“Don’t worry,” Maisey rushed to assure him. “I will stay close to you. There is no other place I plan to be.”
He checked his gun.
“Please, be careful,” Maisey urged worriedly. “If you get shot right in front of me, I am going to lose my mind.”
“Not planning to get shot.” But he would be shooting at anyone who threatened them. “Come on.” They moved quickly across the street. There were exterior stairs that led up to the Trouble for Hire office, but if someone was up there—and it sure as hell seemed someone was—then Odin wanted to catch the perp off guard.
He slipped inside Armageddon, using the keys War had given him. Then Odin and Maisey accessed the private stairs inside and crept up to the second level. But as they climbed, he heard shouting. Distorted at first. Damn. Whoever was up there didn’t seem concerned about staying quiet—
“Help!” A sudden, sharp shriek that was clearly discernable. A woman’s voice. Terrified. “God, please, help—” The words were choked off.
Odin glanced back at Maisey. “Stay here,” he ordered. “I’ll see what’s happening. Jinx will be running in any moment.”
Another high-pitched cry. Pain-filled this time. Gripping his weapon, Odin stopped creeping up the stairs and flew up them. He kicked open the door to Trouble for Hire. Rushed through the small hallway and turned to find a woman standing in his office. Her back was to him, and her shoulders were shuddering with sobs. He recognized the short, blond hair, and his gaze swept around the room as he looked for threats. “Heather?”
She jerked. Turned her head to look at him. He could see the tear tracks on her face.
“What’s happening?” Odin barked. “Are you hurt?” He took two fast steps toward her. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach.
“I’m hurt so badly,” she whimpered.
He didn’t see her attacker. Was she holding her wound, was that why she was hugging herself so tightly? He began to lower his weapon.
“I’m hurt…” She slowly angled her body toward him. “But, not as badly as you’ll be hurt.”
He stiffened and aimed his gun at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”
With tears on her cheeks, she smiled at him. “Just where is Maisey? Did you leave her all alone?”
Fuck. He spun and ran for her. “Maisey!”
But when he got to the stairs, when he peered down them as fear twisted inside of him, Odin realized he was too late. The lights were on in the stairwell, shining brightly when it had been dark moments before. Maisey was still on the stairs. She’d followed his instructions. Stayed where he’d thought she’d be safe.
But Maisey wasn’t alone.
Steve was with her. The asshole boyfriend? He had a gun pointed at Maisey’s head.
Steve lifted his brows. “I’ll need you to ditch the weapon or I’ll have to shoot her.”
***
“So, this will be hard, but I’m going to need you to not be a psychopath, okay? For just like, ten minutes or so.” Jinx turned to Ramsey. “Do you think you can handle—”
Ramsey jumped out of the car—Ramsey’s SUV, though Jinx had been driving—and ran toward Armageddon and the PI office.
“Wonderful,” Jinx sighed. “Obviously, ten minutes was too much to ask for. I should have just gone with five.” He leapt out of the vehicle and gave chase. It was apparent that Ramsey wasn’t stopping, so Jinx launched at him. Tackled the guy to the ground. “We have to play this scene right,” Jinx snarled at him, trying to keep his voice low. “You go in there all crazy, and who knows what the hell could happen.”
Ramsey heaved Jinx aside. Mostly just because Jinx let him go.
Lightning flashed overhead in the dark sky, and in the distance, thunder rumbled.
“I know what will happen.” Ramsey’s hands fisted. “Someone is going to die.”
“Yes, well, I don’t want that someone to be a friend of mine. Calm your ass down. We’re handling this the right way.”
“There is no right way!”
“Debatable.” Why had he gotten stuck with the hothead in this scene? He tried to figure out how to calm the crime boss down.
A gunshot rang out. One followed by a shattered, desperate scream.
Jinx lunged for the building, leaving Ramsey in his dust.
***
“What in the hell are you doing?” Heather fumed. “We have a plan for this scene, and that plan doesn’t involve you shooting random shit!”
Maisey’s breath shuddered out. They were in Odin’s office—the same office where she’d met him just a few short days ago. Steve had forced Odin inside first, after Odin had dropped his gun in that stairwell. Then Steve had dragged her inside.
He’d made Odin take up a position near the wall, then the guy had raised his weapon and fired. Maisey had grabbed Steve’s arm and shoved as hard as she could because he’d appeared to have been aiming at Odin. The shot had blasted and a broken scream had torn from her.
But the bullet had missed Odin.
Steve laughed as he swung the gun back toward Maisey. “Just a warning shot. Wanted to see how scared he would be.”
The shot had missed Odin’s head by about a foot. The bullet had thudded into the wall.
Odin didn’t look scared. His blue eyes gleamed with an icy rage that promised retribution.
Steve shoved the gun’s muzzle into Maisey’s side. He had one arm around her neck, and the other hand held the weapon.
“Wasn’t a warning,” Odin said. His voice was gravelly. Cold. “You just can’t shoot for shit.”
Steve’s hold tightened around her neck. “I’ll show you what I can do, you bastard!”
Odin…laughed.
Was that a normal thing for him? Did he laugh in the face of danger or something? She should know, for future reference.
“Why is he doing that?” Heather demanded. She stalked close to Maisey. “Doesn’t your boyfriend get that you’re both about to die?”
Maisey wet parched lips. “I don’t think he believes that will be the outcome.”
“He should believe it. We’ve been steps ahead of you all along.” A smirk. “We got you here, didn’t we? Steve suspected your phone was being monitored. Told me that was like, PI 101 or something. So we just made sure that you traced us back here. We wanted you here. We got you here. And—”
“And what?” Maisey cut in to demand. “You obviously don’t want me to just die here or I’d already be dead. You lured us here because this part of town is deserted at this time. Fine. Got it. But before you go patting yourself on the back too much, you should know that the cops are coming.”
Heather shook her head. “No, they’re not.”
“Uh, yes, they are,” Maisey fired right back. Had Odin just taken a step forward? She thought he had. She needed to keep talking and distract Heather and Steve. If she could keep their attention, then Odin could figure out a way to attack. A way that did not involve him getting shot. “We left Clay and told him to call the cops! They are on the way here now.”
“Clay isn’t calling the cops. He can’t.”