Chapter 67
Sterling turns the handle, and I change my mind.
“No, wait. Please don’t leave.”
I’m aware that I’m gripping his arm too tightly, but I can’t let go. Can’t let him go. I don’t know how I know, but he needs to stay, needs to be here right now.
Maybe it’s panic finally catching up with me. It would make sense. It’s not every day you find yourself nose to nose with an automatic weapon.
“Breathe, Mia.”
Am I not?
His fingers are cold against my cheek, a relief from the thundering beat of my pulse. I close my eyes and lean in. Sterling’s arms come around me.
“How are you always so calm?”
Heat bleeds through his clothes, and for long-drawn-out seconds, I do nothing but listen to his breathing, steady enough that I could set a clock to it. His heart thumps out of time for a beat, then returns to normal.
Sometimes, it’s good to know he’s still human. I stifle a giggle at the thought.
“Did I miss something?” he asks.
No, but I did. “You have a heart,” I say, looking up at him.
Only when his expression turns cold do I hear the words and scramble to explain.
“Bianca called you a vampire once; I don’t even know why I’m remembering that right now, but I shouldn’t have said anything. Gosh, that was so rude. I’m sorry.”
I pull away. I don’t want to leave the comfort of his arms, but I’m sure I’m making him uncomfortable.
“She really called me a vampire?” He looks amused.
“You work all hours of the day, you only wear black, you’re a little mean …”
“Only a little?”
Okay, that’s funny. I didn’t know he was so funny.
“I’m paraphrasing.”
“Ah.” He settles back against the wall, abandoning his plan to leave. I’m more grateful than I can say, especially when he puts his arm around me and pulls me to his side. “Are you sure I’m not?”
“What? A vampire? Or mean?”
There’s a pause. I can sense Hal watching us with interest, but I’m not ready to leave the little bubble of Sterling and me that exists right now, so I look down at my knees and pretend we’re the only ones here.
“I know you’re human, Sterling.”
Sterling mustn’t want to shatter the bubble either because he’s whispering low into my ear. “So, you’re not afraid that I’ll mysteriously appear in your bedroom tonight, hungry for a taste?”
I think my heart stops.
I’m not sure because, right now, it’s doing a sort of triple axel jump in my chest, and I can’t remember how to breathe.
“Is that why you don’t date?”
“It’s complicated,” he says, the words jagged with his typical gruffness. “Hell, I’m complicated. You don’t need that.”
Jeez, he’s so ridiculous, and I’m so helplessly in love with him.
I twist to look him in the eyes. “It’s okay to be complicated. Believe it or not, I like you this way.”
I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the spotlight that is Sterling’s undivided attention, but I’m also sure I never want it to stop. God, I wish I could cross this divide, reach out and touch the vulnerability I know is underneath the prickliness.
Hal coughs, and reality rushes back in.
The minutes pass slowly. Sterling is staring at the door. I wonder if he’s still planning on leaving.
“What is it?” I ask.
His brow is knitted tight. “You’re right; we’ve been in here too long. Something’s wrong. Anyone with access to the silent alarm is trained to hit it when suspects are leaving, so why press it early?”
“Fear?” I guess. “Everyone’s terrified.”
Sterling hums, but his frown stays. “That’s the other thing; not everyone has access to the alarm, and it went off when half the floor was already tied up and moved. It’s strange.”
“You an investigator or something?” Hal is staring intently at Sterling. It plants itself like a splinter in my mind.
Something doesn’t feel right. It irks me, but I can’t get to it, can’t work out what it is.
“Reporter.”
Hal’s shoulders relax. He dabs at his mouth with his sleeve. The bleeding has stopped, but it’ll be swollen for a while. Maybe he’s jumpy. I know I am.
“Are you one of the ones protecting the corrupt fucks who run this country or one of the good ones?”
“He’s one of the best ones,” I answer, offended by the mere suggestion Sterling would ever go against his morals.
Hal nods, but doesn’t look convinced.
“You’re right to be angry at them,” Sterling adds, his tone steady. It’s his interview voice. “There’s a lot to be angry about, but there are ways to go about change that don’t involve putting other people’s lives in danger.”
Hal scoffs. “Oh, really? What have you done? I don’t remember seeing your name on my daughter’s medical bills.”
I don’t like this. I don’t like his tone or the way he’s looking at Sterling like a threat.
“Why did you come to the bank today, Hal?”
Hal’s eyes harden, and my blood runs cold. Sterling’s grip tightens around me.
I think back on how we got here. Hal fighting back as T tried to tie his wrists, the way he kept getting in his face, how he wouldn’t stay down until T really hurt him.
If he’s really working with them, why go to all that trouble? Why get hurt?
The rest of them are all downstairs in the vault.
Sterling must be thinking the same thing. “Are they doing your dirty work for you?”
Shockingly, Hal laughs at this. “I don’t let anyone do my dirty work for me. You’re fishing in the dark, son.”
No, that’s not true. Sterling knows as well as I do that something isn’t right here. I’ve been feeling it since we came into this room.
But why?
Why be at the bank at all?
I’m so close to the answer that it’s frustrating. I need to think.
“You’re here for a reason though,” I say. I’m certain of it.
Slowly, as though he’s afraid Hal will be spooked if he moves too quickly, Sterling removes his arm from my shoulders. It feels like he’s gearing up for a fight.
Oh fuck! The recorder.
Luckily, all of Hal’s attention is on Sterling, so I’m able to slip my hand into my pocket and start the recording. I’m not sure why it feels so crucial, but I’m going to trust my gut.
“There’s one thing that I’ve been wondering,” Sterling starts. “The guy calling the shots out there? He’s all about control, and yet he lost it with you. Made sure to separate you too. Put you in here, away from everyone else. That’s interesting to me.”
Hal’s smile turns sharp and dangerous. The room reshapes itself with this new light, no longer a safe haven, keeping evil out, but a trap slash cage, where the hunter is here with us.
And Sterling is baiting him.
Carefully, cautiously, I shift my hand to my side, inching toward the scissors.
“Why is that? As far as I can see, you’re not a threat. So, that makes me think you needed to be here for another reason. That maybe something in this room is valuable to you.”
I curl my pinkie finger around the handle.
“You’re pretty slick—you know that?” Hal says.
He’s too happy. I don’t like it.
“No, no, don’t stop now. Keep going. Tell me about this master plan I’m supposed to have. Since you’re the best.”
I freeze when his eyes cut to me.
Sterling’s hand forms a fist on his thigh.
Careful, I plead silently. Don’t spook him.
“I imagine a sick child is quite stressful,” Sterling says.
It tears Hal’s attention back to him.
“It’s the most terrifying thing you could imagine.”
The tension goes ice cold.
Quickly, I pull the scissors in, hiding them under my thigh, my fingers curled tightly around them.
“I can imagine,” Sterling replies. “You said yourself; family is important. A scare like that could drive a good man to desperation.”
“Oh, yeah? What the fuck would you know about desperation, huh? Nothing, I bet. Bet you’ve never known loss in your life.
Got everything handed to you. Yeah, I see you, with your fancy watch and your expensive suits.
Does this make you feel important? You trying to impress your girlfriend here, get her all wet by—”
“Don’t you dare talk about her,” Sterling growls.
It’s exactly what Hal wants. He crosses his arms, pleased.
“You’re just like the rest of them. High on your fucking soapbox because you’ve never had to get your hands dirty when shit gets real.
Well, news flash: some of us don’t have the luxury of the moral high ground because we’re too busy making sure we can fucking eat. ”
Gone is the quiet man from before, replaced with a burning fury that is shaping around my suspicions. Sterling is right. Hal wasn’t pulled away from everyone else; he was put here on purpose.
But there’s nothing in here. No money, no way out. Only two desks and a couple of computers, and Hal hasn’t made a single move toward them.
Hal stands, and Sterling rushes to his feet.
I feel very small.
Hal points at him. “You think wagging your finger at some politicians is gonna change anything? Oh, you talk a big game, but when it comes down to it, you’re not prepared to do what it takes.”
Sterling steps forward. They’re only a foot apart now.
“And you are?”
“You bet your ass I am. I’m about to change lives, and there’s not a goddamn thing you can do about it.”
Something about the computers is bugging me. It’s that flashing. It’s still going.
I remember how jumpy Hal got when I went for the desk earlier. And all those times I caught him staring over there.
Oh my God.
Sterling and Hal are still talking, but I can’t hear it, can’t think of anything, except, I need to get to that thumb drive.
It’s got to be that; it’s the only thing that makes sense, and I’m only going to have one shot to try and get it.
My heart pounding, I shift onto my knees, thrusting the scissors into Sterling’s hand. I can’t stop to make sure he grabbed them. I have to keep moving, lunging for the light that’s been flicking on and off all afternoon.
Behind me, there’s movement and noise, but I can’t look back. I have to trust Sterling will be okay. I reach the computer with my arm outstretched like a relay racer, and with one swift pull, I free the USB from the port.
The light dies, and I hear Hal roar.
A body slams into me, throwing me to the ground. I curl up, sliding my hand under my belly, protecting the drive. Hal pushes and pulls and scratches at me, until the weight pinning me down is gone, and I look up to see Sterling standing between us.
Protecting me.
Hal stands, a sneer taking over his face. He’s wrestled the scissors from Sterling, and he wields them now, slashing at the air, trying to push Sterling back.
“I’m not leaving here without that drive.”
I shove it in my pocket, next to the recorder, and scramble toward the door.
Hal lunges for Sterling, who twists his shoulders before pushing forward, catching Hal in the face with his fist.
Hal drops immediately, out cold.
I blink up at him, and all I see is blood.
“Shit,” he says, curling his fingers over the cut on his palm, trying to stem the blood flow. Hopefully, the fact that he’s still able to move them is a good sign. No nerve damage. Maybe the cut isn’t that deep.
“Are you okay?”
Me? That’s who he’s worried about right now?
“Good,” I lie. “You stayed with me.”
“Of course.”
Of course. Like it’s nothing. Simple. Because I asked, so of course.
“Why?”
I might as well have asked him if he hunts for sport.
“What do you mean, why?”
“You stayed.”
“Mia, of course I stayed.”
He keeps saying that.
This is a man who has dedicated his life to his work, who has faced lawsuits and threats because he dared to put the truth before his own safety.
The same man who I could barely utter a sentence to for two years, and today, I asked him to abandon his plan to help a room full of hostages because I had a hunch.
And he just … did it.
I fill my lungs, finally able to take a full breath. “I should have let you leave.”
He drops to a crouch beside me. “I’m fucking glad you didn’t.”
Hearing him swear is stirring up all kinds of feelings, and I wish he’d waited until he wasn’t bleeding and I wasn’t sitting on the floor during a bank robbery because I can’t do anything about how much I want to tear his clothes off right now.
“I can’t imagine what would have happened if I’d left.”
He cups my cheek with his good hand. I lift my eyes to his, and it’s electric.
“This is going to be incredibly unprofessional, but I’ve already wasted two fucking years, so here it is.
I’m so desperately in love with you that I’m sick with it.
I’ve thought about you constantly, but I never wanted to be the reason your success was questioned, didn’t want anyone to think you hadn’t earned it, because you’re brilliant, and not enough people recognize that. But I’m sorry. I—”
I put my hand over his mouth, grateful for the quiet. My head is pounding, and my heart still hasn’t crawled out of my throat. I love what he’s saying, but I’m going to need him to repeat it when I’m not feeling so lightheaded.
Preferably while he’s naked.
“Can you please just kiss me already?” I whisper.
His lips curl into a smile under my palm, and he places a sweet kiss there before carefully lowering my hand and leaning in.
“Sterling, I …” I stall out, lost.
There aren’t any words to finish that sentence because what I want to say is too big to fit into something as finicky and limited as English. It needs an orchestra, and sweeping hills, and torrential rain. Something elemental and raw.
All I have are my hands and my mouth, and they’re going to have to be good enough because he’s looking at me as if he’d suffer a thousand more cuts. Like there was no other choice for him. No choice at all. Because when it came down to his plan or me, I came first.
Of course I did.
Our teeth click together when I dive in to kiss him, and Sterling briefly sways back with the force of it, but recovers quickly, cupping my cheek and kissing back.
Oh, how I’ve dreamed of these lips.
* * *
Make Your Choice:
not ready to leave yet?* (go to 88)
take me to the epilogue (go to 89)
go back (go to 53)