I decided I needed something to do, so I went rummaging in my makeup bag for nail polish. I always kept a few bottles in there and I grabbed You Pink Too Much. After the week I’d had, I definitely needed some sparkle in my life. And since I was on “vacation,” I was going to paint my toes and my fingers.
“You’re such a rebel,” I muttered to myself, hunkering down in the living room with my supplies. I flipped on the television and found a random station with an old sitcom playing. That was good. Something light.
Turning on my cell, I saw I had several voice mails from my parents. Crap. They’d either heard it on the news or the building manager had already called my dad. His name was on the lease as well, and I could only imagine what he’d be thinking when they called to tell him that not only was my apartment riddled with bullets, I was nowhere to be found. I dialed my mom’s cell.
“Sage! Oh my God, we’ve been worried sick!” My mother was as beside herself as I’d ever heard her and I winced.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “There was kind of … an accident. But I’m okay.” I didn’t dare tell her about nearly getting run over by a truck.
“An accident!” she screeched. “Sage, the police said it was gang violence and the building manager said that apartment is a total loss! Now are you going to tell me what happened? Or do I have to put your father on the phone?”
“No, don’t get Dad, please,” I said hurriedly. My father would go even more ape shit than my mother. “It’s just … well, there’s this guy, this criminal …” and I proceeded to give her the Reader’s Digest condensed version of who Viktor was and what he was doing now.
“But Parker is watching over me,” I said, hoping to allay her fears. “And the CIA is on the lookout for him, so it’ll be fine. It just may take a few days.” I hoped that was all it took.
“Sage, I don’t like this,” she said. “You should go home for a few days while your father and I are out of town.”
“You’re out of town?” I asked. “Where’d you go?”
“Oh, your father got a wild hair—you know how he is sometimes—and decided he wanted to go visit his uncle Louie.”
“So you’re in New Jersey?”
“For the time being. Probably only for a few more days,” she said. “So why don’t you go home? Rita will cook for you and you’ll have the whole place to yourselves.”
“ ‘Yourselves’?” I repeated.
“Well, for goodness’ sake, make sure you take Parker,” she said in an are-you-an-idiot tone. “Now, are you going to go? Or do I have to use my mom voice?”
I kinda thought she was already using her mom voice, but agreed anyway. “Okay, we’ll go,” I said. “Just … don’t tell Dad until you get back, okay?”
She gave a heavy sigh. “All right. Call me tomorrow.”
“Will do. Love you.”
“Love you, too, dear. And I’m thankful, very thankful, that you’re all right.”
I hung up feeling a little warmer and fuzzier. Moms tended to have that effect, I supposed.
I packed while I waited for Parker, my spirits a little better to think of going home rather than staying at Ryker’s house, sans Ryker.
Ryker.
Crap. What would he do when he found out I wasn’t here? Would he be worried? Think the worst? Probably.
I hesitated, staring at my cell. “Screw it,” I muttered, picking it up and hitting the button I’d programmed for Malone, Ryker’s partner.
“Hey, it’s Sage,” I said. “Ryker’s girlfriend.”
“Oh yeah, hey. How’re you doing?” he asked.
“I’m okay, but … I really need to see Ryker.” I hesitated. “He said I should call you if it was an emergency, that you’d know where he was.”
“I do,” he said. “But it’s dangerous. Are you sure?”
“I wouldn’t be calling if I weren’t.”
“Okay,” he said with a sigh, then rattled off an address, which I quickly jotted down.
“Thank you,” I said. “I swear, it’ll be quick.”
Suddenly, McClane began to growl. I whipped around to look at the dog, who was staring down the hall. His ears flattened on his head and his teeth bared. The growling grew louder.
“Oh God,” I whispered. “Someone’s in the house.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Send the police,” I hissed at Malone. “I’ve gotta go.” I hung up. There was nothing he could do anyway, and a phone in my hand would only hamper me.
Shoving the phone in my pocket, I wrapped a fist around McClane’s collar. His growl was deep in his throat, but he quieted. The hair was standing up on his back and his obvious alarm made a cold flood of adrenaline rush through my veins.
I took a few careful steps forward. McClane stayed at my side, pressed against my legs. The floor creaked underneath my feet and I froze.
A man walked around the corner.
“There you are,” he said with a smile. “Easiest job ever.”
He raised a gun, pointing it at me, and I stopped breathing.
McClane leapt at him, teeth snapping and growling. His jaws fastened around the man’s wrist as the gun went off. The bullet went wide and I watched in horror as McClane attacked the man with vicious intent. Panic and fear flooded me and I remembered what Parker had said.