Ciphers, Matt Rogers [a court of thorns and roses ebook free TXT] 📗

bank building across the intersection. It was an ancient granite behemoth, eight storeys tall and sporting Renaissance architecture. He saw the entrance portico towering over the rest of the sidewalk, two storeys tall in its own right and bordered by thick unadorned columns. The two visible sides of the building formed the outside of a “V,” with the portico resting at the tip of the triangle. The doors were made of heavy wood and seemed damn near impenetrable if there was any sort of reinforcement on the other side, which he knew there would be.

The building loomed over the intersection, and now he saw almost every square inch of asphalt taken up by empty vehicles resting bumper-to-bumper. The traffic had ratcheted up a few notches when all the lights blinked out, and it had caused an overwhelming logjam in the middle of the intersection. With no traffic lights to follow and no way to feasibly escape, it mustn’t have taken long for drivers and passengers to give up entirely and leave their cars behind.

That’d be an inconvenient obstacle if he had to make a run at the building.

He said, ‘Where are you coming from?’

‘Almost at the end of Third,’ King said. ‘It’s about to merge onto the Bowery. I’ll cut across to Second.’

‘I can meet you there in five minutes,’ Slater said. ‘But be real careful. I think I turned this place into a war zone.’

‘I don’t hear any gunshots. I did before.’

‘Fighting’s over for now.’

‘What happened?’

‘I chased the kid down Second. It wasn’t deliberate, but he sprinted right at the building in question. They blew his head off for it.’

‘Shit.’

‘They’ve got armoured mercs. And there’s two of Rico’s bodyguards left in the building I’m hiding out in. I’ll deal with them.’

‘They’re dangerous,’ King said. ‘They’re not your average security. That’s who was shooting at us in the alley.’

‘I know.’

‘There’s something else…’

‘Yeah?’

‘I’ve got someone with me.’

‘Who?’

‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.’

‘Just give me a name—’

‘Meet me at the corner of Second and 4th. Hurry.’

Then Slater heard a muffled grunt of protest from King’s supposed prisoner, and the pair wrestling — most likely King using his bodyweight to haul the man through the streets.

The call ended on King’s side.

50

Slater swore and lowered the phone.

He kept watching the street, but the Bowery was a ghost town. He knew there was an invisible fuse there in the darkness, and that the slightest movement on anyone’s end would light it up instantly. There’d be snipers scouring the shadows for signs of resistance, tucked away in vantage points amidst the thousands of windows facing the intersection. There’d be foot soldiers behind the bank building’s big wooden doors, clad in body armour, pumped up on Dexedrine, ready to defend its contents with their lives. There’d be reinforcements en route eventually, whether that be the NYPD or the feds or the CIA or the DSS. Violetta would do her job well, and she’d be able to scrounge together some assistance as soon as she got hold of the right people.

But right now there was none of that.

Just constant underlying tension.

The calm before the storm.

Slater turned around to find Alexis watching him like he was a lab experiment.

Which, he guessed, he was.

He said, ‘What?’

‘What do you do, exactly?’

‘Many things.’

‘Can’t tell me?’

‘I’d love to,’ he said. ‘Now’s not the time.’

She nodded. ‘I’ll let you out.’

He shook his head. ‘Those guys I was running from are still in the building. Stay here. I’ll let myself out.’

‘What if they’re out there?’

He slapped his shoulder. ‘I don’t need to run from them anymore.’

She stared at his shoulder, then looked him in the eyes. She made to say something, but stopped herself short. Then she lowered her head and scoffed in disbelief.

‘What?’ he said.

‘You’re… not what I expected a government operative to be.’

‘What did you expect?’

‘I assume you’ve killed people.’

‘That’s an intrusive question,’ he said. ‘We’ve only just met.’

‘I want an answer.’

He paused. Thought about the two men tied up in the bathroom, and the way she’d handled all this chaos, and the poise she’d shown. He said, ‘Yeah. I have.’

She didn’t respond.

He said, ‘How’s that make you feel?’

‘That’s the strangest part of all,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t change much.’

‘Much of what?’

She didn’t respond to that, either.

He moved away from the window and came within a few feet of her, maintaining a respectable distance. ‘Are you still basing all of this off your first impression of me?’

‘Like I said, I could tell you weren’t a bad person.’

‘You shouldn’t jump to conclusions so quickly. I could be anyone.’

‘But you’re not.’

‘I’ve killed people. That doesn’t deter you?’

‘Should it?’

‘What are we getting at here?’

She looked at him for a long five count, then seemed to rein herself in. ‘You need to go.’

He nodded. ‘I do. Thank you for all your help.’

‘You’re welcome.’

He crossed the loft, refusing to look back in case he let his penchant for the opposite sex distract him even more than it already had. He made it down the hallway and moved quieter, masking his footsteps, listening for any sign of commotion outside. He placed one hand on the knob and turned it and let the door whisper open. A quick glance in either direction down the corridor revealed it to be empty.

He leant back into the apartment and shut the door.

Turned around to find Alexis there, only a few feet away, still watching him.

He said, ‘I know you’ve had bad experiences with guys judging you solely off your looks. I’m guessing, in this city, it’s even worse than elsewhere.’

She nodded.

He said, ‘I’m no saint. I do the same when I’m out on the town. I can’t help myself. I’m superficial when I want to be, I guess.’

Silence.

‘But not here,’ he said. ‘Not now. I want to see you again. Not because of your looks. Because of your actions.’

‘What actions?’

‘The way you took matters into your own hands,’ he said. ‘I like that. A lot.’

She seemed to be torn between two options, rocking back and forth on the spot, the