Sloane (10 page)

Axel was standing up. “Leave it to me.”

“To you?” I was incredulous.

“I recognize that guy,” said Axel. “Trust me. I’ll
help you get him alone.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Jimmy,” said Axel, grinning widely.

James Armstrong turned to him, cocking his head in
confusion. But then he seemed to recognize Axel, and he smiled in
return. “Axel. Good to see you.”

Axel pumped Armstrong’s hand furiously. “Not much of
a party, huh?”

“Oh, it’s not bad for what it is,” he said. “I’m only
here because the Shepherd Foundation is the nonprofit organization
attached to Costello Labs. What about you? I wouldn’t have thought
you’d be contributing to cancer research.”

“My father’s a contributor,” said Axel. “It makes my
mother happy when I show up to events like this.”

They were both completely ignoring me, which was kind
of annoying, but I guessed I’d let this play out, see what it was
that Axel was up to. I only hoped he didn’t ruin everything for
me.

Axel tapped his left nostril. “You looking for a
little pick-me-up, Jimmy?”

Armstrong raised his eyebrows. “Here?”

Oh. My. God. Had Axel just offered Armstrong
cocaine?

Axel looked out over the ballroom. “This is dull,
isn’t it? Don’t you need something to stay awake? Besides, it’ll
keep things interesting.”

“Listen,” said Armstrong. “You should know that I
don’t… indulge in certain vices when I’m trying to be
professional.”

So, Armstrong was a cokehead, huh? And how did Axel
know this? Furthermore, it looked like Axel’s idea wasn’t even
working. So, now Armstrong was going to think I was Axel’s
drugged-out groupie, and he was never going to talk to me.

“Professional?” Axel laughed. “It’s a party, Jimmy.
Live a little.”

Armstrong drew in a deep breath. He was thinking
about it.

I closed my eyes. This was crazy.

Then Armstrong caught the eye of someone across the
room and gave him a quick nod.

I followed Armstrong’s gaze to see that he was
looking at a man in a dark suit, who was standing in one of the
corners. Though the man could have been a party guest, I knew that
he was a bodyguard just by looking at him. The way he carried
himself and the serious look on his face were dead giveaways.

“All right,” said Armstrong. “Where?”

“Come with me,” said Axel. He started for the
entrance.

Armstrong went after him, and I saw that the
bodyguard was moving too.

Great. A bodyguard. Why did Armstrong even have one?
Was he that paranoid? That self-involved? Did he really think he
was so important that people were trying to hurt him?

Of course, I remembered that whenever French or any
of the other heads of Op Wraith had gone out for high-profile
events, they’d usually taken one of the assassins along for
protection. That was because they knew they had enemies who might
want to steal the biotech they’d developed and used on us. If
Armstrong was doing stuff like that in a lab, he probably felt the
same way.

I brought up the rear behind Axel and Armstrong and
sized up the bodyguard out of the corner of my eye. I could take
him, as long as it didn’t come down to a grappling match. He was
probably stronger than me.

We emerged out of the ballroom, and Axel started down
one of the hallways. “There’s a bathroom that’s out of the way down
here,” he threw over his shoulder. “They won’t disturb us.”

“I really shouldn’t be doing this,” muttered
Armstrong.

Axel turned around and grabbed him by the shoulder.
“Jimmy, stop beating yourself up. You work hard. You deserve a
little fun. Isn’t that what you always say when you come by the
club?”

So, that was how Axel knew him. Armstrong went to The
Golden Key to see burlesque strippers.

Armstrong laughed a little. “You know what? You’re
right. I do work hard.”

I sneaked a glance behind us. I could see the
bodyguard. He was standing outside the door, pretending to talk on
his cell phone.

We rounded a corner. Now we were out of sight of the
bodyguard, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be coming after
us.

Axel stopped in front of a restroom. “Here we are.”
He swung open the door. All three of us went inside. The restroom
was small but clean. It smelled strongly of lavender cleaning
fluid. There was a sink right next to me, a large framed mirror
over it. In front of me was the the toilet. Axel locked the door
behind us. He and Armstrong stepped in front of the toilet, while I
stayed by the door. Axel got a small container out of his inside
suit pocket. He drew out a small coke spoon heaped with powder. He
handed it to me. “Ladies first.”

I shook my head. “No, thanks.”

Axel smirked. “Tight ass.” He started to hand the
spoon to Armstrong.

But I was faster. I yanked my gun out of my holster,
eased off the safety, and cocked it. Then I leveled it at
Armstrong’s head. “You and I need to talk, Dr. Armstrong.”

Axel was so startled, he spilled the cocaine. “Jesus,
Sloane. You could warn a guy.”

I didn’t even respond to him. I kept my eyes on
Armstrong.

Armstrong slowly raised his hands. “What the hell’s
going on here?”

“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” I said. “You’ve
kidnapped my best friends and you’re using them as guinea pigs for
your secret lab experiments. Now, you’re going to take me there,
and we’re going to get them out.”

Armstrong’s jaw twitched. “Axel? You’re part of
this?”

Axel was brushing white powder off his suit and
licking his fingers. “She says you’re hurting my friend Leigh. Now,
I haven’t talked to Leigh in years, and she’s kind of cut me out of
her life or something, which hurts my feelings, but that doesn’t
mean I want her to get hurt. Like not physically hurt. So, do what
she says, huh?”

Armstrong looked back and forth between the two of
us. Suddenly, he yelled, “Worthman! She’s got a gun!”

Shit. That must be the bodyguard. I moved forward to
grab Armstrong. I was planning to convince the bodyguard to put
down the gun to save Armstrong.

But the door to the bathroom burst inward, wood
splintering everywhere. The bodyguard had broken it down.

Startled, I lost my balance and fell into the
sink.

Worthman the bodyguard dove inside.

I brought up my gun.

Worthman’s hand cut through the air, coming down hard
on my wrist.

Pain shot up my arm. The gun fell out of my hand.
Shit.

I ducked down to pick it up.

Worthman intercepted me. He drove his shoulder into
my midsection and propelled us both into the sink.

My head slammed into the mirror. I heard it crack as
the pain went off in my skull like a bomb. I grunted.

I clawed at his face, digging my fingers into his
eyesockets.

He yelled, but he plucked my hands away like they
were nothing.

Shit, shit, shit. The one thing I needed to avoid was
a fight like this, and I was in the thick of it right now.

Worthman wrapped his fingers around my neck. His hand
was huge and strong. He started to squeeze.

Panic rushed through me. My heart sped up as my
throat was crushed.

A loud pop echoed through the room. It was a muffled
noise, since my gun was fitted with an Op Wraith silencer, which
actually dampened the noise of a shot quite a bit.

Worthman slumped into me. Blood poured out of his
forehead.

I turned to see Axel holding the gun I’d dropped.
“Ugh,” he said. “Get away from him. He’s going to ruin the
dress.”

“Armstrong,” I said. “Cover
Armstrong
.”

Axel spun around to aim at Armstrong, who was
cowering in the corner, his eyes wide.

Grunting, I managed to push the body of Worthman off
enough that I could get free of him.

I went over to Axel. “You shot him.”

“Yeah,” said Axel. “I’m not bad with a gun. My dad
used to take me to the range all the time when I was a kid. Never
shot at an actual person, though. Does this mean I’m going to need
a lawyer?”

I held out my hand. “Give me the gun.”

“Listen,” said Armstrong. “Let’s talk about
this.”

Axel wasn’t moving, so I snatched the gun away from
him. I advanced on Armstrong.

“Shut up,” I told him.

I turned back to Axel. “First we need to get
Armstrong out of here and get him tied up. Then we need to move
this body somewhere.”

Axel made a face.

“What?” I said.

“There’s blood on your dress,” he said.

* * *

We tied Armstrong up, and then we forced him to march
out to the car. I got him in the backseat and then I clubbed him
over the head with the butt of the gun and knocked him out. Axel
was oddly cheery during all of this. He seemed to think this was a
rip roaring good time. He kept saying that this was the most
exciting thing he’d ever done.

I needed his help with the body of Worthman, or I
would have told him to get lost. Honestly, Axel was in the way of
everything. I was grateful that he’d saved my life with the
bodyguard, but I also wished that we didn’t have a body to contend
with.

But that turned out to be a moot point, because when
we got back to the bathroom, Worthman was gone.

“What?” said Axel. “Did the police already find his
body?”

I shook my head. Damn it. Why hadn’t I seen this?
“He’s not dead.”

“The fuck he’s not. I shot him in the head. The
bullet went into his skull. He’s dead.”

Rushing into the bathroom like that, not knowing what
he was getting himself into? Knocking the gun out of my hand? That
was something that someone did when he knew he could be reckless
with his life, because he knew he was hard to kill. “He’s got the
serum.”

“The what?”

“Biotech serum,” I said. “Developed by the arms
corporation Dewhurst-McFarland to make supersoldiers. It increases
healing ability, allows people to heal from basically any kind of
injury.”

“Dewhurst-McFarland. That’s who Leigh’s dad worked
for.”

“Yeah, and so did I. They had a shadow wing called
Operation Wraith that gave people the serum and turned them into
assassins for hire. Leigh’s dad gave her the serum to help her heal
from a bad car accident, and that’s why we think people from
Armstrong’s lab captured her and the others. They want people with
the serum.”

Axel made a confused face.

“But how does Armstrong’s bodyguard have it? Did they
steal it from Op Wraith?” I considered. “Or maybe, it’s the other
way around. Maybe Costello Labs is the source of the serum, and
French stole it from them in the first place. She had me steal the
memory-wiping injections from them, after all.”

“Who’s French?” said Axel.

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. You need to
go back to the event or go back home or whatever it is you do. I’ve
got to get back to Armstrong.”

“You’re not ditching me,” he said. “This is the most
fun I’ve had in years. I’m coming with you.”

“No.”

“How are you going to get Armstrong out of the car
all by yourself?”

I hadn’t really thought that through. I’d had to
knock him out, because I couldn’t leave him conscious out there.
Originally, however, I’d wanted him to lead me to the others. But
now, I’d have to wait for him to wake up before I could do
that.

“Look, you need me,” said Axel.

“I don’t need you,” I said.

“If I hadn’t been here, that bodyguard would have
killed you.”

“He wouldn’t. I have the serum. I’m hard to
kill.”

“Well, you would have lost Armstrong, anyway. I’m
useful. And you haven’t even thanked me for that, anyway. You
really do need to work on your manners.”

I let out a huge sigh. I didn’t even engage him. I
just stalked out of the bathroom and headed back for the car.

Axel followed me. “It’s not hard. Say, ‘Thank you,
Axel.’ You can do it.”

I flipped him off.

He laughed.

And then… damn it… I started laughing too.

* * *

Armstrong didn’t wake up for a very long time, so
eventually, I just drove back to the motel room. Axel helped me get
his inert form into the room.

Jeff had been locked in the bathroom all this time,
and when he heard us come in, he started banging on the door.

Axel raised his eyebrows. “What the hell?”

I sighed. I went to the bathroom door and opened it.
I yanked off Jeff’s gag. “What?”

Jeff peered around me into the room. “I was hoping
you were a maid.”

“Whoa,” said Axel. “You have hostages and shit.”

“Let me go,” said Jeff.

I put the gag back in his mouth and shut the door on
him.

“Seriously,” said Axel. “What’s up with that?”

“I was trying to get information from him, but he
didn’t know anything, so I had to go after Armstrong.”

Axel nodded slowly. “So, when you say you’re an
assassin—”

“I’m not anymore,” I said. “We escaped. Tore the
whole place down. But now all this crap is happening, and I have to
save everyone.”

“But you’ve killed people?”

I sighed again.

“That’s so hot,” said Axel.

“You’re a douchebag,” I told him. I double-checked
the door, making sure it was locked. Then I knelt down in front of
Armstrong and slapped his face. “Wake up.”

“What are you going to do to him?” asked Axel.

I stood up and rounded on him. “Why don’t you
leave?”

He shrugged. “I don’t want to.”

“Aren’t you freaked out by all this?” I gestured at
myself and all around. “This isn’t a big joke, Axel. This is life
and death. People are going to get hurt.”

“Hey,” he said. “I’m the one person who actually shot
someone tonight.”

I realized that hadn’t so much as phased him. I
squinted at him. “Are you so rich and entitled that you have no
grasp of the value of human life?”