Page 115 of Untamed Sinner

Another voice answers. “Plane ready?”

“Should be. Ashford wants wheels up as soon as he gets there.”

Shit. Ashford is running.

I ease backwards. I’m not letting that bastard get on a plane.

I check the stairs—at least two men below, probably more. I have a gun, one functioning eye, and a growing suspicion that one of my ribs is going to be a bitch tomorrow.

Not ideal.

I need chaos.

I look around but don’t find anything useful.

There’s always something. “Think,” I order myself silently.

The cigarette.

I slip back into the room and pick up the pack where I dropped it. Taking the last cigarette, I pull the lighter out of my pocket. “Thanks for the smoke, Derek. Literally.”

A minute later, I’m standing on the chair under a smoke alarm. I light the cigarette, drag deep, and blow the smoke directly into the detector.

Nothing.

“Come on, you sensitive little bastard.” I do it again.

Nope.

“You have one fucking job,” I mutter, lifting the cigarette as I check the doorway.

The third drag, the alarm screams.

Red lights begin flashing.

Below me, men start shouting.

Doors slam.

Footsteps pound through the mill.

I drop the cigarette onto Derek and head for the nearest window. Time to get out of Dodge.

85

HENDRICKS

We’re twenty yards from the mill when an alarm goes off.

The shriek cuts through the night. Red lights begin flashing inside the windows.

“Fire alarm.” Luke looks at me. “Mandy?”

I nod. “Mandy.”

We run.

Whatever plan Jake had for a quiet approach dies immediately.