ZACH

 

I’m steadfast in my resolve to escape this room and to finish what we started even if I know there’s no logical path out of here without taking a serious risk in being shot in the head. But that’s the name of the game when you work in the security world. Our lives are always at risk. Every day we step out onto the job, we risk our lives. Today is no different. It’s just another day at the job with the exception that I finally have something, or someone, worth fighting for.

I peek a quick glance at Lola standing beside me and notice the way she makes eye contact with the taller and leaner of the two men. My eyes shift to him and he’s torn between staring her down, undressing her with his eyes and then staring blankly ahead.

I clear my throat, trying to steal Lola’s attention but it doesn’t seem to work. My gaze bats back over to her, but she’s not interested in me right now.

She exhales a breath of air before her lips hitch into an irresistible grin and I can’t figure out what angle she’s trying to play but if she has cards up her sleeve, I’m more than willing to see how they fall before I jump into action.

“You boys got names?” she questions with a seductive bite into her lower lip. “I mean, of course you do…”

“No talking,” the second man says—the one who’s bulkier and with longer hair, with eyelids that cover half of his blue eyes.

“What about you?” She nods at the first man—I’ll refer to him as Hazel and the other as Blue. “Do you have a name?”

Hazel cocks his head towards Blue, like he’s seeking permission to speak. “You’re not supposed to be talking.” He wets his lips and averts his attention so that he’s staring blankly ahead.

“Tell me your name and I’ll shut up,” she continues to press on, clearly stepping over her boundaries and I almost want to cup my hand over her mouth before she can get herself into trouble, but she’s a big girl and I reckon that I know what she’s trying to do. “It’s just a name.”

“It’s Matthew,” he says flatly, catches a quick glance of her, and then pretends otherwise. “Are we done talking now?”

“You know, Matthew?” She takes a careful step forward, putting Blue on high alert. He twists on his feet and steadies one finger on the trigger of his gun. “I’m a very rich woman and I can pay you twice what you’re being paid.”

“This isn’t about the money,” Blue grunts out but it’s clear that he’s lying. I know the type of man he is. He has allegiance to nobody. He’s simply a hired man. “Stop talking.”

If I know Lola at all—which I think I have a pretty good grasp on who she is by now—then I know that she’s not going to stop anything just because a man with a gun tells her to stop. She likes to pretend she’s not strong and brave, but she’s the strongest woman I’ve ever known.

“I’m not talking to you,” she says flatly and makes sure her gaze is affixed squarely on Matthew. “I’m talking to him and I think I have something I can sell you.”

“What’s that?” Matthew cocks his head to her, curiosity glistening in his eyes.

“A little bit of money.” She shrugs. “It’s in my car and I can take you there to get it.”

“Nobody is leaving this room,” he responds and swallows a gulp in his throat. He passes a quick look to the man standing beside him and then shifts his attention back to Lola. “But my curiosity has been piqued. How much money?”

Blue narrows his eyes at Matthew. “What the hell are you doing, Matt?”

“I’m making a deal.”

“Absolutely not,” Blue stammers and twists on his feet to scold the taller man. “You and I have been in this together from the very beginning. You’re my brother and I’m not going to let you do something stupid—”

“You’re right, you’re my brother,” he responds quietly, almost like he’s trying to whisper, but I can clearly hear every word they’re saying to each other. “And you’re not going to do anything stupid to stop me.”

Blue rolls his eyes and then raises the gun to aim squarely at Lola’s head. He takes a careful step forward all the while making sure to keep enough safe distance away from us.

My blood begins to boil and if he even thinks about pulling that trigger, I need to be ready to act. He laps his tongue over his bottom lip and then takes another step.

“I don’t happen to agree with my brother, but I’m not going to say no to a little bit of extra cash.” He cocks the gun. “So tell me how much you’re offering.”

“I’ve got a few million in my car,” she lies straight through her teeth, but if she’s good at anything, it’s lies and manipulation. I found that out firsthand all those months ago, but even if I believe she’s being honest with me now, I know she’s not being honest with these men. “Like I said, I’ll take you to the car.”

“No.” He throws one hand outwards. “Give me your keys and I’ll go get it myself.”

“That’s not going to happen.” She shakes her head incredulously. “Not only would that be foolish of me to do, I’d lose all my leverage and you could run off with my money after killing me, but the simple truth of the matter is that I had one of those nifty little fingerprint scanners implemented on my car and the way to unlock it is by me using my finger.”

He grits his teeth and tenses his throat. “And why should I believe you have this money?”

“Because…” She swallows. “I’m Lola Grimm. Seth Grimm’s daughter.”

“Bullshit,” he mutters and rushes forward to press the barrel of the gun against her head, digging into her flesh.

My body shifts before my mind even has time to process what’s happening, but I come to a dead stop when I feel the cold barrel of a gun pressed against my own head. I shift my head away slightly so that I can angle my eyes on Lola.

“Why do you think Richard is holding us here?” She swats Blue’s hand away like a true badass, although that probably wasn’t the best course of action in the moment. He seems to admire her bravery, though, as he takes a few measured steps back and drags one finger along the lining of his lips.

He cocks a wild grin and nods. “Take my brother to your car.” He steps out of the way to allow Lola to rush past him and to join Matthew at his side. But just before they manage to slip out the front door, he continues, “But if you’re not back in three minutes, your boy toy here is going to be dead.”

Lola passes me a quick solemn glance before nodding and then slipping through the open door. Matthew lowers his gun to his side as he follows her out of the room and closes the door behind him.

Blue drops down into a wooden chair, straddling it backwards as he wags his gun at me. “That’s quite the girl you’ve got on your hands.”

“You’re not telling me anything I don’t know.” I take a moment to laugh at this short moment where we can relate to each other. “How do you know Richard?” I question, changing the course of the conversation.

“I honestly just met him today.” He drops the gun to dangle over the back of the chair, letting down his guard. “Said he needed security for a high-risk event. Said he was expecting two people to show up and ruin the party and I’m guessing those two people are you.”

I raise my hands into the air as to let him know that I’m not a threat, which is obviously a lie, but I’m trying to connect to him so I can get him to let his guard down even more. That way, if Lola’s not back in the specified time frame, I won’t have to worry about him sending a bullet through my pretty brain.

“I’m going to level with you,” I say, the back of my throat dry like I’ve swallowed gravel or something. “When my girl comes back into this room with that wad of cash, you need to get as far away from this building as possible.”

“Interesting,” he muses out loud and leans slightly forward, eager to hear more. “What are you planning to do?”

“Trust me when I say you don’t want to be around when everything goes down.”

“You’ve got my attention.” He pushes himself backwards off the chair and climbs to his feet. He wags his finger at me and shakes his head. “You’re a dangerous man, aren’t you?”

“Not as dangerous as the people on that rooftop.”

“Those people?” He points to the ceiling and chuckles. “They’re harmless rich bastards. I’m not afraid of any of them.”

“You should be.”

He begins to step towards me with a deliberate pace. “I’m not.”

The office door is thrown open, taking the both of us by surprise but by the time either one of us knows what’s going on, Lola has Matthew’s gun aimed squarely at the back of Blue’s head.

I couldn’t be more proud of my girl than I am right now in the moment.

“Drop the gun,” she demands, cocking the gun against the back of his head.

His eyes rise to meet mine and there’s a pained, severe expression painted across his face. “Where the hell is my brother?” he questions as Lola grabs his hands and bounds them behind his back. “I swear to God if you—”

“Relax,” she chides him before ripping him backwards and then turning him on his feet so he can walk out of the room. “Your brother is just fine and you’re going to be just fine.”

I smile for another moment or so before breaking away from the spot I’ve been standing in and following the two of them out the door. Lola looks both ways before pushing him towards the back door and then through it.

We step out into the night air, our feet padding along the asphalt. I’d move to assist her, but she’s got things handled and I’m not going to lie: It’s very much a turn-on to see the way she’s managed to take control of the situation. She lets him walk on his own accord all the while making sure he knows she’s got the gun aimed at his back should he try something stupid.

“Are you taking me somewhere to kill me?”

“I told you to relax,” she scowls, and I can’t help but to chuckle under my breath. Remember what I said about levity? Yeah, that shit’s important in a time like this. I need a little bit of laughter right now because I honestly don’t see how we’re going to execute this plan anymore, knowing that the bombs have been deactivated on the rooftop.

We come to the corner of the building and that’s when I decide it’s time to assist. I rush forward and throw Blue against the hard exterior as he attempts to walk out into the parking lot without checking to make sure the coast is clear. I’m sure he’d love for us to get caught walking him at gunpoint, but that’s not going to happen.

Lola peeks around the corner and waits for two men in business suits to enter into the building before gesturing to me that the coast is clear.

“Make your way to the white cargo van as fast as you can,” I whisper in his ear and though my voice is low, it’s clearly wrapped in the subtext of a threat.

He groans before pushing away from the wall and stepping out into the parking lot. I’m on high alert, my eyes shifting at the scenery all around us as I make sure the coast is clear and that nobody can see us.

I think back to our time on the rooftop and remind myself that there is no clear view of the parking lot since the view is hidden by the air conditioning units and back-up generators.

We finally make our way to the van and Blue rushes to get a good look inside through the windshield. He gets a glimpse of his brother passed the hell out in the passenger seat. And just as he’s about to knock on the window, Lola cuts in front of me and cracks him in the skull.

He goes down for the count almost immediately—he’s nowhere near as hard as he thinks he is. He’ll be out for a good hour or so and that should be plenty of time. I drop down onto the ground to drag his body along the hard ground while Lola opens the back doors for me.

I push his limp body inside before tying his hands behind his back using rope and then close the door and turn to Lola with an exasperated breath.

She glances down at her watch and sighs, wipes the sweat from her brow. “The party’s about to start and we already took the entire explosives supply from the factory—”

“And we don’t have time to find more.” I drag my open palms over my face, grit my teeth and pound my fist against the van, eliciting a painful crack from my knuckles.

Her eyes drop to the ground, searching for something as she tries to think. And then she looks up to me with a flat expression. “We don’t need explosives to take these men down.”

“What are you talking about?”

She nods her head and slowly but surely, a smile passes over her lips. She’s definitely up to something and I’m dying to know what.