She gives me a shove, and I step inside. After squeezing in next to me, she quickly closes the door, effectively cutting off the tear gas. It’s dark and cramped, and the musty smell is soon overtaken by the scent of jasmine.
“No,” she hisses, “this is my escape route.”
I can’t see much, but I can hear her unfolding the stepstool. A small flashlight snaps on, illuminating the gloom, and she shoves it at me. “Hold this.” As she climbs up onto the top step, I shine the light on the small trap door in the ceiling.
She pushes it open, and a smile tilts my lips. “Bella Diamond, you’re my hero,” I whisper.
“Shut up, McKay, and give me a boost,” she orders, but I can hear the smile in her voice.
Damn, this woman is magnificent.
Chapter Five: Bella
Ryder grabs my hips and hoists me through the narrow opening. I’m annoyed by the asshole currently breaking into my safehouse. Frustrated that whoever they are, they’re interfering with my plans. But I know it has to be because I’m the only person to possess a clue leading to the Phantom Orchid in almost ninety years.
Word sure gets out fast.Ah, the life of a thief. It isn’t for the faint of heart.
Once I’m up, Ryder uses those delicious muscles of his to pull himself up through the trap door. I quickly put the cover back in place and scramble to my feet. “C’mon!”
We’re in the bedroom of the apartment directly above, which I also own. I had the escape hatch installed a year ago. Call it intuition. Or paranoia. Either way, I like knowingI’m too slippery to ever trap. Right now, I’m damn glad I followed my instinct.
My gut tells me a rival thief is after us—maybe Voss hired multiple thieves on this job to increase the likelihood one of us will be successful—but there’s no way I’m going to be outsmarted or caught. And there’s no freaking way anyone is getting hold of the map Percy emailed me.
The Phantom Orchid is mine.
I race over to the window, pry it open and I’m about to climb out onto the old fire escape when Ryder grabs my arm. “Careful.” His fingers squeeze a warning. “Someone might still be outside.”
He has a valid point, and there could be more than one of them, too. I give him a nod, and we both lean out and look down through the grating of the rusty metal stairs. “It’s clear,” I murmur.
The moment the words leave my mouth, someone wearing a gas mask appears, also leaning out the window directly below, and looks straight up at us. He yells something indiscernible, and I’m not sure if it’s directed toward us or his yet-to-be-seen partner.
“Up!” Ryder hisses in my ear.
I prefer down, but since we don’t have much of a choice, we both hop onto the open-grate platform. Ryder pushes me in front of him, covering my back. He’s damn protective, and since I normally work alone, it’s a very new sensation. A part of me kind of likes it, though.
We haul ass up the narrow stairs, and my stomach falls when I hear a bullet ping off the weathered iron somewhere near my head.Fuck!
“Faster!” Ryder urges, practically stepping on my heels. If I stopped now, he’d plow right over me.
I don’t need any encouragement, especially when the gun fires again, and I hear boots pounding up behind us. They’re coming in hot—definitely two pursuers—but I’m prepared. If my life as a thief has taught me anything, it’s to have multiple exit strategies.
I climb onto the roof, and we run like hell toward the opposite side of the building. Ryder follows, trusting me implicitly instead of trying to take over and be the alpha in this situation. And, damn, it makes me appreciate his presence even more.
About halfway across, gunfire erupts and we duck behind an HVAC unit. He curses then glances down at me. “What’s the plan?” he asks. “Because I know you’ve got one.”
“Always.” I can’t help but smirk as I nod to the edge of the rooftop. “There’s another fire escape on the opposite side. We just need to climb down, make our way to the garage and get the hell outta here. Easy peasy.”
He snorts in response. “After you, Miss Diamond.”
“Are you always such a gentleman?” I tease.
I swear his brown eyes seem to darken. “Not always,” he admits in a gruff voice. “Now move that fine ass!”
As I take off, keeping close to the HVAC equipment and vents for cover, his words sink in. He noticed my ass? I’m not too upset by it. In fact, a little thrill shoots through me. A few more bullets shoot, too, but nowhere near us. We’re out of sight, behind the air conditioning and heating units, and moving fast.
Once we reach the other fire escape, we race down it like the building actually is on fire. I’m plucking my keys from my pocket before we even reach the pavement. On the last platform, Ryder unhooks the ladder and it drops to the sidewalk. As we hurry down, I chance a glance up, but don’t see anyone following. It makes me nervous not to have eyes on our pursuers, and I kick it into even higher gear.
Jetting around the corner, I shove my key into the garage door lock. We run over to my Vanquish, jump inside and I reverse it out of the parking spot.
