Page 14 of Out of Sight

“Antonio Conti is out there,” I hissed, relieved when Claire’s nails stopped digging into me.

“What?” she whispered. “Who’s that?”

“Where?” Blake asked instead, all business again. His voice was lower, hand on the holster at his hip, his other hand extended to halt us as he crept forward a few steps. Like we would want to sneak back out that way anyway. Detective Rosenberg backed off with us, standing protectively in front of Claire and I, dialing a number on his cell phone and whispering into it.

“Standing next to Theo Gates, the officer at the front desk. Gray leather jacket, skeezy fake tan, steel toe boots.”

“Did he see you?”

I paused. “Maybe. I don’t think so.”

Blake was back at the corner we just rounded , probably about fifteen feet in front of us. “Do you see him?” I asked.

Blake nodded, not taking his eyes off his quarry.

“Who is Antonio Conti?” Claire demanded in a hushed tone.

I turned my body to face her, leaning down to speak softly in her ear. “Antonio Morelli Conti. The boss’s nephew. He’s got a real screw loose, I promise you that.”

“Something you two have in common then?” she breathed back. I saw the goosebumps rise on her neck before she reached a hand up to rub them away.

“No,” I said firmly. She looked back up into my eyes again. “Trust me, Claire, I’m nothing like that. I have morals. Ethics. I could never do the things he did. He likes to be cruel because he thinks it’s fun.”

She shuddered. “How do you know him?”

I paused, staring into her beautiful honey-colored eyes as I debated if I should tell her the truth or not. She blinked, the vulnerability and fear potent in her eyes. I couldn’t lie to her. I wouldn’t cower away from doing the right thing anymore. I needed to own up to what I did.

“I saw him kill Mario Costa. No,” I corrected myself while she blinked in surprise at my blunt words. “I saw him steal from Mario Costa so he had an excuse to murder him. Then I saw him beat the shit out of Mario, and I even drove us all out to the park so I could witness Antonio killing him. Then I taught him how to break into a locked vehicle so I could drop him off at home afterward.”

No lies, no hiding. Not from her.

“I’m responsible for Mario’s death. I let it happen. It’s my fault.”

She took a deep breath, looking into my eyes for another two seconds before breaking eye contact.

“Let’s go!” Blake said, suddenly right next to me. He hurried us back into our conference room. When all four of us were concealed again he took out his phone and sent what had to be the longest text in the world.

Claire and I waited in silence with him after he pressed send until a soft ding announced a response.

“Alright, here’s the plan. Mark,” he said to Detective Rosenberg, tossing him a set of keys. “You pull my car around back so we can get these two the hell out of here.”

Blake didn’t even wait until the door slammed behind Detective Rosenberg before he opened up the window and roughly pushed the screen out of the way as our exit route. He climbed through more gracefully than I expected of a man who ironed seams into his pantlegs, but I didn’t have time to say anything snarky before Claire was trying to awkwardly follow his lead.

I held a hand out to help her, but she looked at it like I had leprosy.

Instead I pulled a chair toward the window, letting her use the seat like a stepstool to get over the ledge. Blake was waiting to catch her on the other side. I hoisted myself up and through just as a sedan came screeching to a halt on the grass in front of us. Rosenberg hopped out of the driver’s seat, extending a hand to Claire as he opened the back door for her. I was annoyed to see her take it without a thought, letting him help her into the car in the same way shedidn’tlet me help her through the window.

She scooched over when I followed behind, taking Rosenberg’s sarcastically offered hand as well.

“Thank you for the assist, handsome,” I winked at him.

“Anytime,” he smirked back, fluttering his eyes obnoxiously while he failed to hold in another laugh. “Now you crazy kids keep your heads down and stay safe!” He slammed the doorclosed and gave the trunk of the car a good smack as Blake drove off.

“Is he still going to monitor me when I go into to the office?” I asked.

“You’re not going back there,” Blake said, meeting my eyes in the rear view mirror. “We don’t know if Antonio Conti saw you or not. I can’t in good conscience send someone who might be compromised back into the viper’s nest.”

“Gee, I didn’t know you cared,” I said, glad I got a chance to let out a just a little snark this time. “I’m touched.”

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