Page 103 of Cruel Games

When I closed the file and moved to put it back, a sound in the outer room made me freeze in my tracks.

Someone was in here with me.

I hastily shoved the file between two boxes when a thin,black flash drive fell from the damn thing. I picked it up, shoved it between my tits, and raced for the window as the sounds of humans in the front room grew closer. There was more than one distinct voice in there, and as the words became clear, my blood ran cold.

“The alarm was triggered, Keehn. I’m not imagining things. Someone was in here, and they might still be.”

A heavy sigh. “Listen, Lilly, if someone broke into your rooms, then you need to let me clear them first?—”

“I’m not some delicate flower in need of protecting, Keehn. I’m a vicious bitch who’s killed more people than you’ve put away. So put your gun back in the holster and stop playing the strong protector. I didn’t like it when we were married, and I haven’t changed.”

If I lingered here much longer, I’d be discovered, and I couldn’t afford that. I was in the inner circle. If I were caught in her office, it wouldn’t be the Neon Dogs getting their just desserts. It’d be me getting the axe.

Lilly St. Clair wasn’t afraid to kill. And if she knew she’d been betrayed, she’d kill me in a heartbeat.

I spotted an air vent in the far corner, behind an empty chair being used to hold more boxes, and took the chance. Luckily, it was a snap-in kind and not a screw-in kind because if I’d had to find a tool to make my escape, I’d have been doomed. As it was, I was cutting it super close.

I squeezed myself into the small crevice and snapped the cover back into place just as the doorknob turned and Lilly and her cop ex entered the room. As much as I wanted to stick around and find out what she had to say, I didn’t have the time. I needed to get out of here and find an exit. Reorient myself, and meet up with the guys. They would be an invaluable alibi, should I need one.

I didn’t have claustrophobia, but this fucking place gave me the chills as I inched along, hoping I’d find an exit soon. Hell, even falling through the floor at this point would be preferable tostaying in the HVAC system much longer. Last thing I wanted was to end up in the main line and run into the heater itself.

Just as panic started to set in, I spotted another vent cover, breathing a sigh of relief as the room it led to came into view.

It was the commons in the back of the house. At this time of day, it’d be abandoned, so I didn’t have to worry about being spotted. I kicked it free and fell head-first into the room, only barely avoiding cracking my skull off the concrete floor when two firm hands caught me midair?—

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the little bandit from the other night.”

A familiar voice echoed from behind a mask, and I frowned as that familiar Oni mask came into view as I stood and straightened my skirt. “Oh, it’s you,” I said simply, trying for disinterest again. I wouldn’t let another man intimidate me for crawling around in a vent. Hell, these things led all over the place. He couldn’t possibly know where I’d been.

“Running away from your partners? They’ve been looking for you for a while now.” His gaze shot to the door, and I shivered as I spotted his carefully concealed gun in the waistband of his pants, hidden by the flap of his jacket. “Maybe we should go find them.”

“I’m perfectly capable of finding them on my own,” I muttered hastily, the haughtiness from days long gone coming out in a surprising burst of rage. “You keep your hands off me and stay far, far away from me and my business, you hear?”

The asshole’s eyes twinkled dangerously at me. “No can do, princess. You see, everything that goes on in this place concerns me. So I can’t just let you do what you want and try and dismantle the system from inside.” His grip released me, though, as he watched me like a hawk contemplating releasing the mouse or eating it whole. “Don’t go far, girlie. I’ll be watching you.” He tapped his temple. “It’s what I do best.”

I couldn’t help the shiver that went down my spine as heslipped out of sight into the darkness beyond, leaving me alone and chilled from the encounter. I didn’t want to run into him on a good day, let alone when I was three seconds away from being caught doing something very much not approved.

I stood there in the dark like a statue until I could no longer hear the blood pounding through my veins. And then I stepped in the direction of the rear staircase, intending to go up it to the floor we lived on, so I could descend it and act like Coyote hadn’t understood my instructions when they inevitably found me where I had told them to find me.

But when I hit the first step, something in me broke. I couldn’t go back to them now. Not when there was so much unknown in me, so many doubts and confusion racing through my mind. I wasn’t ready to face them, not until I’d confirmed what I already knew to be true.

Their whole contract had been built on lies.

But I couldn’t just bail without the key to the safe deposit box where I kept his journal and a few other things I couldn’t afford to lose. And it was safely tucked away upstairs in Jackal’s bathroom, buried under some fluffy towels and a box of tampons.

Fuck.

THIRTY-NINE

JACKAL

We’d been lookingfor Ivy for damn near an hour when I ran into none other than the Ghost, strolling out of the back parlor like he had the biggest news ever. That cocky grin split his face in half, even behind his stupid Oni mask, and I frowned as he spotted us and made a beeline in our direction.

“Ah, just the assholes I was looking for. How you boys doing?”

Dingo scowled. “We were fine until you showed up, Ghost. What the fuck do you want?”

He slid his hand lovingly along the banister next to us, his eyes cutting into our souls as he met each of our gazes in turn. “A little birdie told me you’re looking for someone.” He pretended to look around as if just now noticing there were only three of us. “Where’s that lovely lady of yours who’s been holding your leashes all night?”

---