Colby Justice. Debra WebbЧитать онлайн книгу.
nodded. “I fully understand that what you say is correct.” He glanced at Gordon before resting his full attention back on her. “I’ve worked for months and months to try and get someone to do the right thing.” This time the look he arrowed in Gordon’s direction was cold and lethal. “But they all ignored me. Still, I didn’t give up.” He laughed but there was no humor in the sound. “Until two months ago.”
Victoria prompted, “Two months ago?”
“I have advanced pancreatic cancer. It’s too late for any sort of treatment that might make a difference. Perhaps if I hadn’t been so caught up in trying to guarantee that those we trust to carry out justice were doing their jobs, I might have sought medical attention sooner.” He gave his head a little shake, then leveled a look of pure determination on Victoria. “At any rate, I will not leave this earth without seeing that the man who brutally murdered my sweet Patricia has been punished. So you see, there’s no more time for doing this the so-called ‘right way.’ It has to be done now. And this is the only way it will get done properly.”
Victoria turned to Gordon. She hoped he comprehended what this news meant. Thorp had nothing to lose. Unless her people could find a way in without detection and could stop this. they would all surely die.
Inside, 10:12 a.m.
Penny ran her hand over the edges once more. Definitely a smaller side tunnel that branched off to the second floor.
An exit point.
The rhythm of her heart kicked into high gear.
A way out…of this closed-in space.
She closed her eyes, told herself she was okay. But she wasn’t. Her breathing sounded too loud in the engulfing silence. The roar of air had ceased about the same time her hearing had adjusted to its soothing constancy. When that stopped it triggered her pulse to kick into high gear, and her heart had started to pound.
Anything had been better than the near complete absence of sound.
Sweat had formed a sticky film between her and the skintight suit she wore to protect her from being seen on a thermal scanner.
Her hands shook even as she concentrated hard to keep them steady.
She could do this, had to do this.
Take a breath.
A tap on her left shoulder warned that Steele had moved up as close as possible. His long, lean body aligned almost completely with the length of hers.
She turned to him. Swallowed hard as she blinked to try and focus in on his face. The night-vision goggles hung impotently around her neck. There had been no reason to put them on…there was nothing to see at this point. Yet, she needed to see…but not like that. It was too dark. Too damned dark. She couldn’t see a damned thing with her own eyes!
Calm. Stay calm.
No reason to panic. She had memorized the route. There was nothing here to be afraid of. Just four metal walls. closing in on her.
Stop!
He leaned his face closer to her head. “We have to keep moving,” he whispered in her ear. “Is there a problem?”
The lump that had swelled to capacity in her throat now ballooned into her chest. If she told him. she couldn’t tell him. No one could know. That would be a huge mistake.
But she had to get out of here.
Without responding, she twisted her torso and low-crawled to the right, sliding as quickly as humanly possible into the narrower metal corridor leading to an exit. Steele snagged her by the ankle, but she jerked free of his clutch and increased her forward momentum toward escape.
Get out. Get out. Get out.
Penny tried with every ounce of her being to grab back control…tried to restrain the urge to rush toward any sort of escape. She couldn’t. She just couldn’t tamp down the need throbbing and swelling inside her.
She needed air…space.
With one shaky yank, she cleared the filter out of her path, then tinkered with the clips until the return grill flew open. Steele was still clutching at her as she scrambled out into a long carpeted corridor.
She stood on rubbery legs. Blinked.
Check your perimeter, Penny. Don’t go totally stupid.
She scanned the corridor. Deserted. An interior corridor judging by the lack of windows, she surmised. Dimly lit, but even a little light was better than none. No noise. No sign of the enemy.
The ruthless grip of fear on her chest eased fractionally, allowing her to drag in a much needed lungful of air.
Strong fingers, just as ruthless as the fear had been, wrapped around her arm. She turned to face her partner. The glare in his eyes told her he was not happy. But they couldn’t talk here.
Doors lined each side of the corridor. All they needed was one that was unlocked.
She motioned for him to follow her. Checking doors as she went, she opened the first one she encountered that wasn’t locked.
Office. Large. Gleaming wood furnishings. View of the Magnificent Mile below. En suite half bath. It had to belong to a top executive.
Steele hauled her to the en suite bath and quietly closed the door. In the split second before he flipped the light switch, her heart rate had already started rising again.
“What the hell, Alexander?” he muttered in a harsh whisper. The ferocity of his tone jump-started the guilt that had hovered around the fringes of her illogical fear.
Guilt, fear, whatever, her pulse was hammering again. In spite of his obvious annoyance, she should be able to hang on to some semblance of control now that she was out of that tunnel and in the light.
But that wasn’t happening nearly fast enough.
“I.” She gestured to his side. “We should take a look at your injury.” As she said the words, he flinched. But not because she’d spoken too loudly. Her words had scarcely been a whisper. The area around the tape job she’d done in the darkness was smeared with blood.
That relief she’d been anticipating slowly filtered through her veins. His injury was the perfect excuse. She didn’t have to tell him the truth. That she was claustrophobic. She’d fought the problem for years. Thought she had it under control enough to pretend it wasn’t real.
She’d been lying to herself.
Seriously lying.
Major mistake.
Normally the little issue wouldn’t be a problem. Her assignments wouldn’t take her into places like this under normal circumstances. There had been no need to mention it in the interview with Ian Michaels. Damn it!
She’d done her research. The Colby Agency had hired a deaf woman only six or seven months ago. Penny’s situation was nothing compared to that.it shouldn’t create a problem. Even if she was forced to fess up.
When Steele didn’t growl back at her, she went on in that barely audible whisper. “Since the enemy didn’t come rushing after us when your suit tore, maybe we can safely assume they don’t have a thermal scanner. We’re safe here for the moment as long as we’re quiet. Let’s see what the damage is so we can get on with our assignment.” Sounded completely logical to her.
“Do we have a problem?” Ian Michaels’s voice echoed in her ear, adding another layer of tension to her already runaway reactions. Steel stiffened as he heard the same question.
Steele touched his mic to activate the audio on his end. “We’re