Page 115 of The Vigilant

And then the elevator car dinged its arrival.

My chin dipped a little, and holding her to me, I started to back through the opening door, my gun aimed between us.

It only took a few steps to see him—the man guarding the door.

He was playing some game on his phone because he glanced up, expecting to see the Straw Sandal and a drugged girl, thinking that was what he saw because he looked down again only to realize a second later something was wrong.

He jumped up with a shout, and I practically threw Sutton behind me as I fired two silent rounds into his chest. The elevator door dinged closed with almost comedic timing as the guard stared at me and then toppled to the floor.

“Stay behind me,” I ordered and moved to the entrance to the penthouse.

She nodded, and I caught the glint of her slender knife in her hand.My deadly little wasp.But if I did my job right, she wouldn’t need to use it.

I scanned the keycard, glancing over my shoulder at Sutton when the door clicked open.

My pulse thudded like a drumbeat in my chest as I stepped through, gun raised, into another entryway. The small room was lined with mirrors, a small table at the end topped with a Ming vase, and two doors, one on either side of it.

Fuck.

“Give me the key,” Sutton murmured.

“What?” I growled, my eyes flicking to her.

“Right door needs keycard access, the left doesn’t,” she said quietly, and I looked back to confirm.

Sure enough, the door on the right did have a panel tucked right above the handle, while the door on the left didn’t.

Locked doors protected valuable things. Like a kidnapped woman.

Keeping my gun trained on the left door, I passed Sutton the keycard and murmured, “Be careful.”

“You too,” she said as her fingers brushed mine.

My skin prickled when she stepped away from me—out of my protection. I knew how well she was trained. I knew what she was capable of. But rational thinking had little to do with the riot my heart was causing in my chest.

I kept my eyes focused on the door. I didn’t look back at her—I couldn’t. I knew if I did, I might not let her go on her own.

I turned the knob and slipped through the door, making sure to close it behind me. She was right. This side of the penthouse opened into a room that stretched the length of the building. An office space. A living room with a massive gas fireplace embedded into a freestanding wall that separated it from whatever was beyond.

Moving quickly through the center of the room, I stopped when I reached the fireplace and flushed my back to the wall.

It was really fucking quiet on this side.

My finger rested on the trigger as I breathed deep and rounded the separating wall, my gun clocking the space behind it.

Dining room. Massive table. Open entry into the empty kitchen.

Empty. Silent.

No one was here.

I spun. There was no mistaking the crash that came from the other side of the apartment.

Fuck!

I bolted for the entrance, hearing the commotion get louder. A loud bang. A sound of something valuable shattering.

The vase.

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