Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
The alarm sounded at two in the morning. Jump was used to getting called from bed, but not like this. Usually it was a call or a text. This alarm was rude and left no room to be ignored.
His bare feet hit the floor, and he grunted. The fire alarm had been pulled. As he stood to grab for his pants, he remembered he had a guest staying in his spare room.
“Fuck.”
Had she set his apartment on fire? Or was there something else on fire? Could it be a false alarm?
This was an older building, which meant it didn’t have the proper fire blocking material in place to keep a fire from spreading. If one of the units was on fire, the whole place could go up in smoke.
He needed to figure out what had happened. Jump rubbed his face and slapped his cheeks, trying to wake up. The second he stepped out of his bedroom, the door to the spare room opened. Blakely stood in the hall, her eyes wide.
“It’s fucking Grayson. It has to be him.”
Her words confused him for a second. “Why?”
Blakely’s frown deepened. “I don’t know why I think it’s him. I just know. This is something he would do.”
There was something about the way she said those words that made him suspect she was right. She was wrapped up in a mess of crap, and he’d stepped into it with her. Maybe he shouldn’t have invited her into his life. But would Grayson have set the fire anyway, even if she’d gone to a hotel?
He could walk away. Just turn from her and never look back. But there was something about her, something intriguing, drawing him in.
“Let’s see what’s up out there,” Jump said.
“Shit. I’m so sorry you got wrapped up in this.”
“Well, if this is him, he probably would have killed you if you’d been at your place.”
She nodded. “Yeah, he would have.” Then she shrugged. “Maybe he wouldn’t have. He needs me alive.”
He wanted to know why this Grayson dick needed her alive, and why he wanted something from her in the first place. What was going on, and why the hell was the smoke alarm going off?
There wasn’t time to ask those questions right now. He could find out later as long as they survived. To survive, they had to get out of this apartment and away from the fire. If there was a fire.
“Let’s check the door. See if it’s hot.” He moved to the door, checking it. “It’s not hot.”
Blakely stepped around him and put her hand on the doorknob. “I’ll step out.”
No way was he going to let her step outside first. Jump put his hand on her shoulder. “Wait. What if he is out there waiting for you to come out so he can put a bullet in you?”
“There is no way I’m allowing you to take a bullet for me.”
His laughter came out harsh. “I’ve been shot at so many times, I’m not sure bullets can hit me. Besides, he won’t put a bullet in me. He doesn’t know where you’re staying, and I don’t look anything like you.”
She rolled her eyes and looked like she was about to start arguing. But a loud noise made them both freeze. Then the lights popped off, tossing them into darkness.
“This is probably bad,” Jump said.
“Yeah, it’s bad.”
Blakely reached out and took his arm. He would be lying to say her touch didn’t feel good. It felt damn good. But they were in a shitty situation, and he needed to focus on getting them to safety.
“I’m opening the door and taking a look, and you’re going to keep your face hidden until I determine if Grayson is out there.”
“Fine.”
She didn’t sound happy about it, but she stayed back as he opened the door.
Blakely stepped back and let Jump take the lead. What else was she going to do? He was probably right. Grayson wouldn’t shoot him. Grayson was angry enough to want her dead. But if she was dead, he would never find the one thing she had that no one else could touch.
“Lots of smoke, but if we go to the right, we should be okay.”
“Are there stairs over there?” He turned to look at her and she shrugged.
“I’m new to the building. I’ve never gone that way.”
“I’m new, too, but I think there are stairs that way. Let’s go find out.”
She followed close behind Jump as more smoke started to blow in their face. Jump turned the corner, then froze. The smoke was much thicker, and she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Someone lit a fire on the stairs. We can’t go that way.”
“You can see that?”
“The flames.” Jump turned and stepped around her.
He took her hand, and they made their way past his apartment. More smoke billowed toward them. When they got to the corner of the building, Jump froze again.
“This path is blocked. Let’s head back to my apartment. We’ll call emergency services and tell them we’re stuck.”
Fear and worry spun through her, followed by a load of guilt. If she got this man hurt, she would never forgive herself. “Shit. I’m so sorry to have gotten you involved.”
“It’s okay. If I hadn’t stepped in to help you, he probably would have done something stupid like kill you.”
Jump was right. The man would have done something stupid. But if she’d stayed at her place, maybe the apartment building with forty-eight units and more than forty-eight people wouldn’t be burning right now.
She hoped no one died. If someone died in this mess, she would be very pissed. Grayson couldn’t get away with this. If he kept this up, someone other than her would end up dead.
They were back in his apartment and Jump was on the phone, telling the operator they were stuck.
It sucked that they had no exit strategy.
This two-bedroom unit didn’t have a balcony at the back.
There were only six units across the entire forty-eight apartments that had a balcony.
This unit had a huge window at the back that looked out onto a parking lot and back entry to a set of stores.
“The fire department is on its way,” Jump said when he ended the call.
“So what do we do in the meantime?”
“Don’t die of smoke inhalation.”
His words were depressing, but she agreed. They needed to stay alive, which meant they had to stay in the apartment. The sun was a few hours from coming up, and with the lights off, it was pitch black in the apartment.
“Sounds wise. I guess that means we stay in here.”
“Yeah, that’s what we have to do.”
She paced to the back of the apartment and glanced out. There wasn’t much to see. Jump moved to stand beside her and pushed the curtains aside.
“This sucks.”
Blakely nodded. “No way out this way.”
“No. I guess the third floor isn’t great for a fast escape. I knew I should have waited for another unit to open, but the last place I lived sucked and this was better.”
“Ouch. That sucks because with it on fire, it certainly isn’t better.”
Jump snorted a laugh, and she wished she could see his expression. Was he mad? He didn’t sound angry.
“I took the third floor because I thought it would be safer than the first or even the second. That it would give me protection against Grayson, but it didn’t. He still found me and found a way into my apartment.”
James turned to her, his eyebrows raised. “Tell me, what is this Grayson guy after?”
She drew in a slow breath, wondering if he would believe her. Would anyone believe her? It sounded ridiculous when she said it out loud.
“I’m not sure—”
A loud knock at the door interrupted them. She breathed a sigh of relief. She would rather face Grayson than tell this man exactly why she’d been targeted and why the fire had been set.