19. Kane
CHAPTER 19
Kane
“ A re you fucking crazy?” Tory’s eyes flared at me as she shifted to the left. “I am not jumping into that water.”
“It’s our only escape.” The wind clawed at my face as we balanced on the narrow ledge with our backs pressed against the cold stone castle wall. Twenty feet directly below us, the moat was as brown as gravy.
Shouts from inside the castle echoed behind us and panic burned through me like a lit stick of dynamite. We were cornered and exposed. If we didn’t move now, we were fucked.
“Can you swim?” I asked.
She adjusted the strap on her clutch so it wasn’t near her neck and shuffled another couple of feet sideways. “Yes, but I am not jumping from here.”
“It’s just water. We’ll make it.”
“I’ll drown in this massive skirt. And it’ll be fucking cold. Our limbs won’t move.”
“I’ll help you. We can do it.”
“No.” She glared at me. “There has to be another way.”
“Tory, any second now, some bastard is going to look out the window we escaped through and?—”
“What about your maps? Are they in your pocket?”
My mind skidded to a halt.
“Are you willing to risk them? ”
Shit! The maps would be ruined if they became wet. “You’re right. Okay, keep moving. Maybe there’s an open window up ahead.”
“Hopefully.” Her wide, darting eyes betrayed the calm in her voice.
As we inched along, a cool breeze whipped around us like icy tentacles, and Tory’s skirt billowed around her legs in a parachute.
Peering over Tory’s head, I searched the sheer stone wall, desperate for an escape route. About ten feet ahead, a cable ran from the castle wall across the moat to the floodlights in the temporary car parking paddock.
“Look, there!” I pointed at the cable. “We can use that to get across.”
“Are you insane?” Tory hissed, her gaze following the line across to the other side. “We’ll never make it!”
Another shout rang out from the castle.
“It’s our only choice. Quick, get up to it.” I shuffled closer to her, giving her no choice but to keep moving.
As we reached the cable, I studied its connection to the wall. The rusty bolts screwed into the wall proved it had been there a long time. Hopefully, that meant it was built to last.
Finally, we reached the section beneath the cable.
The massive spotlights in the distance shimmered in her eyes. “I won’t be able to hold onto that cable, Kane. Not with my injured fingers.”
“You won’t have to.” Testing my balance on the narrow ledge, I unclasped my belt. “You jump onto my back.”
Tory gave me a what-the-fuck look.
“This is our only chance.”
Her sharp breaths clouded with each exhale and as she looked down, I followed her gaze to the water.
The shouts from the castle grew louder. Shit! The guards had entered the room we’d escaped from.
“No time to argue.” Reaching up, I flicked the end of my leather belt over the cable.
“What if we fall?”
“The water will make a soft landing.”
“Well, that’s comforting.”
“Exactly.” Gripping my hands on either side of the belt, I turned my back to her. “Climb on.”
“Jesus. This is a bad idea.” She gripped my shoulders, then jumped onto my back .
The extra weight on the narrow ledge threw me off-balance and the cable swayed above me.
“Hang on,” I called as gravity yanked us off the ledge.
Tory cried out as my arms strained to hold on. My belt vibrated as we zipped along the cable. Water whizzed below us in a blur. Tory strangled my throat.
Gunfire erupted behind us, and Tory screamed.
A storm of bullets punched into the water and buzzed past my ear way too close.
“Don’t let go!” I tried to say, but she had me in a death hold.
Bullets skimmed past our bodies like angry hornets.
My muscles burned. The other side seemed impossibly far.
Tory’s grip tightened again, and her nails dug into my shoulder.
The cable dipped with our weight and every second felt like an eternity. As we reached the middle of the moat, a bullet grazed the cable, inches from my belt. Sparks shot into the air and one of the floodlights exploded in a spray of glass fireworks.
Tory squealed and her grip loosened. “I’m slipping!”
“Nearly there.”
Wind howled in my ears as gunshots cracked overhead.
“Kane, I can’t?—”
Just four more feet.
I gritted my teeth. “Okay, let go.”
Tory cried out as her grip left my neck.
I released one side of the belt. The cable twanged and as I fell, I braced for impact.
My collision with the ground rattled through my body, but adrenaline kept me moving. I rolled to my feet and spun to Tory.
She ran toward me with horror etched on her face. As bullets thudded into the plush grass around us, I grabbed her hand, and we legged it toward the parked cars.
Sirens blared, adding a shrill squeal to the hammering thuds of the ammunition hitting the ground around us.
Tory’s grip was solid in mine as we raced to the nearest car. Bullets punctured the side door of a yellow Lamborghini as Tory and I darted behind a black Rolls Royce. Glass shattered somewhere nearby.
Squatting with our backs against the trunk, we gasped for breath .
“Told you we’d make it,” I said.
“Holy shit, that was close.” Her chest heaved, but her eyes dazzled. A red hue flushed her cheeks, and she looked so fucking hot, all I wanted to do was kiss her.
“What now?” she said between ragged breaths.
I rolled onto my hands and knees and peered around the side of the car.
Two men were silhouetted in the window we’d escaped from, but the gunfire had stopped.
Frantic guests scattered from the castle like frightened cats. A stream of them filled the bridge, and their gala outfits billowed behind them as they ran.
Some kept running up the long driveway. Just as many raced toward the parking lot.
“I thought they’d keep everyone contained,” Tory said as she removed the fur wrap from her shoulders and shoved it beneath the car.
“Lucky for us, they didn’t.” I grabbed her hand. “Let’s get to our car. Keep your head down.”
As we wove between the parked cars, the screaming and shouting became louder as the guests drew near the parking lot.
The engine of a matt black BMW ahead roared to life, and I frowned. I hadn’t seen anyone reach it. Its windows were completely black.
The vehicle’s wheels spun on the grass before it shot away.
A wave of people reached the parking lot, and Tory and I blended in with the frantic crowd. The castle surrounds became a battleground as security guards shouted orders that the guests completely ignored in their rush to escape.
Car engines added to the chaos and the siren became louder.
Oh shit, is that the cops already?
Peering over the bonnet of a silver Aston Martin, I scanned the bedlam.
No blue lights yet.
“Let’s go.” I grabbed Tory’s hand and side by side, we sprinted to our car.
Frantic shouts and the wailing siren added to my thumping pulse as I jumped into the driver’s seat. In the seconds it took for me to strap in and start the engine, Tory had somehow curled herself into a ball in her footwell.
“What are you doing?” I rammed the gear into first.
“They’re looking for a couple,” she said, matter of fact, but her eyes glowed with adrenaline . . . or maybe excitement.
Damn, she’s good at this stuff.
“Good idea.” I stomped on the gas.
As people and cars scattered in all directions, frustrated guards attempted to rein in the chaos, but they had no hope of containing the guests now.
I merged our car behind a black Bentley and when his tires left the grass, his engine roared as he accelerated away.
I planted my foot, and we shot out onto the main road. I peered in the rearview mirror and a pang of sadness washed through me. We had just ruined the evening for lots of people.
As the tires hummed on the asphalt, Tory inched out from the footwell. “All clear?”
“So far, so good.”
She sat on her seat and swept a couple of sweat-drenched curls from her cheek. “I can’t believe that happened?”
“Which bit?”
“All of it.” She shook her head. “Those poor people.”
“They’re not poor people.”
“You know what I mean. We ruined their night.”
The black Bently veered off to the side, and I passed it, resisting the urge to stomp on the gas. “It will be a night to remember, that’s for sure.”
“I know I’ll never forget it,” she said.
“I’ll never forget what you did.”
She squinted at me. “What we did, you mean?”
“Yes, but you were amazing back there. Your idea to get rid of the guard to find your bag was very clever. And using your lipstick as a gun. How did you come up with that?”
She shrugged. “Saw it in a movie.”
I burst out laughing.
“What?” A grin tugged at the corners of her glorious mouth.
“A movie?”
“Yeah. I can’t believe it worked.” Her tone was heavy with relief.
“I can. You were very convincing.”
Her expression of relief morphed into something darker.
“Is your hand okay? ”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She turned her hand over on her thigh and as she ran her other thumb over her palm, her fingers trembled.
Tory was the bravest woman I’d ever met, and yet a vulnerability hung over her that was so heavy that sometimes she couldn’t seem to contain it.
Like now.
As I navigated the winding road away from the castle, silence settled over us, and I turned my attention to getting away.
Any second now, this place was going to be crawling with cops.
They would be looking for a couple with Australian accents, and no disguise could obscure that.