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Chapter Forty-Six
Jude Walker
It's two in the morning when I hear Dexter's door open. Rolling my eyes, I drag myself out of bed. I'm in gym shorts and a t-shirt, but it's Florida.
I don't have to worry about it being crazy cold outside. I slip on my gym shoes and quietly open my door.
Dex is already halfway down the long hallway.
I stick back, watching him make his way out the penthouse door. Christ.
How am I going to keep track of him?
We'll either meet in the lobby or… I pull up my phone app, checking that he does have his phone on him.
Taking the stairs for twenty-plus stories isn't the highlight of my night. But I served my country, and it's not the worst thing I've experienced.
Hitting the lobby, I see Jim Casey sitting at the desk. He's a nice older guy with a couple of kids in high school and college.
"Took a left when he went out. You're maybe three, four minutes behind him," Casey tells me.
"Thanks, Jim," I reply, pulling the app up again.
Fuck. I didn't even get to warm up. My calves and thighs are achy, but I ignore them. My shoes pound the pavement as Ifollow Dexter's signal. The app updates in real-time as long as the area has good connection. It's standard when Michael Stone takes a contract to be able to find our client at any time, and right now I'm really fucking grateful for it.
We're in a weird area of the city that's mostly abandoned at this time of night.
Dex is booking it. He's so fast I have to run to keep up. He takes a turn, heading down a street leading to a park.
I guess that's a decent place to meet your dealer.
Is he already high? He's fast. I catch sight of him on a set of huge steps that eventually lead down to the park. He's up on the handrails, bouncing from side to side. He hops across the six or eight feet between the rails with zero difficulty.
My jaw drops as I watch him run along the narrow pole. He flips and spins in the air. His muscles are coiled and bulging as he flexes.
He lands every landing with smooth grace. When he hits the bottom of the rail he launches himself into the air, doing some crazy-ass flip, spinning multiple times before landing and rolling.
I take the steps quickly, but I've already lost sight of Dexter. The next time I see movement, I'm down a random alleyway about to break into a parking area. The Florida heat is oppressive even at this time of night.
Dexter is across the street somehow. No damn idea how he got over there. He's on top of a three-story building, standing on the fucking ledge.
Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess he's not meeting his fucking dealer on a random rooftop. Cupping my hands around my mouth I'm about to call out for him, when he leaps.
Launching himself off the taller building, he twists. His entire body spins two or three times before he stretches out a legand lands on the next roof. My heart threatens to pound right out of my goddamn chest. He jumps and skips his way across the roof of the building he's currently on top of.
I'm losing my shit following him, except I'm on the ground and he's way the fuck up there.
When I see him next, Dexter is doing a forearm stand on the very edge of the building. Before I can even blink, he's launching himself off. He uses a power meter pole as a landing pad for about a third of a second before launching himself down onto the ground. He does a flip, rolling into a crouch.
My jaw falls open as my heart races violently. He could have broken his back. Christ. What the hell is he thinking?
Fist pumping the air, the fucker takes off again. I'm hot on his heels when I finally see the park. It's the one I originally thought we were headed to. There's a group of three guys standing around, shooting the shit.
I keep my distance, watching shamelessly to see what this is. They welcome Dex, meaning they obviously know him. All at once, they take off. A couple start to free-climb the concrete wall that frames the park on one side.
Dexter heads to the playground equipment, climbing the tube slide by running up the top of it. I've seen parkour videos. I've never seen someone do this shit in real life, though.
The park has a double-layer walkway that heads up to a domed top on the playground.
