Page 116 of The Vigilant

I pulled open the door, my boots crunching on priceless ceramic as I followed the noise. Just through the first door, I saw her.

She was sprinting past the elevators toward the far end of the hall.

What the—and then I saw the door to the stairwell click closed. “Sutton!” I boomed, my legs pumping after her.

“It’s Kang,” she shouted back, using the keycard to swipe into the stairwell after him.

“Wait!” I roared, but it was too late. She was through it before I could stop her, and before I could stop the door from locking behind her.

“Fuck! Sutton!” I roared again and banged my fist on the stairwell door before I whipped toward the elevator.

Thank fuck I didn’t need that damn card to go down.

My jaw wrenched tighter and tighter as the descent ticked down each floor.

If he hurt her—if he fucking touched her—fuck that, he was dead regardless.

As soon as the doors started to open, I shoved them wider to let me out and then stopped short with a snarl.

There was no doorway for the stairwell on this floor. No exit.

I spun back to the elevator, remembering a lower-level button on the tree that must lead to an underground parking garage for residents.

“Fuck,” I swore just as the security guard came into view. He died with wide, panicked eyes, reaching for his gun, his shout cut off by the bullet I put through his throat.

I hammered my thumb into the lower-level button, my heart pounding in my ears.

If he hurt her…I swore I’d find something worse than death.

“There’s nowhere to go, Kang!”

The doors opened to Sutton’s shout, and my head whipped in the direction of her voice.

My assumption had been right. The stairs had led to an underground parking garage—but it was anything but comforting. Too many obstacles. Too many places for danger to hide.

“Sutton!” I roared, wanting to make sure that fucker knew he was outnumbered.

“Where is she, Kang? Where’s Mara?”

My path quickly swerved to the left, zeroing in on the location of their cat-and-mouse game.

There was a loud cackle, made almost maniacal by the reverberation through the cement-lined, silent shell of the garage, and I stopped.

“You’re going to pay for this, you crazy fucking cunt. You have no idea…”

Now, it was the origin of his voice I hunted. If I got to him first…

“It’s over, Kang,” I drawled, my tone low and threatening. “Where is Mara Chen?”

I was close enough to hear him shuffling—moving behind the cars—but then I saw her. Sutton stalked down the center aisle, her knives brandished at her sides, her gaze murderous.

She was an open target for him, and she knew it. She wanted him to underestimate her again. She didn’t realize that the guard I’d shot outside the penthouse had been missing his gun.

I sprinted for her, not even feeling the side mirror that nailed my wounded side as I took the quickest—narrowest—path through the cars to reach her.

“You’re going to fucking pay. You’re going to pay,” Kang repeated like a crazed man.

My eyes darted to the right, searching—waiting—spotting him.

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