Page 76 of Betrayed in the Dark
He types on his phone.
Let’s get some ice cream. He would have wanted us to. He always said it made everything better.
“He was right.” I clear my throat, buttoning my coat. “But you’re paying.”
He grins and wraps his arm around my shoulders, leading me to his car.
Chapter sixteen
Eli
“Three… Two… One.” Alex stares down at his phone and then looks up at Vin and me with a grin just as the power shuts off.
We turn on our flashlights and enter the stairwell.
“Fuck, how many floors do we have to climb?” Vin asks, leaning over the railing while pointing his beam of light upward to gauge how many steps we need to ascend.
“Thirty-two,” I answer, taking the lead. “Tony lives on the floor below the penthouse.”
“Maybe we should have shut off the power after we had taken the elevator up,” Vin complains, following closely behind.
“Now, where’s the fun in that?” Alex responds. “Besides, even if I shut the cameras down, we would have had to walk through the lobby, and too many faces would have recognized us.”
“But that’s what you did for Eli when he decided to steal the asshole’s car,” Vin grumbles.
Alex chuckles, grasping my shoulder. “No offense, Eli, but your face isn’t as recognizable as mine or Vin’s. I didn’t see any harm in letting you walk carefree through the lobby.”
“No offense taken.”
Vin grins smugly, rubbing the palm of his hand over his scruff. “The burden of having such a pretty face.” He looks back over the railing and releases a heavy sigh before taking the first step up. “Let’s get this fucking over with.” When we reach the door to the thirty-second floor, Vin presses his hand against the wall, his chest heaving. “I’m getting too old for this shit.”
Alex laughs. “You’re not even two years older than me.”
Vin shakes his head, turning to me. “You don’t even look out of breath.”
“That’s cause I’m not.” I grin and tap his chest. “It’s called cardio, buddy. You should try it sometime.”
“I do,” he huffs. “I just prefer the horizontal kind—not the kind that could give me a heart attack.”
“You’re just as likely to have a heart attack while having sex as you are while climbing stairs,” Alex notes, adjusting his glasses.
“Maybe so, but at least I’ll be doing something I love,” Vin replies, clasping Alex’s shoulder before standing up straight. “All right, let’s find out exactly what Tony knows and get out of here before they manage to turn the power back on and Alastor gets home.”
I nod and turn toward the door, wrapping my hand around the knob. Slowly, I open it, using my flashlight to peek down the corridor and ensure no one is nearby.
“Coast is clear.” I step out with Alex and Vin behind me. We head to the end of the hall, my eyes scanning the number above each door until we reach the last one. “Sixteen.” I jerk my head toward the door. “This is the one.”
Alex steps up to the door and presses his phone against the scanner. “The door locks operate on battery power due to situations like this,” he explains quietly.
The tiny red light at the top of the scanner turns green, followed by a click as the door unlocks itself. Alex hands us our night-vision goggles before we turn off our flashlights, throw on our gloves, and cautiously open the door to enter the entryway. We’re enveloped in complete darkness as we close the door behind us. I turn on my goggles, waiting for the lenses to adjust before stepping into the living space.
We freeze as a raised voice echoes to our right. With stealth, we move in that direction, approaching a closed door. I press my ear against the wood.
“I don’t care what the fuck happened, just do your job and fix it! I don’t pay all this goddamn money to live in darkness!” Tony screams. I assume he’s on the phone with maintenance, giving them an earful. “You better hope you have this resolved before Alastor gets home, or it will be your ass on the line!”
After a moment of silence indicating the call has ended, I look to Vin, who nods and mouths,Now.
We grip our guns and aim as I step back and use all my strength to kick the door open. Tony nearly falls out of his seat as he tries to open his top drawer, probably to retrieve his gun, but I beat him to the punch. Literally.
