Page 71 of Dark Succession
“I went out for a bit of air, and that jackass James grabbed me.”
Callie started to ask about the man the bartender had seen her with, but changed her mind at the last minute. Carrigan was entitled to her secrets. She glanced at the window. “I think it’s dark enough.”
“Thank God.” She stood and walked to the door. “Just give me a minute to change and I’ll have us out of here.”
She pressed her ear to the door as Carrigan changed into the sweats—she had to roll them four times and knot the drawstring to keep them from falling off—and crouched next to the keyhole, holding her breath. If they were found out now, there was nothing stopping James or whoever caught them from killing them on the spot. They’d been promised death, after all. There was nothing but silence on the other side of the door.
She closed her eyes, listening harder. Was that a rustle? Was there someone standing right on the other side, listening just as hard as she was, knowing exactly what the soft clicks of Carrigan’s tools in the lock meant?
This is the only way. You die now, or you die how the Hallorans choose.
When she looked at it like that, there wasn’t really any choice at all. She couldn’t just sit here and wait for the ax to fall, proverbial or otherwise. Now was the time for action.
“Got it.” Carrigan’s words were barely more than a whisper.
“Just a second.” Callie padded over to grab the lamp. Itwas unwieldy, but any weapon was better than no weapon at this point.
Carrigan nodded. She took the other lamp and then cracked open the door.
They waited, but no one burst into the room and no sound of alarm went up. Apparently James was confident in his people’s ability to keep them contained in the house without a guard. Well, he was about to be proven wrong. Callie slipped into the hallway, followed by Carrigan, padding on bare feet. She would have liked to get the other woman a pair of shoes that weren’t heels, but James’s were almost comically too large. So bare feet it was.
She silently counted the doors as they moved past them. One. Two. Still, no one in the hallway but them. Three. She pointed to the third door. Carrigan tried the handle and it opened with only the slightest creak.
Footsteps in the hallway behind them had them both spinning around. James stood at the top of the stairs, his eyes narrowed. Callie tensed, waiting for the moment he’d sound the alarm. Even with two of them against one of him, she doubted they’d win in a fight. He walked to them slowly, his gaze flickering over her and landing on Carrigan.
She raised her chin. “Come to drag us back to our cage?”
“No.” He snagged the back of her neck and dragged her against him. The kiss was quick and brutal and left Callie feeling like the worst kind of voyeur. James stepped back, easily evading Carrigan’s left hook. “You and me, lovely, we’re not fucking finished. Not by a long shot.” Then he turned around and walked away.
Callie stared after him, unable to believe what just happened. “Did he just—”
“I’m going tokillhim.”
She grabbed Carrigan’s arm. “Let’s go. I don’t want him to suddenly change his mind.” Though the look on his face made her think he wouldn’t. Obviously things between him and Carrigan were significantly more complicated than the woman had let on.
After a slight hesitation, she nodded and let Callie lead her through the door. The room wasn’t a bedroom. It looked sort of like a study, but the shelves were mostly empty, and the few pieces of furniture all had a light coating of dust across them. She moved immediately to the window and pushed it open. “It’s only a short drop to the garage roof.” When no one answered, she turned to find Carrigan holding a book, frowning at it. “What?”
“Nothing.” She shut the book. “I’m bringing this with me.”
It would make it more difficult to maneuver with her carrying something, but Callie didn’t point that out. Whatever that book was, the other woman thought it important enough to set her lamp aside and tuck it against her chest. She motioned to the window. “The coast looks clear, but there’s no way to know what we’re walking into.”
“Anything’s better than staying here.”
“Then let’s not waste any more time.” Callie sat on the windowsill and shifted one of her legs outside. She waited for one breathless moment, but only the distant caw of a crow answered her. So far, so good. She set her lamp on the floor, climbed the rest of the way out, and dropped the few feet onto the garage roof.
Instantly, she crouched down, trying to minimize the chance of someone seeing a human-shaped shadow where it shouldn’t be. The yard below her was as empty as the street beyond it, but she couldn’t afford to assume that the Hallorans had no guards set up. He’d be a fool to assume there wasn’t the potential for attack. No, they were there. Somewhere.
Carrigan joined her on the roof with a light thud. She looked to Callie, obviously willing to follow her lead. It felt strange after the woman had basically ripped her a new one on two different occasions, but she didn’t hesitate to shuffle along the roofline, keeping as low as she could. The pitch was steep, but the newish roof gave them plenty of traction. She aimed for the part of the slant closest to the ground—and furthest away from the bright floodlights positioned strategically around the back. They’d have to brave those to get to the street, and even then it was a long ten blocks to territory that wasn’t owned by the Hallorans—not including skirting the warehouses surrounding the highway.
One step at a time.
“You hear about the entertainment the boss has scheduled for tomorrow?”
She froze on the edge of the roof, tucked up against the body of the house. God, how hadn’t she noticed the man standing down in the shadows, the bright red spot of his cigarette burning in the darkness? A second ember rose. A second man.Damn it.
“Pretty girls. Almost a shame.”
The first man laughed, the harsh hack of a longtime smoker. “Only a shame if he doesn’t share.” He kept laughing, joined by the other speaker.
