Page 91 of Roaming Holiday

Wesley lifts his head and spits in the man’s face. Apprehension curls inside me. Maximo drags a blade across Wesley’s chest, his agonizing grunts echoing through the room. I clamp a hand over my mouth, gritting my teeth.

This second, nothing is stopping them. I’m powerless, just like I was the night Anton attacked me. My gut twists painfully. No. I refuse to be that person again.

With a steadying breath, I creep back through the ducts. It creaks with every inch. My hands sweat and tremble through the time it takes me to return.

I take long, deep breaths when I reach the office again. My head spins, and I grip the desk to control my breathing. I don’t do this stuff. This spy shit. Arson. But as I chastise myself, I snatch the trashcan and start shredding and balling up the notebook paper. I dump in every flammable thing I can find.

Not only am I setting fire to a room I’m locked into, but I’ll then proceed to crawl through air ducts that I can only pray won’t collapse under my weight and trap me in a building I set fire to.

No pressure.

I set the trashcan on the couch so the fire could latch onto something big. I pour the remainder of the Jack Daniels in the can and fling a few drops on the cushions. People could get hurt. People could die. The sound of Wesley’s pain burns into my mind. The cryptic threat of whether Maximo will kill me is haunting.

What other choice do I have?

I roll up a sheet of paper and set the end on fire. The other items burst into flames when I drop it into the trashcan. No time to waste. I crawl back into the duct with the sounds of crackling following me. By the time I return to Wesley, the fire alarm goes off. I cry out at the echoing siren piercing my eardrums. Maximo and Arlo leave to investigate.

After twisting at an awkward angle, I kick the grate from the wall and slide through, my skin painfully scraping against the edges. I drop and push back to land on my butt as air pushes back into my lungs. The alarm continues blaring. I scramble to my feet and snatch a knife from the table, slicing it through the binds around Wesley’s wrists. Tears well in my eyes when I lower in front of his bloodied and bruised body.

“Wesley,” I plead, dropping the weapon and taking his face in both hands. “Wake up.” I brush over his swollen brow, my heart pounding in my throat.

His eyes flutter as he comes to. “Wha—Nina? What happened?”

“I had to do something.”

Wesley pinches the bridge of his nose as he gets a hold of himself. “No, you should’ve run?—”

“It’s done now.” I hand him the knife. “Get us out of here.”

45

WESLEY

I thought Nina pulled the fire alarm, but I pause at the burning stench.

I cut a look at her. “Did you start a fire?”

She shrugs. “Maybe.”

I get up and start gathering all of the weapons I can fit on my person. The .22 caliber handgun has four bullets. There’s no time to apologize or beg for forgiveness. I’m certain Arlo already left out of caution, but his men will be infiltrating any second to kill me—us.

“Do you trust me?” I ask Nina.

She blinks. “What? Yes.”

“Listen to me.” I take her arm and lead her toward the corner of the room. “Then I need you to do everything I say, no questions asked, no arguing, no hesitation. Can you do that?”

Fright fills her eyes, but she nods. I have to wade through this problem in limbo—something I’ve never done before. I shouldn’t turn on auto-pilot and kill my way out. Not only do I want to escape with fewer bodies because of Nina, but for myself. I don’t want it to be my first instinct, but it has to be for now. The most important thing is getting her out of here.

Still, the less she sees, the better.

“Crouch down,” I order, footsteps gathering outside the door. At least three, maybe four people. When she does, I hand her a knife. The alarm smothers the footsteps, but I feel the vibrations. “Stay here and close your eyes no matter what you hear.”

“What—”

“No questions asked. Keep them closed no matter what you hear.”

The door opens, and I point and shoot before even turning to the first assailant. The bullet hits his stomach. As he falls, I walk forward and shoot the second assailant in the head. I send a knife into the heart of the first one, eliminating him entirely.

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