Page 60 of Exposé

Swinging my leg off my bike and removing my helmet, I set it on the seat, then pulled out my phone as I jogged across the street in her direction.

Callie

Aria Jenkins, coworker/best friend.

Best friend? Why wasn't she mentioned in the dossier?

Callie

Oversight.

My ass.

I rolled my shoulders and exhaled.

Okay, a girls' night out…

Now what?

"Can we go in now? We answered correctly?" Aria said as I leaned against the corner wall of the building beside them, my ear trained in their direction.

"Finish the puzzle to gain entrance," the bouncer said.

What the hell kind of party is this?

I darted a glance around the corner, spotting them hunched over an object on the ground. Graffiti tags swirled in colorful waves on the brick wall above their heads, and discarded black crates lay littered along the path. My gaze traveled up the wall, around the doorway, and down the sidewalk where I stood.

No cameras.

A smile crept over my face as the distant city noise bled away and then faded as a high-pitched laugh came in from my left.

Shit.

"Shhh.Let me think," Aria said.

My teeth clenched together as she spat out a random riddle while my gaze roamed over the building.

A blacked-out window sat high above, which was a no-go for entrance unless I wanted to rain glass on the people below.

Not exactly covert.

On the opposite side was another building connected to the main warehouse, the one Ava worked to gain entrance to.

Rooftop access?

I sucked in a deep breath, rolled my eyes around in my head, my lids pinched shut as I steeled myself to run, then darted across the entrance to the next alleyway before the stumbling group got close enough to see my face.

Adrenaline spiked my blood as I exhaled and paused at the darker alleyway, which harbored shards of glass, the stench of ripe meat, and a squeaking rat in the corner.

My upper lip curled as I moved towards the fire escape and jumped, pulling the ladder down with a clatter.

If that didn't attract attention…

I glanced behind me, then maneuvered around the ladder as it settled on the oil-slicked ground. A thin translucent spider web wrapped around my fingers as I grabbed the first ladder rung, the sensation sending shivers up my spine.

It's not even Halloween yet.

My foot pushed off the twenty-fifth rung as I found my ground on the top of what could pass as a two-story warehouse, the surface littered with pea gravel.

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