She turned to look behind her once more, but Tino smacked at her ass again, closer than she realized as he shouted, “Go, Bri! Run!”
She nearly tripped over one of the other bartenders as she followed Carina into the back. They ran past offices, but the bartender jerked open a door at the end of the hallway, revealing a staircase. The hall was a dead end, the one place the ATF agents couldn’t sneak in when they were pouring in from all the other exits.
This staircase was the only way out.
They left the bartender there, and the three of them took to the stairs, hearing the click of a door being locked behind them.
When Carina hit the first landing, Tino pushed Brianna to keep moving and said to his sister, “All the way to the top. Get to the roof.”
“What about Paco?” Carina argued but kept dashing up the stairs, sounding breathless by the second landing. “He’s got weed on him.”
“I’ll bail him out.”
“Stronzo—”
“Run, Carina!” Tino shouted rather than argue. “Now!”
So they ran until they got all the way to the exit door leading out to the roof. The door was swollen and stuck, like it hadn’t been opened in ages, and it didn’t even budge when Carina tried to open it.
Tino jumped past her and jerked it open like it was nothing, allowing the icy Manhattan winter air to smack them in the faces. Tino was in the lead now, sprinting across the roof like a man on a mission.
They followed after him, and Brianna pulled the door shut again, making sure it was fully closed. It was a vain hope that the ATF officers would just give up when they found a sticking roof exit that didn’t want to open.
“What’re we gonna do now?” Carina threw up her hands, even though Tino was on the other side of the roof and couldn’t see her. “They’re gonna check the roof, and it’s not like we can fucking jump. We’re sitting ducks, genius.”
Tino didn’t answer her. Instead he ran past them, carrying a large ladder like he had a plan. He slid it out, making it longer and longer. Brianna and Carina walked up, watching him do it. They must have both realized at the same time what he planned.
Brianna whispered, “Oh my God.”
Just as Carina said, “Fuck, no.”
Tino wasn’t paying attention to either of them as he stood at the edge of the roof, his body tight with intense concentration. He was balancing the ladder as it reached high into the night, and then he pulled it over to the left as he eyed the building next to them. He didn’t drop it over in a rush; instead he used incredible strength to make it land as quietly as possible.
Carina shook her head quickly. “I’m not doing this.”
Tino moved the ladder to the left again, sliding it along the cement ledge of the other building, leaning way too far over the edge for comfort. He was talking to himself as he was working, mumbling, “Come on, baby,” before he reverted to Italian in harsh, desperate whispers like he was praying for help.
Brianna rubbed her arms, shivering, because she’d left her jacket in the bar. She squinted into the night, trying to see what he was angling for, and asked, “Do you need light?”
“And send a beacon to the government surrounding the building downstairs? I’ll pass.” Tino was still fighting with the ladder, but then it made a clinking sound, and he jerked it back hard, only this time it didn’t budge. “Got it! Carina—”
“No,” Carina said before he could finish. “I’ve been drinking and—”
“You don’t have a choice!” Tino pointed to the ladder. “I got it secured. It’s not gonna fall. All you gotta do is get across it.”
“Oh, is that all?” Carina asked manically. “Be my guest if it’s so easy.”
“If I go first, you’re not gonna follow. I know how you play your game. So you go first, then Bri, and I’ll go last and pull up the ladder.”
“Nope. No way.” Carina gestured to the ladder. “For all I know, I’ll plunge to my death on the first step.”
“You don’t fucking trust me? Your own brother. I’d take a fucking bullet for you, and you think I’d tell you to do something that’ll send you plunging to your death?”
“I’ll go,” Brianna said before they got into a full-fledged Sicilian sibling fight on this rooftop. “I trust you. I’ll go first and hold it from the other side.”
The situation was anxious, so all Tino did was shout, “See! Bri trusts me!”