Page 59 of Assassin's Prey
“Made that easy,” Remi said. He glanced at me and Abby, who still hadn’t let go. I hadn’t either. “We’ll have to save the reunion, bro. Gotta split.”
I rubbed a hand down Abby’s back, then used it to urge her toward the stairwell. “Let’s go, little bird.”
“Okay.”
The word was a blend of relief and gratitude. I knew exactly how she felt.
Abby followed Remi down the hall. He knocked twice on the stairwell door, paused, knocked twice again. A flash bang went off farther down the stairs, along with what sounded vaguely like a war cry, maybe a cowboy hollering—either way, it sounded like Eli was having fun. We waited for him to open the door.
“There you are, little sis,” he said, jerking her into a hug. “Let’s get you outta here.”
With Remi bringing up the rear, Eli led our group up to the roof. We made quick work of setting up ropes. I sent everyone else down, but as I prepared to descend, I heard sirens coming from the front of the compound. “Eli?”
I glanced down and saw the panel on his wrist light up. While he assessed, I skimmed my way down the side of the building. Remi clicked a button after I landed, releasing the mechanisms on the roof that held the ropes in place, and he and I gathered the gear. Always take the evidence with you when you can.
“You’ll never guess who’s at the front gate,” Eli said.
“Tell us on the run.” I wrapped an arm around Abby and got her moving.
“Who?” Remi asked.
“Our boy Bryant,” Eli said.
A muffled laugh escaped me, echoed by my brothers. “He’s going to have an interesting night ahead of him, isn’t he?”
“Better him than me,” Remi said as he pulled the fence aside. He bowed from the waist. “After you, Abby.”
She knelt in the grass, then stopped, staring up at us for a moment, and shook her head. “Thank you.”
I leaned over, tipped her chin up, and grazed her mouth with mine. “Thank you, little bird. For being alive. Now go.”
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Chapter Twenty-Six
She’s alive. She’s alive. She’s alive.
The refrain pounded in my head to the rhythm of my booted feet as we jogged toward the SUV. Abby ran in front of me, and I found myself analyzing her movement—was she as fluid as she should be, had she hesitated when she jumped that fallen limb? Were there injuries she hadn’t told me about, that I couldn’t see?
Of course there were wounds I couldn’t see. She’d been held at gunpoint before—by her own father, no less—but that didn’t mean the experience wouldn’t leave scars.
Why the fuck couldn’t I protect the most important person in my life?
But she’s alive.
With the distraction at the front of the complex, we had no trouble escaping. At the SUV each of my brothers took a turn hugging Abby fiercely before shuffling her into the back seat. I pulled the latex gloves off my hands, passed them to Remi to dispose of along with his and Eli’s, and followed after her, pulling her roughly into my lap.
“I knew you’d come,” she whispered, burrowing against my chest. “I knew.”
There’d been no way to know she was alive, but still I felt like shit for delaying even a day. The fact that she’d waited, worried, endured Lord knew what…
My mind raced as my hands roamed her body, searching for answers to questions I couldn’t ask yet. Registering through touch that she was all right. Here. Real. I needed to feel every inch of her right fucking now.
Abby sat quietly in my arms, her beautiful eyes glittering up at me as if she knew exactly what I was doing and why.
“Bro, wait till we’re home, yeah?” Eli chuckled, breaking the moment. “A little privacy is a great thing.”
Remi punched him in the arm, hard. Eli winced, and in my lap, a little laugh escaped Abby.
