Desperate Girls (Wolfe Security #1)(58)

“Armed?”

“Skyler reported a knife. He just turned down an alley heading north. I’m in pursuit.” Erik darted down the alley and spied a tall chain-link fence at the end, blocking off a construction site. Corby was nowhere, but Erik saw a gap in the fencing.

“He just entered a construction site. Pearl and . . . Fifth, I think. You copy?”

“Copy that.”

He shoved his phone into his pocket to free his hands as he reached the fence. He yanked back the mesh and pushed through, snagging his T-shirt. Jerking it free, he paused to scan the site, a maze of concrete slabs and heavy machinery, dominated by a towering steel skeleton in the middle. Workmen stood around swigging water and peeling off orange safety vests as they wrapped up for the day.

No Corby.

Cursing, Erik skimmed the giant steel beams and bundles of rebar. He jogged up to the nearest worker.

“Hey, have you seen—”

A jackhammer drowned out the words, and Erik’s chest vibrated with the noise.

On the far side of the job site, Erik spied a man in a black hoodie. He wore a yellow hard hat, but Erik knew it was Corby and charged after him. As if sensing someone behind him, the man glanced over his shoulder, then broke into a sprint.

Erik sidestepped a concrete barricade and leaped across a trench. Corby reached a gap in the fencing, squeezed through, and took off down the street.

“Shit!”

Erik raced after him, reached the opening, and plunged into the street, crashing into a businessman.

He looked in both directions and spotted Corby barreling through a line of people standing beside a food truck. Corby ducked into a building, and Erik glanced at the sign. Mulligan’s Pub. Erik’s gut clenched with dread when he thought of the potential hostage situation. Adrenaline fired through him as he raced to the door and yanked it open.

The place was dim and noisy. His eyes adjusted, and he heard a loud yelp, followed by shattering glass. Pushing through the crowd, Erik followed the noise to the kitchen, where he found a waitress kneeling by a pile of broken bottles.

“Son of a bitch!” she spat, looking toward the back exit.

Erik rushed past the her and plowed through the door. He was in another alley. Corby could have gone in either direction, but he seemed to be traveling more or less west. So Erik took off that way, toward Pearl Street. They’d made a loop, which might or might not have been intentional.

Erik reached Pearl and checked both directions. No yellow hard hat. No black sweatshirt.

A squeal of tires had him spinning around. A black car peeled away from the curb and swerved into traffic. The car sped through a red light as horns blared and drivers slammed on their brakes.

Erik yanked out his phone and called Jeremy.

“He’s in a black four-door heading west on Pearl! Just crossed Sixth.” Erik raked his hand through his hair and cursed as the taillights disappeared. “Repeat, a black four-door. I think it’s a Honda.”

“Copy that. Are you in pursuit?”

“No, I lost him.”





BRYNN TURNED off the shower and heard noises.

Voices. Footsteps. The front door opening and closing.

She wrapped herself in a towel as someone pounded on her bedroom door. She rushed to open it and found a panicked-looking Hayes.

“What’s wrong?” She peered over his shoulder to see two huge men standing in her foyer. “Who the hell are they?”

They had guns and badges and looked like plainclothes cops.

“U.S. Marshals,” Hayes said. “Corby’s in the area. There’s been an attack.”

“What?”

Hayes looked tongue-tied, and she pushed past him.

“Where is Ross?”

The marshals were stone-faced. If they knew who she was talking about, they didn’t show it. Fear seized her, and she whirled around.

“Hayes! Where’s Ross? Where’s Erik?”

“I don’t know.”

Brynn stalked past him back into the bedroom. She dropped her towel and threw on some clothes, then returned to the hallway. The sound of sirens outside sent a chill through her.

“Where’d they go?” she asked Hayes, who was alone in the foyer now, talking on his phone.

She hurried to the window, parted the blinds, and peered out. Two police cars raced down the street below, sirens wailing as they whipped around the corner.

Brynn’s heart squeezed. Whatever was going on, she couldn’t see it from this side of the building. She ran back into the bedroom, grabbing her phone off the dresser as she rushed to the window. With trembling hands, she dialed Erik.

Then she heard his voice booming in the hall.

“Where is she?”

She turned around, and he was in the doorway.

“What happened? You’re bleeding!” she yelped.

“Get away from that window.” He crossed the room in two strides and yanked her back from the glass.

“Your arm’s bleeding!”

“I’m fine.”

“What the hell happened?” Her voice was shrill as she stared up at his sweat-slicked face.

“Corby attacked Ross.”

“What?”

“He stabbed him.”

Brynn’s stomach seemed to drop to the floor. “Stabbed him? Is he—” She didn’t want to say the word. “Is he alive?”