Page 160 of SINS & Riley
His eyes glaze, words slurring. Then they roll back as more blood seeps through the fabric.
Has he been shot?
“Shit.”
I tear down the East Wing, heart bucking like wild horses trying to escape.
Boris is on my heels. “Let me go first.”
For once, I don’t argue.
Gun raised, he eases the door open and slips inside—silent, precise, a shadow with a trigger.
A beat later: “Clear.”
The second he says that, I rush in.
The room is massive. And the box is dead center on an enormous mantle, flanked by framed photos I can’t look at. Not now.
I flip it open.
It’s not sleek. Not smart. A fossil. An old flip phone, the kind you only see in pawn shops and bad mob flicks.
My hands shake as I snap it open and hit the first contact.
The voice that answers isn’t a voice at all. It’s garbled, metallic, chewed up by a machine and spit back out.
“Give us the situation,” the voice commands. Flat. Mechanical.
“I—I need help. Dominic gave me this phone. He said if there was an emergency, to call. We need help. Zver—he’s in trouble.”
The instant I say that I regret it. What if these are enemies of Zver?
“Leave this phone on. Someone will be there shortly. Are you safe there?”
A laugh bursts out of me, because by this point, I’m hysterical. “I used to think so. But considering the place just got fucking stormed, I’m gonna guess not.”
Silence. Then: “Hold one minute.”
I swear to God, if they put on elevator music?—
Boris looms close, voice low. “I need to check the perimeter. Lock the door behind me. Don’t open for anyone but me.” He raps his knuckles against the frame. “This room feels reinforced. So listen for my voice—let no one else in.”
Petrified, I nod.
He slips out, and I throw the lock home behind him.
Through the door, muffled: “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
The line in my hand clicks. The pixelated voice returns.
“We’re en route. Try to find a weapon.”
Weapon. Right.
I yank open the first drawer—sawed-off shotgun.
Second drawer—an arsenal. Pistols, rifles, clips of ammo stacked like candy. Enough to start a war.
