Page 43 of The Ghost

“Why not?” Ryan decided, giving Z a shove.

We passed each other in the hallway, both still in danger of Ryan’s bullets. “Take a left, then a right, then another left and you’ll meet up with Theo’s troops,” I told Z as we passed.

Her eyes were wide and frightened, her elbows shaking as she held her hands above her head. I nodded to her, promising her that she had the strength she needed to find the good guys. She tightened her lips, nodding to me in return.

At least I knew that she was no longer in danger. But now I had bigger concerns. I was all alone with a man who knew me inside and out. I wasn’t going to be able to get the upper hand without a lot of clandestine maneuvering.

I had a plan, and with any luck, I was going to put it into action and save everyone who mattered. All I had to do was get Ryan to relax. The best way to accomplish my goal seemed to be by playing to his ego. So I put a frightened look on my face and acted dumb.

“Please don’t hurt me,” I whispered, pretending to be frightened.

Ryan reached out when I was close enough and spun me around. Now I was his captive instead of Z, and the clock began ticking. It would take a miracle to get me out of that situation alive, and I hoped that what I had planned would do the trick.

I thought about Theo and the moments we had shared so recently. I would give anything to get back to him, but first, I had to take care of some nasty business. It was never fun to kill people, but some of them had it coming.

Chapter 19

Theo

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Z CAME RUNNING DOWN the hallway, her hair a mess. She looked like she had been crying and was out of breath when she arrived. Clark was nowhere to be seen.

“What happened?” I demanded, pulling her down behind me.

“Clark traded herself for me,” Z admitted.

I slammed a fist into the wall. Of all the stupid stunts she could have pulled, that was the worst. I turned around, ready to go after her myself. I wasn’t going to allow her to throw herself at the enemy alone.

“Wait,” Z instructed, grabbing on to my arm. “Ryan’s one of them.”

“I knew it,” I muttered. But instead of wanting to wait, learning the truth about Clark’s ex-fiancé only made me want to go charging to the rescue quicker.

“Hold up,” one of the Dark Sparrow operatives ahead of us said. “We just got word to rendezvous at the hangar.”

“I’m going back for Clark,” I announced.

“Don’t,” Z said, putting her body in my way.

It was a ridiculous move. All I had to do was give her a gentle shove and she would move aside. But it wasn’t about strength as much as it was about reason.

“Clark’s got it under control,” Z told me.

“How?” I demanded.

“If you show up there, things will get ugly,” Z argued. “Let her deal with him.”

I shook my head. Of all the difficulties to throw at me, asking me to sit by while Clark dangled herself over the void was one of the worst. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to her. But at the same time, I could see Z’s point. If Clark was alone with Ryan, she could potentially talk her way out of it. With me in the mix, all bets would be off. It would rapidly come to blows between me and Ryan, and Clark just might get caught in the crossfire.

“All right,” I agreed finally.

It helped to know that Clark was every bit as deadly as I was. And she had her head on straight when it came to Ryan. I knew he wasn’t going to be able to convince her of anything, despite the fact that she might play along. And giving her some breathing room to take him down on her own was probably the best solution.

“This way,” the other operative said, waving us in the opposite direction.

I turned back from my absent girlfriend and fell in line, feeling conflicted as I did so. Z crept up in my shadow, instinctively putting herself behind me as we moved. I appreciated that. If she was important enough for Clark to sacrifice herself, then I was obliged to make sure she stayed safe.

Together, the group of us moved east, past the cafeteria and toward the primary elevator. The Dark Sparrow operatives skipped the shaft and opened the next door to the right, revealing a staircase. I should have known that there was an alternate route, but at the time it hadn’t seemed important. Now I was pleased that we wouldn’t be stuck in the same situation Clark and I had found ourselves in earlier. At least with the stairs, we wouldn’t run the risk of plummeting to our death or being crushed by an elevator car.