Jade
Jade pulled herself up onto the roof, praying, as cement shattered around her from a gunshot. She had to get out of their range. More shouts sounded from behind her, more than the two voices she expected. Damn, there were more of them.
She took a chance and peeked back over the edge once she was over. One of her original chasers was climbing up onto the dumpster and at least five men were running into the alley from the parking lot. One of them took a shot at her and she ducked down with a curse.
She took a deep breath and scanned the area. There were several buildings close enough to be a possible escape. She sprinted for the far edge of the building towards the closest building. Her heart raced and adrenaline flooded her system as she hit the edge and pushed off the distance only a few feet. She came down in a controlled roll on the other side and kept moving.
A quick glance told her one man was pulling himself up in the same spot she had. There wasn’t anywhere to duck or hide on this roof. Men’s shouts came from below and she had to guess they would follow her on the ground. There was a U-shaped building off to her right that looked barely close enough to several more buildings down Logan Street. At the end of the street was the giant cathedral, she had noticed before. Its spires rose up into the night.
Trying to make her way back down to the street would be dangerous. She didn’t think her chances were very good at outrunning men with cars and bullets. She looked back at the church, tried to gauge the run and path to get to it. She could climb and try to get in the bell tower, but if they broke into the church, they would be able to get her there.
If she went all the way to the top of one of the spires, then the crenellations at the top would protect her from gunfire from below, and she might be able to hide out until the police came. If she made it without dying or falling on one of the many jumps. She ran before fear could steal her will.
The man behind her must have gotten to his feet, because the sound of a shot sent her pulse racing. The world grew small in her mind as she focused down to finding her steps, and the buildings in front of her. The shadows surrounding her would mask obstacles, and she couldn’t risk a single stumble. The scattered streetlamps barely illuminated enough for her to find a path.
She ignored the sound of gunfire coming now from not only behind, but below her except to pray the sound brought the police faster. They would either hit her or not. Her moving as fast as possible was her only chance of survival.
She vaulted an air conditioning unit and continued her sprint. Each gap between the buildings was easy, no harder than the jumps she did every day at her gym. She hit the fifth building, her breath coming hard. The jump to the church’s main building was longer than she expected. It would take all of her speed to even have a chance of making that.
She forced her muscles to go faster and ran for all she was worth. Jade swore she would make this jump or die trying. The impact of the edge of the building against her foot was just slightly off, but she didn’t hesitate. She exploded upward and leaped into the dark.
There are moments during stunts where there is no safety net or wire and nothing keeping her from flying away except gravity. Time seemed to pause, and she was suspended in the air between buildings. In the middle of all the chaos and gunfire, the pain of her body disappeared, and she felt joy for a brief moment.
The roof of the cathedral hit her in the stomach, its slanted exterior caused her to slide down a few feet. She scrambled, using her nails to dig into the rough material tearing up her skin. She heard men cursing in Russian as she finally pulled her bruised and battered body onto the roof.
Everything hurt, and she knew she was going to be badly bruised. Stopping now would be suicide. A roof shingle exploded next to her. She glanced back. The man who had been chasing her hadn’t continued past the third building. He stood in a shooter’s stance and fired at her from a distance.
She scrambled across the tilted roof, pulling herself up onto the next level, until she reached the main part of the cathedral’s roof and the attached towers. Jade refused to think about how dangerous climbing up an old building in low light while people shot at her was. She grasped the stonework and pulled her way upward. Her grip slipped, and she swung to the side, barely gaining purchase with her other hand before falling.
Time after time she moved upward, praying the stone wouldn’t give under her hands or feet. Rock and stone pelted her, both from the crumbling exterior and from the gunshots now coming at her, from both on the ground and behind her. Bile rose in her throat as she grasped onto the edge of the window of the bell tower and realized there were metal bars blocking the entrance.
She couldn’t stop here even if she wanted to. Jade pulled herself up higher and higher, not daring to look down, or even guess what would happen if she fell. Finally, she gripped the thick top of the bell tower and pulled herself over and collapsed behind the crenellations and the thick stone.
She was alive, by some miracle neither the gunmen nor the climb had killed her. How long she would stay that way was still uncertain. Her heart slowed and everything from the night came crashing back at her.
Eric was dead, and she would probably be next. These men didn’t seem concerned about flagrantly breaking the law. Her death wouldn’t be more than a blip in their lives. She regretted so much. Not seeing that Eric was in trouble sooner. Allowing him to take advantage of her for so long.
But more than anything else, she regretted not telling Hannibal and Ink how she felt about them. Not giving them the opportunity to help her find her way out of the mess she was now in. They probably hated her and she couldn’t blame them.
A short blast of a siren sounded from below and gave her hope. She peeked out over the edge of the stone tower. A police cruiser pulled up on the road outside the church. Four of the men pursuing her approached the police car.
Their guns were in their hands, and they did not try to conceal them. Were they going to kill the police officers? She scanned the strip below and saw ten people who were now staring up at the place where she was hidden.
She didn’t know what the men said to the police, but the cruiser pulled away, leaving her alone in the tower. So much for her rescue. Would the Russians now try to climb up after her? If they didn’t, would she be safe to try to climb down in the morning? The crowds and the morning traffic would have to force them to give up their hunt for her.
Hope was a vicious thing. As soon as you had it, it could be ripped away. Three men broke off from the others and headed towards the doors of the church. She didn’t know what their plan was, but guessed they were probably going to try to get as high as possible. And then come drag her out of her hiding spot.
They had hours before they had to worry if the police weren’t an issue. She wouldn’t submit quietly to her fate, but knew that she was only stalling for time. If she only had a short time to live, then she would make right what things she could.
The one mistake she truly regretted was hurting Hannibal and Ink. The idea that she might die with them still hating her tore at her heart. They were unlikely to forgive her, but she owed them the truth. All of it.
Jade pulled her phone out of her pocket and stared at the screen. Which one should she call? The twenty missed calls from Hannibal told her he at least might be willing to listen. She clicked on his name and hit the call button.
Chapter 29
A man might fear to stand alone, but a Brother never has to.
Hannibal