Shadow of a Doubt (Tangled Ivy Book 2) (25 page)

“What are you—” But I didn’t get to finish my sentence before he was kissing me.

His lips were firm against mine, his tongue hot and demanding. I was against the wall, his body pressing hard into me. It didn’t occur to me to question or resist. I just kissed him back with equal urgency, reaching up to wind my arms around his neck.

The jacket fell open and Devon’s hands were on me, erasing the feel of Levin’s touch. Then his mouth was on my breast, his breath warm against my skin, and my pulse was racing. His mouth trailed up my neck to underneath my jaw.

“I
despise
seeing another man touch you,” he hissed in my ear.

Ah. Now I understood. Devon’s possessive streak was a mile wide, and even though tonight had been planned in advance, it seemed I hadn’t been the only one struggling to keep reality and acting separate.

“Tell me you hated every moment,” he said.

That wasn’t a hardship. “I hated every moment,” I repeated, my fingers sliding into his hair as his tongue dipped in my ear.

“Tell me you’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” I breathed as his lips descended onto mine.

I knew we had no time for this, and yet, when would there be time? Devon’s life was fraught with danger and I could understand why he’d taken a moment to exorcise the feelings of jealousy and anger that had dogged him inside the club. As for me, I took it all in, memorizing the feel of the brick against my back, the chill in the air, and the warm press of his hands on my flesh.

When we finally parted, his hand cupped my jaw as he gazed into my eyes.

“When this is over,” he said, “I want us to go somewhere beautiful, and just . . . be . . . for a while. Will you do that for me?”

My smile was immediate. “I know I should play hard to get,” I teased, “but I don’t care. Yes, I’d like that very much.” Time alone with Devon without the world at our backs and danger breathing down our necks? It sounded like heaven.

Taking my hand, he led me out of the alley and to the car, opening the back door for me to slide inside.

“Where’d you guys go?” Reggie asked. He sounded anxious. “I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to wait or if I should hide.”

“You did fine,” Devon said, taking the driver’s spot as Reggie slid over. “Let’s finish this. Tonight.”

The idea that Devon and I might be going somewhere as soon as tomorrow made me want to clap my hands. We just had to get through tonight.

Devon drove to the outskirts of the city. Reggie confirmed that the tracker was working on Levin, who was still at Club Elegance.

“Just watch this screen,” Reggie said, pointing to the laptop he set beside me.

“If he should start heading this way, use the radio,” Devon said, handing me a small walkie-talkie. He pointed to his ear. “I’ll be listening.”

“Okay,” I said. I tried one more time. “Are you sure I can’t come with you?” I’d asked on the drive and been told no. The look on Devon’s face told me he hadn’t changed his mind.

Devon laughed lightly at my expression. “Sweet Ivy,” he said. “What a pretty pout you have.” Leaning down, he brushed his lips against mine. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he whispered.

I wasn’t about to let him go with that tiny kiss, so I grabbed his collar and pulled him back down. Heedless of Reggie standing a few feet away, I gave Devon the best kiss I was capable of, and it was several long moments before I let him go. His ice-blue eyes had darkened, and his gaze was hungry.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said.

I watched them walk across the dim parking lot toward a towering metal building. Many floors were lit, but I didn’t think people were still working at this hour. The lot was deserted and Devon had parked the car in a shady corner beneath a tree, so even ambient light barely touched my location.

I watched the laptop for a few minutes, then decided to change into the extra clothes that I’d brought—jeans and a long-sleeved button-up shirt. After slipping off my heels, I put on a pair of flats instead. I glanced back at the laptop, noting that Devon and Reggie had been gone for nearly twenty minutes already. It felt like an hour.

The dot that showed Levin’s location still glowed on the screen. It hadn’t changed spots while I’d been watching, so it took me aback now to see that it had moved.

It was headed right for us.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN

I
grabbed the walkie-talkie and pressed the button. “Is anyone there?”

I released the button, but heard nothing but static. I tried again. “Hello. Can you hear me?”

Again, nothing.

I didn’t know what to do. Devon had said to use the walkie-talkie, but hadn’t said what to do if he couldn’t be reached.

The cell phone he’d given me was in my pocket. Pulling it out, I dialed the programmed number. It went straight to voice mail.

“Damn it!” I stuffed the cell back in my jeans, watching the dot on the screen. It was heading our way very fast. They’d be here in minutes.

I glanced back at the building, then got out of the car. There didn’t seem to be any other choice but to go after Devon. Maybe luck would be with me and I’d get inside and find him.

It sounded ridiculous, even to me, but . . . I had to try.

I ran toward the building’s entrance, hesitating once I reached
the doors. The lobby was fully lit inside, but I saw no one. Cautiously, I opened the door and stepped inside.

It was silent, the buzzing of the fluorescent lights overhead unnaturally loud. Heading for the elevators, I skidded to a halt when I glanced behind the front desk and saw two security guards lying on the floor.

Swallowing heavily, I punched the elevator button and rushed inside when the doors slid open. Then I thought twice and ran to the security guys, grabbing the identity card hooked to the lapel of the shirt on the guy closest to me. Running back to the elevator, I got there right before the doors closed, and squeezed inside.

Now where?

Figuring I’d want to go where only the security tag would take me, I hit the button next to the floor with the access slot. It was in the middle of the building, the tenth floor. I waited anxiously for the elevator, watching the floors go by, then the doors opened on the tenth floor.

A man was standing there.

We both stood, frozen in surprise. I recovered first and did the only thing I could think of. I launched myself at him.

He toppled backward and I fell on top of him. He had a gun attached to his hip and he reached for it as I scrambled to a sitting position on his chest. I grabbed his hair with both hands and slammed his head against the hard, tiled floor as he yanked at his gun. Once. Twice. The third time, his body went lax underneath mine.

I was breathing hard, my heart pounding so fast in my chest, it felt as though it would leap out. The combination of fear, adrenaline, and relief was overwhelming and I just sat there, on top of him, for a moment.

Then I thought,
What if he’s dead?
Oh God, I didn’t want to
kill him. He was just doing his job. I felt underneath his jaw for a pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief when I felt one, strong and steady.

I felt the hands on my arms, lifting me to my feet, at the same time I heard the voice.

“What the bloody hell are you doing in here?”

Devon.

He turned me around and I wasted no time. “Levin’s on his way,” I said.

Reggie was right behind him, both of them looking at me.

“The radio wasn’t working,” I explained. “I came to warn you.”

“We need more time,” Reggie said.

Devon said nothing, just grabbed my arm and dragged me with them. We rushed down the hallway. He had a card identical to mine and used his to unlock the door at the far end. We hurried inside, and I stopped short as Devon let go of me to flip on the lights.

The room made my jaw drop. It looked like a war room, with screens lining an entire wall in front of three tiers of workstations. Reggie had gone to a desk at the back of the top row and had plopped himself in the chair, already typing like a demon on the keyboard there.

The screens in front of me changed and I could see what he was typing. It was all Greek to me, the lines scrolling by so fast it was hard to even tell what they said.

“How much longer?” Devon asked. He’d gone to the windows on the far wall that overlooked the parking lot.

“I’m going as fast as I can,” Reggie muttered. His forehead was dotted with sweat.

Several minutes passed in a tense silence, broken only by the sound of Reggie’s typing. Then, “They’re here,” Devon said.

The sound of him racking the slide on his gun made me jump.

“Just because he’s here doesn’t mean he’ll come in
here
,” I said hopefully. “Right?”

Devon glanced back at me, but it was Reggie who answered.

“Our tour guide managed to get a message to Levin before we shut him down.”

There was a lot in that sentence I wanted to ask questions about, but I kept my silence.

“I just need five more minutes,” Reggie said.

“Well you’ve got three,” Devon said. “There’s only one way out of this room and we’re about to be blocked in.”

“The code is in, but it has to upload to the servers before it automatically downloads onto the phones. Until it does that, Levin can still stop it.”

I watched the screens. A map of the world was displayed, glowing lights in various cities. Beams of light were arching toward the cities, all from the central location of Amsterdam . . . headquarters sending the software to its remote servers around the world.

“Do you really think they’d just have one exit from this room?” Reggie scoffed. He hit a button and a panel in the far corner of the room slid back to reveal a darkness beyond.

“How long?” Devon asked, eyeing the screens.

“It has to download to every server,” Reggie said, “or else they’ll be able to designate a non-updated server as the master, and its copy will overwrite everything I’ve done.”

“That doesn’t tell me how long,” Devon bit out, heading toward the door. He took up a position directly behind it, arm bent and gun pointed at the ceiling.

“I can lock out their cards,” Reggie said, hitting more keys, and not a moment too soon.

I saw shadows outside the door and the lock beeped, but it didn’t open. They tried it again. Nothing.

A gunshot sounded and I jumped. They were shooting at the lock on the door.

Devon retreated, grabbing my arm and running up the steps to Reggie. “We have to go,” he said.

“I can’t,” Reggie insisted, pointing to the screens. “Four servers still haven’t updated.”

He was right. The longest arcs from Amsterdam weren’t quite at their glowing destinations.

The shatter of glass and another gunshot startled a scream from me, and Devon shoved my head down as we hit the floor. He lifted his arm and fired two shots in return.

Cautiously raising my head, I saw that they’d shot through the glass . . . and hit Reggie.

“Oh my God,” I breathed. Reggie had been knocked out of the chair. The bullet had gotten him in the abdomen and blood stained his shirt.

Reggie coughed as Devon scrambled over to him and tore his shirt open. The wound looked painful, and very bloody.

“How bad is it?” Reggie wheezed.

Devon’s lips pressed into a grim line and he didn’t reply, though it seemed Reggie didn’t need an answer.

“That . . . really sucks,” he managed.

More gunshots that went wide. Devon returned fire.

“Go,” Reggie said, struggling to sit up. “I’ll stay, make sure the software downloads.”

“They’re going to be in here any moment,” Devon warned him.

“Then you’d better hurry.”

Devon propped Reggie against the back of the desk, then handed him his gun. “Hold them off as long as you can,” he said, then he took my hand and began pulling me away.

“We can’t just leave him!” I protested, aghast.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Devon replied, drawing me inexorably toward the hidden doorway. “A belly wound like that is fatal without immediate treatment, which we can’t get. He has minutes left.”

I couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe it. Reggie was one of the good guys. He wasn’t supposed to die because of this.

Reggie looked at me and our eyes locked. Weakly, he raised his hand and beckoned me. I struggled and broke away from Devon to run back to Reggie.

“Take this,” he said, his voice barely audible. “You may need it.”

I looked down and saw he held the flash drive he’d shown me back in Kansas City. Blood was smeared on the silver surface.

Taking it from him, I said, “But I don’t know the password.”

“It’s . . .”

But I couldn’t hear him. I leaned close, putting my ear by his lips as he tried again.

Hands landed heavily on my shoulders and nothing I did prevented Devon from grabbing me up bodily and hauling me with him through the hidden escape. I spared one last look for Reggie, who was watching us, and wanted to sob.

Devon slammed his hand on the interior button and the panel slid closed. Lights illuminated a small staircase made of concrete.

“Let’s go,” Devon said, propelling me along with his hand wrapped firmly around my arm.