Chapter 28 Diem
Diem
“Shit, shit, shit. We’ve got to split.” I abandoned the charred files and raced to the toolbox, arms extended, hands flapping. “Down. Now.”
Tallus, wide-eyed and with his ear cocked to the sound of the approaching car, didn’t react.
“Tallus. Move it.”
He shook free from the shock and glanced at the shelf where he’d been rummaging. He swept a bundle of papers into his arms and tucked them under his shirt. I would have objected and reminded him we weren’t supposed to take anything, but I didn’t have time to argue.
He grabbed my extended hand and jumped from the toolbox, landing safely on his feet. The beam of his flashlight flickered. We moved to the garage door, and I peered through the gap at the bottom, surreptitiously poking my head out only so far as I needed to see.
At the end of our row, a pair of blinding headlights headed in our direction. I jerked back, cursing. Christ, did the storage company have nighttime security, or was it a police detail because of the fire? Fucking hell. We couldn’t leave now, or we would land directly in the person’s line of sight.
I tugged the bolt cutters free and lowered the door, wincing at the earsplitting complaint of metal.
“What do we do?” Tallus hissed.
“Shut off the light. Let me think.”
Swamped in darkness, I scrambled for options.
If it was the police, we were fucked. Their duty would include checking the locker, and if they noticed the chain on the ground, it would alert whoever it was to trouble.
They would get out of their cruiser and investigate.
We would be discovered. We had nowhere to go and nowhere to hide.
The vehicle approached at a crawl, its proximity difficult to discern without visual confirmation. We had thirty seconds, a minute tops, unless the person weaved down a few side rows. Again, that would depend on who they were and their purpose for being there.
“D?”
“Give me your phone.”
Tallus didn’t ask questions. The shuffle of clothing as he searched was only slightly louder than my pounding heart. I couldn’t see him—or anything—but my fear was technicolor. A moment later, he touched my hand and shoved the phone into my palm.
The screen shone bright when I hit the button, making me squint as I typed in his password. I connected a call to my cell, which I’d left in the Jeep. It rang twice before a confused-sounding Darcy answered.
“H-hello?”
“Get over here. Now! Go over the fence where Tallus and I came in. Fourth row in, parallel to the fence. Cause a distraction. We’ve got company, and if you don’t intervene in the next thirty seconds, we’re fucked.”
“But… I thought I was supposed to stay in the Jeep.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, kid. Did you hear anything I said? Move your ass.”
“Okay, okay. You don’t have to yell.” Under his breath, he muttered, “But I don’t know how I’m climbing a fence with a broken arm.”
“I’m sure you can figure it out.”
“One question. What does parallel mean?”
“Are you shitting me?” Tallus touched my arm; a reminder to stay quiet.
“Is it the same direction or opposite?”
“Same. As fast as you fucking can. Do not get caught.”
“I won’t.”
I heard the Jeep door slam before the call disconnected. I wished he’d have stayed on the line so I knew where he was and what he saw.
“He won’t make it in time,” Tallus said from somewhere in the dark beside me.
“He will.”
He wouldn’t. The car was upon us, its engine gearing down and coming to a slow stop at the caution tape. I wished I knew if it was the police or hired security. Not that it mattered at this point.
“He’s going to see the chain,” Tallus hissed.
“Maybe not.” It was dark. If the person didn’t expect trouble, they wouldn’t be looking for trouble. I hoped. “Be ready to run. If Darcy succeeds, we won’t have much time.”
Tallus groaned. “I need to invest in a gym membership. This job is far more physical than I expected.”
“And shoes. You need running shoes.”
“Are you giving me permission to go shopping?”
A car door slammed.
“Shh.”
My heart thundered in my ears as I strained, listening for signs that Darcy was nearby, but all I heard was the slow approach of someone walking toward the unit, road grit crunching under their shoes.
Whoever it was must have been close enough to see the chain on the ground, to register that the unit had been compromised. I waited for a radio call or an expletive, but the person stopped on the other side of the door, and nothing happened.
I held my breath, sensing Tallus was doing the same.
His hand groped mine in the dark. Tallus weaved our fingers together and squeezed. I waited for the door to roll up. For some sort of action. A phone call. A man’s voice asking who was inside. A curse. Something. Anything.
The first sound that arose beyond the idling car was the scrape of the chain, and I imagined the person lifting it from the ground, groping for an explanation.
As I considered the possibility that they might lock us inside without bothering to look, a new panic strained my chest. What was happening?
Then, I heard it.
The odd yet familiar slap of Darcy’s busted running shoe.
The chain clattered to the ground. The door rattled, but not because someone lifted it. I envisioned them crouched to investigate and, upon hearing Darcy, placing a hand on the door for leverage as they rose to their feet.
“Hey,” a man’s voice shouted from the other side of the unit. “What are you doing in here?”
The steady slap of Darcy’s shoe stopped abruptly. My instructions to the kid were unclear, so I wasn’t sure how he would react. Distraction was vague.
The man spoke again. “It’s you.”
My blood turned to ice as Darcy’s croaking voice sounded from a short distance away. “Oh shit.”
The slapping sound of his shoe commenced, fading into the distance as he ran away.
The man shouted after him. An instant later, the car door slammed. Tires squealed as he hit the gas and shot off down the road in the direction of Darcy’s flapping, slapping escape.
“D—”
“I know.” Or at least I suspected. “Come on. Move it.”
I gave the car fifteen seconds to ensure there was enough distance between us before wrenching the locker door high enough that we could both leave quickly. The time for clandestine adventures was over.
I dropped the door once we were out, and it clattered to the ground with a rattling bang.
Tallus snagged the chain and wrapped it as fast as he could while I got the new lock open and secured it through two links. The instant the lock clicked, Tallus’s phone buzzed.
He answered, and a frantic Darcy screamed on the other end of the line. “Where’s Diem? Get Diem.”
Tallus handed me the device as we raced toward the fence with our heads down.
“Darcy?”
“He’s after me. It’s him. It’s him it’s him it’s him. I’m fucked.”
“You’re not fucked. He’s in a car, and you’re on foot. You can lose him.”
“News flash. He’s not in his car anymore. He’s chasing me.”
“Come on, kid. You got away last time. Piece of cake, right? Get to the Jeep, and everything will be fine. We’re on our way.”
“The Jeep is outside the fence, and I’m inside the fence, and I can’t climb fast. I have a freaking broken arm. Oh my god, he’s going to get me.”
“You’ve got this. Stay calm.”
“I can’t be fucking calm when I’m being chased.”
I ground to a halt at our section of fence.
I needed two hands to climb, but I didn’t want to disconnect the call and leave Darcy alone.
Shooing Tallus over first, I continued to coach Darcy, offering him reassurance and praise, things that I had never been particularly good at in the past. But the kid was unraveling, and I didn’t have time to feel awkward.
Once Tallus landed on the other side, I tossed the phone over and scaled at record speed. The instant I landed on my feet, I shoved Tallus toward the side street. “Get to the Jeep, start it, and be ready to fly.”
“I get to drive?” His eyes lit up behind his glasses.
“Yes. Mark your calendar. Now go. I have to find Darcy.”
“I’m at the fence,” the kid hollered. “Hurry. I’m not fast with my cast, and he’s right behind me.” His voice, drenched in fear, broke. “Diem!”
“You can do it, kid. Stay calm. I’m not leaving you behind. Where are you? What part of the fence?”
The sound muffled, and for a moment, I thought I lost him.
“Darcy? Darcy, what part of the fence?”
“N-near the gate.” His voice was distant, less audible, like he’d shoved the phone inside a pocket, which made sense since he’d need two hands to climb. “About three rows down. I’m facing the main road.”
I ran. My skin buzzed with a release of adrenaline. My blood boiled. Twice, I’d put this kid in danger. I would not let him get hurt again. I should have left him at the apartment.
I aimed for the main road and got there in under a minute, rounding the corner in a sprint.
Darcy clung to the top of the fence about fifty yards away.
The man was beneath him, clasping an ankle and trying to tug him down.
I’d only seen the guy from a distance through the café window, but it was Lukyan.
Darcy thrashed and kicked, his grip precarious. The casted arm was looped over the top, the other flailed, batting at Lukyan. His screams filled the night.
I saw red and closed the distance in a blur of rage.
I was up the fence before I registered climbing it, heaving Darcy to the other side in a maneuver that probably hurt him.
He scrambled, unable to gain purchase on the fence, and clung to me instead.
I braced him in one arm but couldn’t hold on for long.
“I’m dropping you. Ready?”
“Yes.”
Darcy landed on his feet but tumbled immediately to his ass. Thankfully, he knew enough not to catch his fall on his busted arm. “Run to the Jeep. Now.”
Without waiting to see if he complied, I locked eyes with Lukyan, who had descended the fence again and stared up at me from the other side. A picture of confusion and fury painted his features. He balled his hands into fists.
I wasn’t sure what he saw on my face, but the instant he registered that I was not leaving with Darcy and was instead coming after him, he panicked, tucked tail, and ran.
I jumped from the top of the fence and landed on my feet, taking off in an instant.
Lukyan weaved down the maze of rows, ducking in and out of several aisles, but I stayed hot on his ass.
Like Tallus, the man had chosen poorly when it came to footwear, and as he rounded another bend, he slid and crashed hard to the ground.
As I gained on him, Lukyan bounced back to his feet and kept running. He ducked around the next corner, almost falling again. By the time I rounded the bend fifteen seconds later, he was already diving into his car, slamming the door, and revving the engine.
I didn’t stop.
But the fucker hit the gas.
And the car lurched forward.
Squealing tires.
Burning rubber.
I didn’t have time to get out of the way.