Page 66 of Deadly Obsession

Freddie ignores me, putting on his heat detection glasses and looking up to scan the upper floors. We have to use every tool in our arsenal with time against us.

“No one’s here.” He frowns, walking forward. His gaze lingers on the long bookcase at the end of the hall. “There’s something behind there.”

“Oh, goodie,” I declare. “We all like a secret door.”

Freddie removes his glasses and heads to it. He runs his hands along the books carefully. Screw that! I swipe my arm across the shelves to knock everything from it and throw the first editions to the floor.

The bookcase groans in agreement and slides to reveal an elevator.

I bow at Freddie smugly, acting like a true gent. “After you.”

“We’re going underground, Seb,” Freddie says. “We might lose signal.”

CHAPTER45

FREDDIE

“How is anyone meant to know where to go?” Callen grumbles. He looks at the unnumbered buttons and decides to press them all. “We need to get one of these lifts, boss.”

Seb talking in my ear fades to a crackle when the lift whirs into life as we travel into the unknown and then comes to an abrupt halt. I gear myself up for what’s waiting. So far, this has been easy. Too easy. As the door opens, Callen’s still talking about his dream supervillain cave and not paying attention.

That’s when I see it.

Suddenly, I lunge and knock Callen out of the way of a bullet. “Look out!”

He needs to watch where he’s going. The bullet streaks past him and narrowly misses his ear. Instead of being perturbed, a giant smile lights up his face.

“Here comes the cavalry,” he declares, drawing his gun and shaking his long hair loose. It tumbles down and sits around his shoulders like a Viking warrior. “Let’s fucking go.”

We step out of the lift into an office. The beige room has a lingering mildew smell and uncomfortably low ceilings. The only splash of colour comes from a grand-looking cat palace with pink, fluffy cushions in the corner. Seemingly, the cat has better conditions than whoever works here.

Bullets continue to fire in our direction. They’re coming from behind a large filing cabinet, and the barrel juts around the side of it, masking our view of the shooter. Their bullets come in a confused and random stream. Whoever is firing has little skill. Narrowly missing Callen must have been a stroke of dumb luck. They’re not shooting to kill; they’re shooting out of fear.

“Save your bullets,” I tell Callen.

We’re not wasting our ammo when we don’t need to. I advance, and Callen covers me from behind in case it’s an ambush. It isn’t difficult to avoid bullets when they’re being fired here, there, and everywhere with no aim. The printer seems to have taken the brunt of the feeble attack.

As we get closer, I hear the gun click. They need to reload. I point my gun as we move around the cabinet and come face-to-face with a frizzy-haired woman with oversized glasses kneeling on the floor.

“Don’t shoot!” she begs as desperate tears fill her eyes.

She squeaks as Callen raises his weapon and closes her eyes, but I hold my arm out to stop him. She can’t talk if she’s dead.

“Where are you keeping Bram Deveraux?” I demand.

“I…” Her voice shakes, and snot drips down her face. “I… I don’t know.”

“We don’t have time for this,” I snarl, aiming my gun at her head.

“Okay, okay!” She holds up her hands. “He’s in the dungeon!”

“Take us there,” I order.

Callen grabs her by the shirt and forces her to her feet. He roughly pats her down to check for weapons, then hooks his arm around her neck.

“You make a good human shield,” he hisses menacingly. “Now lead the way, and don’t think about taking us on a wild goose chase, or I won’t think twice about twisting your head off your shoulders.”

CHAPTER46

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