Magic Tricks 🔮 Book 2 || gxg

Inferno

Silence stretched on impossibly long with the gun trained on Ada's heart. What was he waiting for? Was he going to shoot her? She could only tear her eyes away from the gun to study his face in brief spells.

"Upstairs, let's go." He turned to the side to let her pass.

Ada started to but kept her back facing out. "What, are you going to kill me now?"

His eye glinted. "They don't hire me to look pretty."

He had a point. Not to mention, his outfit was completely different from the security guard she had glimpsed upon entry. Fitted black jacket, black pants, all quiet materials. He made no leathery creaks or swishes of denim. Ada recalled the cars n the parking lot, the black, slightly newer model which seemed out of place.

He gestured for her to walk to the stairs, clicking on a flashlight on his Glock. Ada recognized the uniform shape and material as being the same weapon Hillebrandt carried. Ada puffed air through her nose as she stifled a chuckle. The shit he'd give her if he knew what she had gotten herself into.

"What are you, anyway?" Even with the light, Ada struggled to keep track of the obstacles in her path. "Mercenary? Private security company?"

"Something like that. Get moving, I do not want to be cleaning your fucking blood off the concrete."

Ada shivered.

Somehow, between there and the back doors, Ada had to get away from him. As soon as they were outside her life was as good as over. It wouldn't matter where he shot her out there. The oncoming storm would wash away the evidence of her demise and her body would be forever lost in the mines, if she was a betting gal. There had to be dozens of abandoned tunnels what with how long the operation had been running for.

It's amazing how the brain struggles to for thoughts in the face of danger. What should she do? She asked again and again, each time met with a confident "Right, so ..." before the rapid cycle started over, interspersed with brief, agonizing silences. In all her years pulling jobs like this, it had never been her with the gun on her back. The last time she was faced with one, she had the advantage of being no taller than the assailant's elbow and hidden in shadow. His hyper-focus had been her only chance, but she had none of that here. This man's hyper-focus was entirely for Ada. The slightest incorrect movement would shatter her spine.

Her stomach churned at the first idea that came to her. Even though the plan only required trading words and a simpering mask, it sickened her to consider putting herself in that position. She scrambled for an alternative as she put her boot on the first step. Then the next. The thoughts were empty once more.

There was one thing she knew clearly: she would rather do something risky.

"Hey, can you point your light on the stairs, please? I can't see where I'm stepping." Ada waggled her hands, which were up beside her ears. "It's not like I can guide myself, eh?"

With the proximity of the muzzle to the small of her back, only slivers of light spilled past Ada's waist. He shifted for just a second, turning the gun to the side to assess the assent, and in the instant it left her body she slammed her right forearm down on his own. The blow jarred her entire arm, pain exploding at the source and rippling outward. The gun hit the steps, but his free hand closed around her arm as she turned. He didn't see her other fist until it was too late. Through his cheek she felt the ridges of his teeth beneath her knuckles. The momentum tossed him down the three steps and he hit the ground hard. It only stunned him. As Ada hit the landing and swung around on the handrail, he was getting to his feet and coming for her.

Ada crashed into the stairwell and opened the first floor door. Lights at both corners sent her reeling for the staircase. The heavy door slammed. Ada hoped it would distract him long enough for her to find a place to hide.