I grimaced. That was awful.
“That’s why she told me not to come,” he said. “That’s why she told me she was as good as dead.” He rubbed his forehead. “God damn it. They used her to get to me.”
No. If what he was saying was true, they had used her to get to me, hadn’t they?
Griffin parked the car. He didn’t bother to hide it like he had when we’d checked out Stacey and Jack’s house. He parked right in front of the apartment complex in a handicapped parking space. “Stay here,” he told me, jumping out of the car.
I watched him sprint across the sidewalk to the landing. He’d have to climb the steps to get to Beth’s apartment.
I found his pack and looked through it until I found a gun. I loaded it, disengaged the safety, and went after him.
He was already up the first set of stairs, cresting over the second landing.
I picked out Beth’s apartment door, fifth floor. It didn’t look completely closed.
It looked like it was moving.
Sure enough, the door opened and the nose of a gun appeared out of it.
“Griffin!” I yelled.
I was too late. Whoever was at the door of Beth’s apartment had already pulled the trigger.
Griffin stumbled, faltering on the steps.
I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, lined up my sights, and squeezed my trigger several times in succession.
There was a cry.
The door to Beth’s apartment opened, and a body fell out of it, motionless.
I’d hit him. Whoa.
I started up the steps. “Griffin!” I yelled.
“Nice shot,” he said.
“You okay?”
“It’s my leg,” he said. “It’s healing.” He was starting to limp up the steps.
I caught up to him as quick as I could. “The guy at the door? You think there are more of them?”
“Probably,” he said.
“Give me a knife,” I said. “He’s healing right now. I need to get to him before he wakes up.”
He shook his head, laboring up the steps. “You don’t know how to do it.”
“Fine,” I said. I pushed past him.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ll cover him with my gun until you get there. You’re limping, and I can go faster than you.” I scrambled up the steps.
“Leigh, wait!”
But I wasn’t about to listen to him. He hadn’t listened to me, had he? He’d just barged out into this, with no plan, no caution. He wasn’t himself.
Wheezing, I arrived just outside Beth’s apartment. I pointed my gun at the man who laid half out the door and half in it.
From inside, I could hear a baby wailing. Dixie.
They weren’t going to hurt the baby, were they?
“Well, well, well,” said a voice. “Leigh Thorn, right on the doorstep. This is better than delivery.”
I whirled in the direction of the voice.
Pain exploded in my cheekbone.
Chapter Fourteen
I pulled the trigger of my gun without aiming. The shot was loud, and the guy who’d just punched me doubled over.
“Shit,” he muttered.
I took better aim. I shot him in the head.
It drove his body into the wall. He slid down onto the floor, leaving a smear of blood behind him.
There were two bodies in front of me now. They were probably Op Wraith agents, which meant that they were both healing. They’d wake up at any second, ready to hurt me.
“Beth?” I called. “Are you in here? Are you okay?”
No answer. The baby was still crying.
“Leigh!” shouted Griffin from below.
I peeked out of the door. “I’m okay. I shot them both.”
He was one floor down, coming up the steps faster now. His leg must be healing from the gun shot. “Good. That’s good.”
“Beth isn’t answering, but the baby’s crying. I want to go look in the apartment and see if I can find them both.”