Sophia #2
"Also true,” Ronan admitted. Despite everything, the corner of Sophia's mouth twitched. She immediately frowned. Did she almost smile?
Ronan seemed to catch it. "I saw that."
"You imagined it,” she insisted.
"I definitely didn't,” Ronan said.
Dante looked between the two agents. "Can you flirt with my sister after we survive?"
Ronan looked genuinely offended. "I wasn't flirting."
Jasper raised an eyebrow. "You absolutely were."
"I was distracting her,” Ronan defended.
Sophia rolled her eyes. "You're both impossible."
"There it is," Ronan said.
"What?" she asked.
"The attitude your brother told us about,” he said.
She frowned at her brother. "You told them that I have an attitude?” she asked.
"I told them that you used to have an attitude,” Dante said. She was about to yell at her brother for talking about her like that to complete strangers when another burst of gunfire echoed from the stairwell.
Jasper immediately shifted. "Time to move." This time, Sophia's feet obeyed.
The west stairwell smelled of disinfectant and concrete. Jasper took point, and Ronan brought up the rear. Dante stayed beside her. Every landing they passed looked identical, and every door made her heart race. Halfway down the third flight of steps, she heard voices as they drifted upward.
"They're coming this way," Sophia whispered. Jasper raised one fist, and everyone froze. Three men appeared below. They were in black tactical gear with rifles. One of them looked up and met Sophia’s eyes, making her gasp.
"There!" the man shouted. Gunfire erupted around her.
Jasper shoved Sophia behind the concrete wall as bullets chewed through the railing.
Ronan leaned over the banister and returned fire with frightening accuracy.
He got off two controlled shots, and two bodies fell.
The third disappeared behind the stairs.
Dante looked toward Jasper. "Basement?"
Jasper shook his head. "Too exposed."
"The roof?" Dante asked.
“We would be trapped,” Jasper said.
Sophia swallowed. "They're herding us like cattle.”
All three men looked at her. "What do you mean?” Ronan asked.
"Keller's people always left one direction open.” She closed her eyes, forcing herself to remember. They want us somewhere specifically, and they are forcing us in that direction.”
Ronan smiled grimly. "I hate that she's right."
Jasper studied the building layout posted beside the stairs. His finger stopped near a maintenance corridor. "There."
"What are you looking at?” Ronan asked.
"The service tunnel—they left it open. It’s another way out,” Jasper said.
Dante looked closer. "It connects to the parking garage."
Ronan nodded. "And nobody expects patients to use it."
Jasper looked at Sophia. "We're changing plans." She nodded immediately, and that seemed to surprise all of them.
"I trust this plan more," she admitted quietly.
Jasper looked almost relieved. "So do I."
The maintenance corridor was narrow and dimly lit.
Old pipes lined the ceiling, and the air smelled damp.
Sophia wrapped her arms around herself. This was how it started before, when Keller took her almost four years ago.
She was taken underground and hidden away from everyone she loved.
There were no windows and no way to escape.
Her breathing quickened. Without a word, Ronan stepped beside her. He didn't touch her. Instead, he began talking to her. "So—” She looked at him. "I've got a serious question."
She blinked at him, not sure that she had heard him correctly. "What?"
"Pineapple on pizza,” he said.
She stared. "What?"
"Pineapple on pizza—yes or no?" he asked.
"You're asking me that now?" she grumbled.
"I need to know if we're compatible as a protection team,” he said. She couldn't help it—a laugh escaped. He smiled, seeming pleased with himself.
"I like your laugh,” he said.
She shook her head. "You're ridiculous."
"I've been called worse,” he said. Behind them, Dante watched the exchange, and for the first time since being found, Sophia felt something unexpected—hope. It wasn’t because she'd laughed, but because she'd forgotten to be afraid for three whole seconds.
The corridor ended at a heavy steel door leading into the underground parking garage.
Jasper carefully cracked it open and found it empty, except for one black SUV that sat idling near the exit ramp with a driver inside, as though he was waiting for someone.
Sophia had a sick feeling that he was waiting for her.
"They knew we'd come this way," Dante whispered.
Jasper nodded. "They covered all of their bases.”
Ronan looked toward the rows of parked cars. "No." His eyes narrowed. "They're expecting someone besides us." Sophia followed his gaze, and a man stepped from behind a concrete pillar wearing an expensive gray suit. He had silver hair and a familiar smile.
Her blood ran cold. "No..”
Dante looked at her. "What is it?"
Her voice barely worked. "I know him."
Jasper glanced between them. "Who is he?"
Terror flooded every inch of her body. "He wasn't one of Keller's guards." She couldn't look away from the man standing calmly beside the SUV. "He used to visit the compound, though." The man lifted his eyes, looked directly at Sophia, and then smiled as though greeting an old friend.
He spoke only two words. "Hello, Sparrow." Sophia stopped breathing because only one person had ever called her that, and he had never worked for Keller. He had worked with him.