me, and I was done being watched from the shadows and I was done feeling his contact, or whoever, stalking me wherever I went.
‘It’s done.’ He said into his phone. ‘She’s waiting.’
‘Spooky.’ I rolled my eyes.
He smirked again replacing his phone in his pocket and stepped back. ‘It’s time for me to go, you two have a lot of catching up to do.’
Before I could tell him there was no way in hell; he jumped landing on the lower grate. As I rushed over to look down, he began a crazy escape down the fire escape.
‘Son of a bitch!’ I aimed for a clear shot and when I couldn’t make it, I slammed my palm against the railing.
God damn it. I knew this guy was nuts. When he jumped again and landed on the pavement, he looked up at me with a wink.
He disappeared into the night and I was left standing alone like a moron.
‘Shit.’ I expelled a long breath and made my way back inside. Great, it was close to six in the morning and the cryptic idiot cost me another hour of sleep.
I pulled off the hoodie, adjusting my tank top. I cast my bedroom a quick glance and groaned. Was there any point trying to get back to bed now?
Deciding that getting back to work on the surveillance was a better option, I moved to the desk but stopped abruptly when a very distinctive, subtle buzz filled the stagnate air.
Jack of Hart- Wild Card Page 18