Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Six

T here was no time to hunt down her phone and call for help. Annabelle wasn’t even sure where she’d left it. All she could do was try to buy herself some time until help came. And it would come. She didn’t know why Noah wasn’t in the building, but she knew he’d return for her.

Limping and staggering, she made her way to the stairs leading up to the roof. Behind her were deep, resounding thuds as Eddie bombarded the panic room door. Eventually, he’d calm down enough to use his brain, rather than brawn, to get out.

With her eyes fixed on the heavy steel door at the top of the stairs, she dragged herself upward. Her plan was simple: get to the roof and shout for help. It was the busiest time of the day. Someone would be out on the street. Someone would hear her.

Please…

She inched her way up to the door, aching with every step she took. Hands shaking, she unlocked it, slipped the key into her pocket, and threw it open. The bright summer sun blinded her, rendering her useless while her eyes adjusted.

And then, when they did, she gazed out at the wide-open expanse of the roof.

Of the city.

The sky.

The world…

There were no walls out there to keep her safe. Then again, the walls behind her weren’t doing a great job of that right now, either. Ice-cold fingers of panic clawed at her as her hands curled around the doorframe. There was too much space. Anything might happen out there, where there was nowhere to hide.

Annabelle jumped at the sound of gunfire from below. Eddie had figured out how to disable the panel. Her time had run out.

For one agonizing second, she couldn’t decide between stepping out onto the roof or staying to face Eddie Hanson. Her hands tingled, and her throat tightened. She couldn’t breathe. Air was sucked into her lungs in short, painful gasps. The door at the bottom of the stairwell to the roof slammed open. It was now or never. But her feet wouldn’t move. Couldn’t move.

She was literally paralyzed with fear.

What had Sammy said? All she needed to do was hold Noah’s hand, and she’d be fine.

But Noah wasn’t with her. And there was no hand to hold.

“Stupid bitch,” came the taunt from the bottom of the stairs. “Where the fuck are you going to run to?”

But she didn’t need to run.

Because she also remembered Jacob’s advice: When the world gets too big, focus on something small. Something close.

Annabelle dragged her eyes from the vast expanse of the sky and stared down at her feet on the roof’s gray surface. There was a shallow, surface crack about three feet from her toes. All she had to do was step forward and stand on that small crack.

She could do that. She could stare at the crack until it was under her toes.

“You can’t do it.” Eddie laughed at her. “You’re too fucking scared even to run for your life. I can’t wait to see what my buyers do to you. Whoever wins your auction is gonna have a party driving you insane.”

With every ounce of strength within her, Annabelle moved her foot.

Their SUV screeched to a halt in front of the warehouse. There was no sign that anything had been disturbed. Noah was out the door before the engine was off, running for the main entrance.

The building was eerily quiet.

His team came up behind him as he cautiously entered the warehouse, gun in hand.

“Taking the back,” Abasi said through Noah’s earpiece. “Rodrigo, you’re with me.”

“I’m going down the side,” Violet said.

“I’ll cover Violet,” Katrina said.

Noah, Rochelle, Logan, and Harris spread out on the ground floor. They checked the burned-out shop and storage area at the rear but found nothing. Noah noted that the boys had somehow armed themselves despite Rochelle telling them to get licensed first. If she noticed, she said nothing.

“Upstairs,” Noah whispered to the rest of his team, and the four of them made their way to the second floor.

Noah, who took lead, spotted Evan first.

“Evan’s down,” he told his team.

Logan and Harris rushed up the stairs to get to their brother, and Noah signaled them to keep silent. Without making a sound, they fell to Evan’s side and checked for a pulse.

“He’s alive.” Logan was pale but relieved.

“Bullet wound to the shoulder,” Harris said. “I’ll call an ambulance.” He dug out his phone and whispered into it.

Noah lifted his chin to Rochelle, and they separated, guns ready as they checked each room on the second floor. He found signs of a struggle in the small office Annabelle had used to go over her testimony. One glance at the old wooden credenza, and he knew where ADA Grant had stashed her drugged body.

He’d castigate himself later for not thinking to check the cupboard.

“Clear,” Rochelle whispered.

“Clear this end,” Noah added.

“No one on the fire escape,” Violet reported.

“Back of the building clear,” Rodrigo said.

“I’ve got an vehicle parked outside the building next door,” Abasi said. “Looks like the wheels Eddie was sitting on the other day.”

Noah’s stomach clenched. So he was in the building.

As if to confirm it, a loud, angry roar echoed from the floor above.

“He’s in the loft,” Noah said, sprinting for the stairs.

“Going up the fire escape,” Violet said.

“We’re coming round to join you,” Rodrigo said.

Noah ran for the loft, taking the stairs two at a time.

Annabelle had taken one tiny step toward the crack. Her hands shook desperately now, and she felt strangely lightheaded. But she couldn’t pass out. If she did, Eddie Hanson would drag her back into his clutches.

Another tiny, shuffling step. The crack was marginally closer. She felt the sun on her skin, ever so slightly soothed by a barely-there breeze. She was outside now. Still clutching the doorframe but standing on the roof.

Two more steps, tiny steps, and she’d be able to slam the door behind her. Shutting Eddie inside the building, buying her time until Noah came for her.

She took another agonizing step.

Eyes on the crack. Only on the crack. Nothing else existed right now but that small crack.

“I don’t have time for this crap,” Eddie said before footsteps ran up the stairs.

She took another step, reached back, and yanked the door shut behind her. The lock clicked into place. And she had the key. As her gaze remained fixed on that crack, it felt like the entire building shook with Eddie’s rage-filled roar. There was a dull thump behind her, but the door held fast. He couldn’t shoot it out. The bullets would just ricochet into the stairwell. If he wanted her, he’d have to find another way to get to her—more difficult now that they’d pulled the fire escape ladder onto the roof to stop the Demons from using it.

Shivering wildly in the summer heat, Annabelle stood still, staring at the crack in the roof. She hadn’t quite made it far enough to stand on it, but she’d made it outside.

Her grand plan of shouting for help wasn’t going to happen, though. She was rooted to the spot, her throat so tight that shouting for any reason at all would have been impossible. Slowly, careful never to take her eyes off the crack that had become her entire world, she lowered herself to the roof. Shade from the stairwell meant she was in one of the few spots that weren’t blisteringly hot. So she sat, knees to her chest, eyes on the crack, and waited for Noah.

“We take him alive if possible,” Rochelle ordered the team as they made their way to the loft.

With Noah taking the lead, they spread out around the apartment, signaling one another when each area was cleared. Noah opened the door to the panic room and stepped inside.

Someone had shot out the override panel, and the door to the guest room was wide open.

There was no sign of Annabelle.

A loud thud sounded from above, making Noah jog for the stairwell.

Eddie Hanson stood at the top of the stairs, kicking the door to the roof. The man had completely lost control, unaware of his surroundings, intent only on venting his fury on the door in front of him.

Which meant…

Was Annabelle on the roof?

Violet wouldn’t be able to get up that far. The fire escape went only as high as the loft, as they’d pulled the ladder onto the roof for security reasons. What if she was injured or panicking?

“Logan,” he said through the comms, “is Evan okay?”

“He’s holding in there. Looks like the bullet’s gone straight through. There’s a paramedic two minutes out.”

Noah let out a breath. “Can you leave him with Harris and climb up to the roof? I think Annabelle’s out there alone.”

“On it,” he said, and Noah relaxed slightly.

As he watched, Eddie unhooked his gun from the back of his jeans and aimed at the door.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Noah called. “The bullet will just ricochet, and you’ll end up dead.”

Eddie spun toward him, firing as he did so. Noah and Rochelle ducked back through the stairwell door.

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about him getting hit by a ricochet,” she said drolly.

“Give it up, Eddie,” Noah shouted. “You’ve got nowhere to go, and you’re outgunned.”

“Fuck that,” Eddie shouted back.

On the first floor of the building, a door slammed open.

“Cops are here,” Katrina said.

Rochelle put a hand on his arm. “We let them deal with him.”

“That could take forever.”

“He’s one guy with limited firepower, Noah.”

“Yeah.” He stared at her, willing her to understand. “Annabelle’s outside, Rochelle.”

“And Logan’s on his way to help her.”

“We don’t know what state she’s in.”

“She’ll be okay until we’ve dealt with this situation.”

Noah swallowed hard and decided to lay it all on the line. “I love her, Rochelle. I can’t lose her.”

“You won’t,” she said firmly. “Leave Eddie to the cops. I don’t want another member of my team getting shot.”

“Your team?” Noah said.

“Shut up.” She rolled her eyes. “We wait for the cops.”

“I’ve got Annabelle,” Logan said in Noah’s ear. His knees almost gave way.

“Is she okay?” He barely managed to get the words out.

“Bit banged up and a little loopy,” Logan said. “She says she’s not leaving the crack until you get here.”

Against the odds, Noah laughed. It was short and dry, but it still counted. Rochelle shook her head and smiled.

“Tell her I’m coming, and I love her,” he said, not giving a damn who heard or knew how he felt.

“I’m not telling her that.” Logan sounded outraged.

Abasi came up beside them, grinning. “I have another suggestion for dealing with Hanson.” He held up one of the flash-bangs they’d used in the drug house.

“The police are literally on their way up,” Rochelle said.

“Yeah.” Abasi grinned. “But you heard the man—he’s in love.”

“Fine.” Rochelle heaved an exasperated sigh. “Have at it.” She holstered her gun. “I’m going to make coffee while you guys get all macho with one pathetic criminal.”

Noah grinned at Abasi, who handed over the flash-bang.

“You’re okay now,” Logan said to Annabelle.

She recognized that tone. People used it when they thought she was especially crazy.

“E-Evan?” She could barely get out his name.

“There’s a bullet hole in his shoulder, and it looks like he banged his head, but he’ll be fine.”

Tears trickled down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry I left him there.”

“It was probably the best thing you could have done. You took Eddie’s attention away from Evan. You might have saved his life.”

“You don’t believe that. But thanks.” She bit her bottom lip as she recalled the sight of him lying there in his own blood. “He was the one who saved me. He tasered Hanson and bought me time.”

“Aye, he’s a hero alright. And we’ll never hear the end of it. Don’t cry, Annabelle; none of this is your fault.”

She caught sight of his hand in her peripheral vision, reaching out to comfort her. “Don’t touch me! You’ll block the crack.”

His hand retreated. “Okay,” he said slowly. “We wouldn’t want to do that now, would we? You’re getting a wee bit burned, though. How about we move back into the shade?”

“No. I’m not leaving the crack.” She kept her eyes on it, only daring to blink when absolutely necessary. The crack was her lifeline. It was literally, in that moment, her entire world.

“Is this, uh, crack like an interdimensional portal only you can see?”

“What?” Annabelle almost looked at the idiot. “It’s a crack. It’s right there. Anybody can see it.”

“Whatever you say,” he said soothingly.

Now he was just making her mad. “Where’s Noah? I can’t leave without Noah.” She needed to hold his hand. That’s what Sammy said worked, and he had to be right. Jacob had been right about focusing on the little things. Ten years of expensive psychotherapy, and it was Noah’s boys who’d given her the tools she needed to survive.

Go figure.

“He’s dealing with the problem in the stairwell.”

As if on cue, there was a series of explosions behind the stairwell door.

“Flash-bang,” Logan said. “Nothing to worry about.”

Gunshots rang out.

“That was a gun,” Logan said. “We might have to worry about that.”

There was banging at the door, which made Annabelle jump and almost take her eyes off the crack.

“Gimme a sec,” Logan said as he stood. “Noah says we need to unlock the door. Do you have the key?”

Slowly, keeping her gaze steady, Annabelle shifted enough to reach into her pocket. She handed the key to Logan without looking at him. A few seconds later, the door opened, and then Noah was at her side.

At last.

He fell to the roof beside her and wrapped her up in his strong, solid arms.

“Don’t do that!” Logan shouted. “You’re blocking the crack.”

Annabelle buried her face in Noah’s chest, closed her eyes, and sobbed. Everything was okay now. The crack had done its job. Noah was here.