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“See you in the living room,” Max said, continuing to the right as Nico headedleft.
He knew when he was above the living room both because he came to the hinged access panel and because Jason’s voice drifted to him from the suitebelow.
“I don’t care,” Jason said, his voice muffled by the layers of building materials that separated them. “Just get it done. I’ll send Frazier to help if you needit.”
Max hesitated over the access panel. Fighting was still happening in the hall, as evidenced by the occasional thud, the heavy breathing in Max’s earpiece, the distinct sound of silencers whenever Max’s team got off ashot.
But so far, no shots fired from the guns carried by Jason’s men, not unless they had silencers too, and the visuals that had come in from the surveillance didn’t indicatethat.
“You in position, Nico?” Max whispered into his mic. His gun was slick withsweat.
“Ready when youare.”
Max wasn’t looking forward to diving headfirst into Jason’s living room, but it was the quickest way in through the narrow air shaft. If they’d tried to use their legs, there was too great a chance that they’d announce their impending arrival before they actually made it into thesuite.
Their best shot was to dive and roll and hope that the shock of their arrival bought them the few seconds they would need to get to theirfeet.
“Let’s do it,” Max said, aware of the ticking clock. “Three… two…one.”
He punched on the access panel and was almost surprised when it dropped away beneath him. There was a split second when he was falling, the suite’s living room a blur of color and motion as he tucked and rolled, springing to his feet with his weapondrawn.
He didn’t have time to take inventory of the situation. A gunshot popped through the air to Max’s right. In his periphery, Nico raised his weapon andfired.
A black-clad figure Max assumed was Bruce Frazier slumped to the floor — an assumption because Max had his eyes on Jason, standing fifteen feet away with a gun pointed at Max’shead.
“You need better security,” Nico said behindhim.
Max caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eyes. Nico moving for thehall?
“Stop moving,” Jason barked, his gun pointed at Max. “Or I’m going to kill your new bestfriend.”
Nicostilled.
Max met Jason’s eyes. “What’s your play here, Jason? Because it looks like you’re outgunned, and that’s not including the men slaughtering your guards in thehall.”
Jason laughed. “My play? That one’s easy. Even before I realized it, my play has always been to ruinyou.”
“AndAbby?”
“Abby chose a side,” Jason said. “She has no one but herself to blame forthat.”
The sweat had evaporated from Max’s skin. He didn’t know if it was because the suite was cooler than the air shaft or because of the cold rage sweeping through hisbody.
“You chose a side too,” Max said. “You should rememberthat.”
“I remember everything,” Jason said. “What do you think’s driven me all theseyears?”
“Greed,” Max said. “Hatred.Insanity.”
Jason shook his head. “Don’t do that, Max. Don’t you dothat.”
“Dowhat?”
Jason’s face contorted in anger. “Don’t paint me as some crazy in need of help. I know exactly what I’m doing. I’ve always known exactly what I’mdoing.”
“Then you’ll know what comes next,” Max said, tightening his finger on the weapon in his hand, staring down the site of the gun atJason.
“What makes you sure you can kill me before I kill you?” Jason asked, his own gun leveled atMax.
