Chapter 10 - Descent into the Rain
Elena snatched the fallen gun from the floor, checking the slide with mechanical precision she didn't know she possessed. Adrenaline had stripped away her fear, leaving only sharp, crystalline purpose.
""Can you run?"" she demanded, looking at Cole.
""I can run,"" Cole wheezed, wiping the blood from his brow with the back of his torn sleeve.
They bolted through the open doorway, racing down the dimly lit spiral stairs of the brownstone. Each landing passed in a blur of peeling wallpaper and creaking floorboards. Elena kept her hand clamped around the gun inside the pocket of her oversized coat, her other hand gripping the encrypted drive.
As they reached the heavy glass foyer doors, Elena peered out into the torrential rain. The black sedan was still idling across the street, its tail lights glowing red through the mist. The passenger door opened—Vanessa had already reached the vehicle, stumbling into the front seat.
""There's only one driver inside with Leo,"" Cole whispered, leaning against the foyer wall, his breath coming in ragged gasps. ""If we rush the car, he'll use Leo as a shield.""
""Then we don't rush the car,"" Elena said, her eyes narrowing as she spotted a heavy delivery van parked twenty feet ahead of the sedan on the narrow, one-way street. ""We block them.""
""How?""
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Elena held up a set of heavy brass keys she had grabbed from the apartment console. ""My father's old truck is in the alleyway. Get ready.""
Before Cole could reply, the sedan's headlights snapped onto high beam, sweeping directly across the glass doors of the foyer. They were spotted.
