Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 145942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 730(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 730(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
The main elevator entrance is to the right and the little lights on the digital screen are telling me that the elevator hasn’t been used. It’s sitting at the penthouse level, which also tells me that the last time it was used, it was coming and not going.
The elevator is the main point of entry for the penthouse. There’s the emergency stairwell that we just came through and the fire escape, which is on the opposite side of the building. But no matter which way she goes to make her escape, she has to cut through here first.
We split into two groups as we sweep through the wide living space. Carver and Cruz go to the left while Grayson, King, and I go to the right.
My heart thunders with each new door that’s kicked in and we quickly move through the kitchen, butler’s pantry, and dining room, while King and Cruz clear the staff quarters, home gym, and bathrooms.
Confident that the downstairs area is cleared, we make our way up the stairs, but with each step we take, my stomach drops, twisting with unease as the top portion of the stairs puts us straight into a blind spot where we can’t see anything that could be waiting for us, just the bland artwork that sits off-center at the end of the hallway.
The boys make their way up the stairs in formation, and as usual, they leave me at the end, not trusting my skills despite already proving myself time and time again.
My gun rests comfortably in my palm, and lately, it’s been starting to feel like a permanent fixture to my hand. Carver and Grayson hit the top step and pause, listening intently. Not a sound is heard through the big apartment and they take that as their sign to forge on, but as they step onto the landing, two guards step out from around the corner, dropped to their knees with their guns out, ready to go.
Bullets sail straight toward the boys, the sound echoing through the apartment, but Grayson and Carver have been trained for this shit. Grayson pulls back, folding himself against the wall as Carver all but sails across the landing, dropping into a low roll and putting himself right in the entrance of a bedroom, giving him a much wider view of the upstairs area and the guards who dare aim their guns toward us.
He starts shooting, instantly getting the upper hand, and as his bullets rain down through the landing, he calls out to us. “Go, go, go.”
We don’t hesitate, bounding up the rest of the stairs and moving down the hallway. As King rounds the top of the steps he stops, dropping on one knee to assist Carver in taking out the two guards who lie in wait.
Time is ticking all too fast and the second the two guards are down for the count, we get a move on as every second passed is another second we’re wasting.
The upstairs area is huge, and fuck, it’s absolutely stunning, but now’s not the time to appreciate my parents’ taste in apartments. We’re surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows that span the whole apartment, giving a 360-degree view of the city and the rest of Ravenwood Heights. I can only imagine how stunning this must be right as the sun is going down.
There are rooms littered all over the top floor and if I hadn’t spent a good portion of my morning studying the layout, I’d be lost and disorientated, but I came prepared, and because of that, I know there are two main bedrooms behind us while the rooms up ahead are the ones we need to focus on.
We make our way through a second living space and quickly clear a home theater room, and as we continue down the long corridor, movement out of the corner of my eyes catches my attention. I stop walking and turn toward the open door of a spare bedroom. “In here,” I murmur to the guys, my stomach twisting with unease.
King and Grayson break off from the others and follow me into the bright room, and at first, it looks completely empty, but I know better. I nod toward the adjoining private bathroom. “There.”
Grayson nods and gives me a hard stare, telling me to hang back as he goes to check it out. King backs him up and I hold my breath, my fingers swelling from gripping my gun so tight.
Grayson inches toward the bathroom and he glances back at King, making sure he’s ready and then with one hard kick, the bathroom door is splintered into hundreds of pieces. “Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot,” a guard begs from inside, his gun laying on the tile as his hands shoot up in the air. “Please. I have a wife and children. I only took this job because I need cash so my kid could do dance lessons. I didn’t sign up for this shit. Please man, I want to see her fifth birthday next week.”