Page 126 of The Payback

Zach answers this one. “He was lining up a shot at the top of the staircase when you guys talked to all the guests.”

“The assassin? But there was no shot.”

“Obviously,” Zach deadpans. “He was aiming for you first, Eleanor. And Little Thief would punish me if something happened to you. I had to do what I had to do, and you were too busy playing the newly married couple for me to interrupt. It would have drawn too much attention. Take it up with her if you’re mad about it.”

That gives me pause. “Fucking Oksana, going back on her word from the first moment. Thanks for the assist, Zach, but what do we do now?”

“I need some supplies to treat him, but as soon as we open these doors, idiots one and two will kill us all. Roark, want to play red light, green light?” Zach asks.

“Way ahead of you,” Roark answers. The lights in front of us all turn red, but people are still pulling to the sides of the road to give us a place to squeeze through. “Ellie, turn off your sirens. At the next intersection, make a left, then gun it.”

I do as he says, side-swiping a blue Ford Taurus when it doesn’t move fast enough. The Escalade follows, adding another scrape along the blue paint.Oops.

“Turn now!” Roark calls, and the lights above the intersection suddenly switch—the change allowing cars to follow behind us, putting space between the Escalade and us.

We follow traffic, Roark creating such a jam, it will take NYC Metro at least an hour to untangle. “Ellie, you got the specialised bus, didn’t you?”

“Yep! The FBI loaned it to us with the promise that we don’t ruin their pretty toy. They have it for extractions, and the paint on the outside is basically one big sticker they can change out as needed.”Fucking cool if you ask me.

Nik groans behind me, and as much fun as I’ve been having playing some fucked-up version of Grand Theft Auto, I need to focus on him.

“Nik, you okay?”

He groans again, vomiting up everything he’s eaten and drank this evening. Zach holds a bowl under his face, catching the worst of it.

“Almost there. Keep going and get it out. You need an IV and some labs done, but we’ll get to that stage. Emptying your stomach is the first step, but we’re just about out of time for that. Make it quick.”

“Agreed,” Rory says over the phone. “Ellie, I’ve got an idea, but it’ll require some coordination. How’s your depth perception?”

“Good, I think.”

“Zach, you still got the extra toys Olivia put in your backpack?”

The man rolls his eyes. “Of course.”

“Ellie, roll to a stop over an access hole on East 97th Street. They were working on that street in front of the cathedral an hour ago. Those covers will be easier to lift. Dimitri, you still with us, bud?”

“Yes, and don’t call mebud,” my husband answers, keeping a hand on Nik’s shoulder and staring out the windscreen as we make our way down the roads.

“Deal. Make sure you guys get out of there, and I’ll call you whatever you want, Bratva Bro,” he says, chuckling at his joke. “Gotta keep my girl happy, and Ellie alive is priority number one.”

The traffic lights are in our favour as we pass under the street signs, finally coming up on 97th. I crank the wheel, turn left and rocket along the street. There are still a few cars between us and the black SUV, but traffic in front of us is at a standstill, and I hit the brakes, coming to a stop right over a manhole cover.

“Now, Zach, there should be a hatch beside the gurney. Got it?” Rory says.

“Got it!” Dimitri calls, springing into action as Zach grabs a new container for Nik. Dimitri yanks on the false bottom with all his might. “Fuck! Eleanor, go forward about a foot. We’re too far away.”

I ease off the brake until Dimitri tells me to stop, my front bumper kissing the car ahead of us, getting a horn and a finger in return. I wave and smile, then duck in the back.

The floor of the ambulance is now gone, the sliding false bottom nestled along the ambulance’s undercarriage. Below is the dirty street and a circular cover leading to safety.

It’s crowded as fuck back here, but soon, there will be four fewer people. We yank the body bags into the centre of the bus. We were supposed to hand these off at the hospital, but now? I don’t know what to do.

Zach rushes us, handing Dimitri a tool to lift the sewer cover and slide it over so we can climb down.

After some arguing in which Dimitri pins me with a withering glare, I go first, Nik following me, then Dimitri. The handrails are grimy, and climbing them in heels is frustrating as hell. But it’s better than putting bare feet on the metal rungs.

“Where’s Zach?” I ask when we’re in the cavernous space below the street. It’s small, dark, and not somewhere I wish to be for long. It reeks but is not as bad as I would have imagined. Or maybe this adrenaline high is blocking out some of my senses.

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