Nora shuts the door quickly and instantly it locks from the inside. A tiny red light shows up on the door panel, a light that had not been there before when it was locked, which can only mean that the alarm has just set.
Even though we’ve certainly bought ourselves some time by not triggering the alarm, we don’t stop for even a second to rest—there is a trail of dead bodies left in the building and it’s only a matter of time before someone stumbles upon one and calls it in. I would like to rest, more than anything, because this stupid mask sticking to my head like a thick pair of pantyhose is making my head itch like crazy, just like it did when I had lice in the compound in Mexico—I’ll have to endure the itch for a little while longer.
Nora and I retrieve our black backpacks hidden in a dark corner on the roof.
“I’ve never done this before,” I say as I swing mine onto my back and latch it in place by the straps crossing my chest.
“You said you weren’t afraid of heights.” Nora’s backpack was secured to her back before mine even was.
She grabs the metal contraption from the rope cable I’m to descend from and attaches it to my harness, locking it securely into place.
“I’m not afraid of heights,” I tell her and swallow nervously. “It’s just that it’s a long fucking way down.”
She grins at me as she jerks one last time on my harness to make sure it’s secure.
“Then don’t fucking fall,” she says with a smile.
I smirk and follow her to the edge of the roof.
And without time to give it any second thoughts, I grab my rope cable tight in my gloved hands and step over the roof wall and begin to propel myself down.
By the fifth floor, down the side of the building, that tiny ounce of fear I had has drained completely from my body.
We keep to the building face, staying out of view of any windows as we scale carefully the rest of the way down, coming to a safe stop on the ground at the back of the building where there is no traffic and there are no people; just a row of stinking dumpsters and a dark alley that will lead us back to our car parked on the side of the road.
After unlocking myself from the rope cable, the first thing I do is peel off that damn face mask and shove it into the front of my bodysuit, between my breasts. Instantly I feel relief as the air washes over my itching, sweating skin.
Nora leaves hers on.
We make it to the car in under three minutes and are on our way back to Boston without a hitch.
Izabel
During the drive back to Boston, Nora talks a lot as usual, but she refuses to talk about the mission.
“I think it went well,” I say as we ride down the dark, nearly empty highway. “No one alive saw us; the timing was cutting it close, but it was perfect, and—”
“Come on Izabel,” she cuts in, glancing over at me briefly from the driver’s seat; long, disheveled hair draping her shoulders. “Let’s not get into this right now. I want to relax, enjoy the drive back.” She looks over again and grins suggestively before putting her eyes back on the road. “So, about Niklas.”
I sigh and shake my head, slouching farther down against the passenger’s seat to get more comfortable.
“He’s a dick, Nora,” I say. “That’s about as much as I know, and it’s shit you already knew yourself—why don’t you try getting to know Fredrik instead? He needs a woman. Niklas…well, I think all you’ll ever get out of him is a good fuck or two.”
That didn’t come out right; I didn’t mean to insinuate that I think he must be ‘good’ in bed. Thankfully we turned the mics off a long time ago and Victor isn’t listening in anymore—talk about awkward.
Nora catches my eye, and when I look back over there’s a grin dancing on her lips.
“A good fuck or two is all I want.”
That doesn’t surprise me much, really, but it does spark a whole new topic.
Uncrossing my arms, I sit up straighter and look right at her with interest. “Just out of curiosity,” I say, “have you ever had feelings for a man before?” I raise my back from the seat, turning at an angle so she has my full attention. “I mean, something a little more than sex?”
Nora pooches out her unpainted lips and shakes her head. “Nope,” she says. “I have no interest in anything more than sex.”
I laugh lightly and fall against the seat again.
“Well, you never know,” I say with confidence. “That dirty little L-word has a tendency to sneak up on you, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it when it does.”
“I’d kill a man before I fell in love with him,” she says and I look over, quietly stung by her words. “I never get too close.”
For a moment I’m not sure what to say to that.
“Well then I take back what I said about Fredrik—Niklas is a better option for you. Besides, Fredrik might have something with that waitress.”
Nora chuckles. “If you believe that, you’re lying to yourself.”