Page 76 of Dangerous Silence
I had a man watching her. Was he one of Muro’s informants?
Shit!
“What happened?” I asked. But Demi gave no answer. “Demi?” She stirred, her eyelids fluttering with movement. A soft moan escaped her lips and her eyes closed again.Fuck!
“What’s it going to be?” a raspy male voice asked. I tightened my grip on Demi. Muro stood in the doorway, his gun pointed at us. I reached for my weapon too, but then he moved, his weapon aimed at Demi. I stilled. My gun was just out of reach.
“She doesn’t have much time left, you know,” Muro said.
“She’s innocent,” I said.
“I would hardly call her innocent,” Muro said, narrowing his eyes. “Though I admire her tenacity. She came in here with the best of intentions. Thought she was going to save the world. Save you Adlers.” He tilted his head. “She would still be conscious if it weren’t for the way she attacked my best officer.”
She was cuffed to a metal ring protruding from the floor. I pulled on the links.
“Now, now, I thought you would have killed me by now,” Muro said, tsking through his teeth. “You should be ashamed of yourself. Never living up to the name.”
I growled, finally grabbing my gun and aiming at his chest, but he pulled back his hammer, his gun still directed at Demi.
“If you kill me, you’ll kill her too.”
I howled in rage, then looked around. The key had to be somewhere. It had to be.
“Where is the key?” I asked. Muro didn’t answer. I looked around frantically. It had to be close. It had to be somewhere. “Tell menow,Muro. Where the fuck is the key?”
But when I looked up, he was gone.
“Muro!” I howled. I gently placed Demi on the ground, then ran to the entrance lobby. The door to the staircase was closed, but when I opened it, I heard nothing. No footsteps. No doors swinging shut.Nothing.The elevator to the top floor was jammed too. The bathroom in the entrance lobby was dark. The lights flicked on, but it was empty. There was no sign of Muro. I raced down the stairs, throwing open the door to the next floor.
An overhead speaker crackled on. “Demi doesn’t have much time,” Muro’s voice echoed through the floor. “Now, what will it be, champ?” He laughed. “Will you save the girl, or search for me? Take your pick, but get moving. Time is winding down for sweet little Demi.”
I looked around. The key. I needed the key. I bolted back to Muro’s office.
“Good luck,” Muro’s sing-song voice rang out over the speakers.
I clenched my fists as I ran through his office. My heart raced. I stumbled over the desk, tearing out all of the drawers, looking for a key. Any key. A black disc in the shape of a button, our tracking device, crunched under my feet. Papers flew. A filing cabinet. An empty suitcase. Objects clattered to the ground. But not one of them was what I needed. I checked the floor of the bathroom, then the toilets and urinals themselves. Where was it?
I ran back to the next floor, racing through rooms. As I went through a desk, I realized I could cut off her arm. Only one of them was cuffed, leaving her other hand free. She might hate me for that, but at least she would have a chance at staying alive. But I knew that any further loss of blood would cut her time shorter. It wasn’t an option right then.
I couldn’t think about anything. All I could do was keep going, trying to save her. Demi. My Demi. Not my Demi. Just Demi. I needed her to be safe. I needed her to be alive.
Muro laughed over the speakers. “This is exciting, isn’t it?” he said. “Run along now, Adler. The clock is ticking.”
Finally, in the next room, a hacksaw lay flat on a drop cloth next to a bloody chair. I didn’t know if the cuffs would be soft enough to cut through, but I had to try. I ran back up, leaping toward her. I moved her to the side but then used the hacksaw. It gave way, cutting through the metal, then I switched to my cleaver, to see if anything moved faster. But it didn’t, so I went back to the hacksaw. Back and forth. Trying to work it with the little patience I usually had, the calmness escaping me.Come on,I thought.Stay alive.
Finally, the metal chain clattered to the floor. I scooped her into my arms. We raced to the stairs.
“Axe?” she asked, her voice hoarse. She started coughing, and the sound made my heart pound.
“Don’t speak,” I said in a soft voice. “Concentrate on breathing.”
She moved around, wiggling in my grasp, and I glanced down, but I had to keep my eyes open, on our surroundings, to make sure Muro wasn’t there. I had to get her to the ground floor. I had to keep her safe. Suddenly, her limp hand lifted my gun. She hoisted herself up, angling it over my shoulder.
“Where is he?” she asked.
“Stay still,” I said. “Focus on you.”
The only thing I knew was that there were just as many reasons to die as there were to live.And I need you, Demi,I thought.I need you to stay alive.
